Kikau Alvaro is thrilled to be the new Artistic Director of CMTSJ. He returns to San Jose with his husband Derrick and puppy Boggnes after several years on the East Coast.

At CMTSJ, he worked on the following shows over the years: The Who’s Tommy, Secret Garden, The Drowsy Chaperone, Chicago, A Chorus Line, Oklahoma!, Babes in Arms, Once on This Island, Avenue Q, Annie Warbucks, and West Side Story.

This past year Kikau taught musical theater students at Marymount Manhattan in New York City. Previously, he was an Associate Professor and Program Director of Musical Theater at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He served as the Associate Artistic Director of the Virginia Repertory Theatre and was the head of Musical Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University where he directed and choreographed Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Spring Awakening on the Raymond Hodges Stage; as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Something Wonderful, a collaboration between the Music and Theatre departments at the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall.

At Virginia Repertory Theatre, Alvaro directed and choreographed A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Richmond Theatre Critics Circle nominee for Best Direction: Musical), and The Wiz (RTCC award winner for Best Choreography, 2019); additionally, he choreographed Atlantis: a New Musical (World Premiere – RTCC nominee for Best Choreography), was the Associate Director of In the Heights, and Associate Director and Choreographer of Fun Home, a co-production with Virginia Rep and Cadence Theatre Company.  He also provided direction or choreography for Theatreworks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, CA for productions:  Big River, [title of show], and The Trouble With Doug.  Some of his other favorites include: Shrek, and Guys and Dolls (Diablo Theatre Center in Walnut Creek, CA—Shellie Award Nominations for Direction and Choreography); Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes, and Oklahoma! at Cabrillo Stage in Aptos, CA, Lysistrata Jones (Pace University), and Urinetown (San Jose State University and University of the Arts).

Alvaro earned his MFA in musical theatre from San Diego State University and his BA in theatre with an emphasis in directing from San Jose State University.  Kikau is an Associate Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and served as the VP of Conferences for Musical Theatre Educators Alliance (MTEA).

After spending the last six years living in NYC, Katie has returned to the Bay Area to give back to her home theater community. Credits include SIX (Broadway, National Tour),  Aladdin (Broadway), Beaches (World Premiere), Ain’t Too Proud (Transcendence), May We All (the Rev), Falsettos (Lincoln Center national tour), Hamilton (And Peggy Tour), and Wicked (SF), as well as the development of several new works including Hear Me, Vicky and Frank, Quiddawick, Kafka’s Metamorphosis, Coming Soon, and Broadway Shark Tank winner A Room with a View. Katie is the host of the podcast “How to Succeed in Theater (by sacrificing everything”), and mom to the best pup Polly Ball. @kaatiecoleman www.KatieColemanMusic.com 

Ariana Yasmine Khan is excited to finally work with CMT! After receiving her MFA at The New School for Drama, she spent time working as an actor/coach in NYC before returning to the Bay. Other recent dialect credits include T-Bone n Weasel (The 222) and Running After Shadows (City Lights). She is also an avid crocheter and proud dog-mom.