40 Years of Broadway Musicals

It's far from just another openin', another show at Children's Musical Theater San Jose. The organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary this weekend with a Saturday birthday bash at the Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
"This is such an exciting time for us, watching everyone come back into the fold to celebrate with us," says Kevin Hauge, artistic director of CMT. "It's been a long haul of ups and downs, good times and bad times and great times. I'm so proud to be part of this."
Founded by John Healy in 1968, CMT has sparked a love of the arts in Silicon Valley children for four decades. The theater has become a tradition for many families, where children who have grown up at CMT have now passed the baton to their own youngsters.
"Forty years means that I started out here as a little kid tugging on my sister's sleeve, and now my own kids are performing here," says CMT board president Michael Mulcahy. "This is a place where generations of families can come together. It's a way for children to be exposed to the arts and a way for parents to connect to their kids."
CMT has nurtured the dreams and talents of many an aspiring actor, some of whom have gone on to fame a la Teri Hatcher of "Desperate Housewives" and Kate Walsh of "Grey's Anatomy." But it's not only about celebrity.
"It's not just about going to see a show; it's about families coming together to put a show on," Hauge says. "People here give so much. People give hours of their
time every week. It's not just a commitment for the children. It's a commitment the whole family has to make."
At CMT, you can bet your bottom dollar that every child who tries out lands a role. Nobody gets cut. Everybody feels like a star. If that means double- and triple-casting a show so that every child who auditions (age 6 to college) gets cast, so be it.
"You've got to see it to be believe it," Mulcahy says. "We cast everybody. Nobody gets turned away because they can't afford it. At the end of the day, we are about community."
CMT also stands out from much of the children's theater world by setting a high bar on the breadth and depth of musicals staged. Singing sunflowers and tap-dancing bunnies don't cut it with CMT. They have championed the sophisticated ("Side Show" and "Miss Saigon") alongside the poppin' (Disney's "High School Musical"). They have revived the classic American songbook, as well as built bridges of international collaboration with foreign theaters, such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Hauge is serious about making children's theater more than child's play. Indeed, over the years, CMT has burnished its national reputation by nabbing a series of National Endowment for the Arts grants.
Bill O'Brien, the NEA's director of theater and musical theater, once told the Mercury News, "CMT is competing with the best of the best. It's very competitive. They're confident enough to come in and compete with the best in the nation. . . . They don't talk down to their participants because of their age. They take on challenging plays."
Indeed, arts bigwigs throughout the valley say CMT contributes to the quality of life here by sparking a love for theater in the younger generation.
"Organizations like CMT provide a critical 'first-exposure' environment for young people, as they begin to explore the arts," says Lisa Mallette, managing artistic director of City Lights. "Those young people, and their families, are far more likely to become artists - or, more importantly perhaps, arts patrons - because of the experience. CMT also has a unique blend of education, professionalism and high production values, as well as popular appeal for the general public, that has clearly served them, the arts community and the Bay Area community as well."
"CMT gives the youth of our community the opportunity to experience the excitement of live theater," agrees Michael Miller, CEO and executive producer of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose. "The value of our kids' having exposure to the arts has proven, positive effects, resulting in more productive members of our community. This is even more important as budget cuts in our schools have diminished the value of the creative arts. CMT is a highly valued resource for San Jose and a company we should all support."
Hauge says that teaching children about the arts also teaches them about teamwork, and discipline and commitment, lessons that are equally valuable on stage and off. There are no people like show people.
"It's great that some kids go on to have Broadway careers, and we are very proud of them. But being exposed to the arts as a child can truly touch your life, whether you ever learn how to do a time step or not."
CMT's anniversary proves that local arts organizations can go the distance even in the tough boom-and-bust economy of the valley, says City Lights' Mallette, and that bolsters the health of the arts community as a whole.
"The mere fact that CMT has endured and thrived for 40 years sends an important message to our community that arts organizations can be viable businesses worthy of investment."
The anniversary may be the most meaningful rave the company can get. It means CMT has stood the test of time.
"The anniversary is a big deal," Mulcahy says. "It means we made it. We have longevity and the credibility that comes with it, that we can make it even in the tough arts world today, we are still going strong."
Saturday's celebration will include numbers from the company's summer musicals: "West Side Story" (July 25-Aug. 3), "Babes in Arms" (July 11-20) and "Pinocchio" (Aug. 7-10).
Going forward, Hauge hopes to find ways to raise the company's profile. He also wants to ratchet up fundraising efforts to help subsidize theater tickets and other programs for families of limited means. The show must go on even when the economy stalls.
"CMT is so full of promise and pride and joy, and that's something we want to be able to share with everyone, whether they can afford it or not," Hauge says. "There's such an exciting future here. It's going to be thrilling to see what happens next."Children's Musical Theater San Jose's 40th Birthday Bash
Plaza de Cesar Chavez, Market and San Carlos streets, San Jose
5-7:30 p.m. Saturday
Admission Free
Information
(408) 288-5437,
www.cmtsj.org