It's been years and years since we checked out this circus and loved the trip, it was fun to check…read moreout, super casual, family friendly spot, they were all really good!! We definitely plan on coming back

I didn't expect to find a circus in Redwood City! Performance is good and this seems very…read morekids-friendly. This circus is honestly a decent size. I actually expected to be smaller. My friend and I got the ticket for 4-7 pm, but it somehow ended before 6pm with one intermission. I wonder if something happened to the performer that day or maybe an emergency. Still worth $20 dollar per person for ticket tho.

Great regional theater. Good variety of plays…read more Good acting. I am always impressed with the staging.

Good people. Friendly atmosphere. Easy parking. Professional grade productions. Talented acting,…read moresinging, musical accompaniment. Affordable. Been there several times, for years.

This was my first time at this particular stage company, and we saw "Waiting for Godot!"…read more Wow- the voices of both the two main characters were simply marvelous!! I have never heard of this play before, yet my dad and brother knew it very well within the psychologically realm. Lol, As I listened to the play, there were a number of quotes I had actually heard when I was studying different theories within existentialism so it brought me back to my old college days! Lol A very small cast, but so well acted, especially the amazing rant that the character, lucky does was almost like a wrap! I honestly wish I had tape recorded or at least the audio of that because he said so many amazing quotes and Mantras of life. I wish I could've repeated any of them! My brain could not process everything so quickly but goodness well played!! The seats were a bit rickety, but they were still comfortable, and the play itself was not too cold luckily for me since I'm always freezing! Lol I also had a jacket handy, just in case. It was a cold overcast day, and the wind picked up, but everything inside the theater was pleasant. I wouldn't mind coming back and seeing a couple other plays especially the musical number ! This particular was about 2 1/2 hours long so at the last 30 minutes of the play, sadly my dad's phone rang since we were late for our dinner reservation! Lol, so I wish we knew how long the play was going to be before we made dinner plans. Lol.

Super amateur and uncomfortable…read more Dropped by here on a lark because I saw a sign advertising their production of "Cabaret" at a local restaurant and I've been meaning to see the Robert Altman film. 95% of the audience were Boomers who are probably bored out of their minds and desperate for any diversion from waiting for the sweet release of death. The other 5% were presumably friends of the cast. Basically all the actors were failure-to-launch white guys in their 30s, along with a few plus-sized Hispanic and Asian actresses. One actress was an attractive white girl, which confused me so badly that I assume she must have been somehow blackmailed into being part of the play. Nobody seemed to be having any fun, the laughter felt forced, the costumes and make-up were garish, and the playbill lacked any context for the story. I feel vaguely like I was rubbernecking the end of Western civilization, where young whites (who are a minority of young Americans) put on a half-hearted charade for their grandparents to try and maintain the illusion that the world they lived in still exists. As the Boomers pass away over the next decade, I expect all these local theater companies to shut down. The aforementioned attractive white girl and an acrobatic gay white guy seemed to actually be trying, which I appreciated, but their efforts weren't enough to salvage the play from all the others phoning it in. I'm glad I walked out a half-hour in. I wish I could get my money back. This may have permanently put me off from live theater lol.

This is a top notch community theatre company that puts on great shows season after season…read more Recently my favorites have been "Singing in the Rain" and "A Little Night Music."Amazing performers and I love that they use a live orchestra too!

Their presentation are consistently high in quality. I look…read moreforward each year to seeing and enjoying their presentations!

My husband and I just hosted the masquerade-themed party at our house for my birthday…read more Communication with the company was perfect; we received an automated response saying they'd be in touch soon since we reached out initially on a weekend, someone got back to us on Monday, booking was easy, all questions were answered, and our actress (Diane) called us before the party as planned. Diane was right on time to set up the props she brought, which really added to our own set up and made everything look awesome. She was flexible when I mentioned we had people not interested in fully playing or who potentially needed to leave early--but those people ended up staying for the whole game because they were having a great time. The game is set up so everyone present can still feel involved and enjoy figuring out the mystery. When it was done, Diane quickly and quietly had everything packed up and loaded. We've never hired a company for this before but would definitely do it again with The Clue Collective and I feel confident in recommending them to others for a fun and creative activity!

From the outset, the Clue Collective team was nothing but professional. Booking was straightforward…read morewith clear descriptions of the shows offered, the cost, and the agreement. Email replies were prompt, pre-show instructions were clear, and the team provided a detailed outline of how the show would proceed during dinner. There was a check-in by phone twenty-four hours in advance to review details and any changes I may have needed to share. Lace and the entire team of actors arrived on time and quickly got to work organizing the props and selecting guests to assume characters. The clever show proceeded in a smooth and timely fashion. The room was filled with laughter. They created a delightful and engaging evening for everyone present, including the waitstaff. Bravo, Clue Collective!

Great summer food option at Great America! We were very lucky that we got to come here when our day…read moreunder the sun with rollercoasters and the water park coincided with Taste of Orleans. Since everything here looked way more delicious than the regular food park (and we confirmed they're much better!), here's my review of each offering. We paid to get a badge with little tabs that you rip off for each dish that you take. They're small bites, and the nice thing is that between the 3 of us, we got to share and sample each dish. These were what they offered at each lettered station: A) Chicken & Sausage Gumbo over rice A) Cajun Brownie B) Crawfish Fritters with Creole dipping sauce B) Muffuletta Slider C) Fried Oyster Po' Boy C) Boudin Sausage with Peppers D) Creole Shrimp and Crab Cheesecake D) Crawfish Boil E) Blackened Chicken Pizza E) Peach Cobbler F) Beignets F) Praline Bread Pudding These were some standouts: 1) Boudin Sausage with peppers--this was the first one I ate, soooooo good! It consisted of sausage stuffed with rice and peppers. Wish there was more sausage. 2) Cajun brownie--it looked like an ordinary though tasty brownie. Once you bite into it, you realize there's a spicy kick! 3) Crawfish Fritters with Creole dipping sauce--fritters were small, and they give you waaayyyy too much sauce, more than you need. 4) Muffuletta sliders--I took a bite, sliders aren't my thing 5) Fried Oyster Po'Boy--not a whole lot of oysters, to be honest. I would have liked more of them. 6) Gumbo--nice and hearty 7) Creole shrimp and crab cheesecake--one of my faves! It's a savory cheesecake, very unique! Save the creole sauce from the crawfish fritters (if you get them), because the dipping sauce goes so well with this cheesecake! 8) Blackened chicken pizza--mmm, good pizza! It was funny to receive this and marvel over how much better than looked compared to the basic pizzas that were being served to those getting standard food 9) Peach Cobbler--it was fantastic to see my boyfriend enjoying this. So nice and sweet! 10) Beignets--sweet, with an explosion of powdered sugar everywhere. I looked like a cocaine addict Great America should definitely do more of these food events!

The Taste Of Orleans Festival premiered at California's Great America for the first time this year…read moreand I must say that I was very impressed. This seems to be the new thing with various amusement parks having food and wine festivals and I think it's a great idea because it allows the guests to try different foods and beverages outside of the normal amusement park fare. The festival took place in the Orleans Square section of the park and this are was really brought to life with various New Orleans style decorations, the huge Taste Of Orleans billboard/postcard and of course the zydeco music blasting throughout the area. This festival was held for two week on weekends only from 12-10. They had various creole/cajun food items that were available during this festival such as shrimp po'boys, Muffulettas, beignets, Crawfish Étouffée and so on. You could purchase the items seperately or purchase the tasting card. The tasting card listed 6 items to sample for $25 they included the beignets, creole meatballs, bourbon grilled chicken wings, Crawfish Étouffée, chicken and andouille gumbo and red beans & rice. I tried everything on the tasting card except the red beans & rice and I must say that I was really impressed with the food. The portion size was very generous and 2 people could probably split the tasting card and get full. The bourbon grilled chicken wings were really good they had a sweet and spicy flavor and were cooked to perfection. The creole meatballs came with three huge meatballs that were tender and not overcooked and topped with this unique sweet sauce (probably my favorite item). The crawfish etouffee was very good, it was my first time trying it and I was not disappointed. It was very spicy and full of flavor and served over rice. The gumbo I was skeptical to try because I don't eat gumbo, actually haven't had it in over 10 years but it was pretty good it had nice chunks of chicken and spicy andouille sausage but I wish it was served with rice or at least a piece of french bread. And lastly the beignets, these I was not too impressed with because I felt they were too heavy and tasted too much like a donut. I've had real beignets and while these were a step in the right direction they didn't really make the mark for me. I wanted to try the special bananas foster funnel cake but was too full. They also had a beer & wine tasting room and you could purchase a tasting card for that as well and from what I was told the pourings were very generous as well. Aside from the food there was lots to see and lots of entertainment throughout the area. There were two stages where a couple different bands played the traditional Zydeco music and they were good bands might I add. It really added to the festival and it was nice to see everyone dancing and enjoying themselves. There were about 6-7 artists making chalk art and it was amazing, they endured that heat and messed up concrete to draw this lovely artwork. Then every hour or so there was another band and singer that had the little second line thing going on, they would come from the middle of the park playing music all the way to Orleans Place. All of the staff working the festival had their nice Mardi Gras colors and outfits on, the girls on stilts were a hit with everybody. They would be dancing and throwing beads to the crowds of people while the band played. Then to end the night after the festival they had Cajun themed fireworks, these were by far the best fireworks I've ever seen at Great America although they were a bit on the short side. I see they have taken a page out of Disneyland's book because this was just amazing, when it starts all of the lights go out and the Zydeco music starts playing but the fireworks are timed to the music. They had fireworks and fire shooting from the buildings and everything. They really outdid themselves and I was very impressed. I absolutely loved the festival and was told that it will be back next year but bigger and better and I think it's definitely work checking out!

"The untold true story of the witches of Oz." Went to see the opening performance of Wicked on the…read moreopening night of the 2019-2020 Broadway San Jose live performance season at the San Jose Center for Performing Arts. Season ticket holders for the past 4 years, we got $82 tickets for the Wednesday evening show in the very best seats for our section 2, with everyone toward the center and in front of us having the $112 section 1 seats. The well heeled ticket holders in the Presidential box, paying upwards of $162. Bleacher seats and side view seats in section 3 for $62 We are there 45 minutes before the 730 curtain time. The mass shootings in the news have lead the theater to have body searches with a metal detector wand, and all bags opened and searched by hand. Of course every lady is going to be carrying a purse. With a full house of 2677 patrons and if only 10 seconds per patron, it would take over 8 hours to screen everyone. Huge line close to the opening act. Kiosks selling memorabilia and souvenirs of Wicked, with the wife and I taking pictures in front of the Wicked signs. Inside the theater itself we can see the changes, with a map of the Emerald Kingdom as a curtain, and a dragon replica hanging over the top of the stage, just like in New York's Broadway. The curtain rises, and the play starts, with stragglers coming in the first 15 minutes, trying to ease their way to their seats in the 1972 Frank Lloyd Wright designed theater with no center aisles. Highlights: Onlookers aghast as the birth of the green baby Elphaba, Ugly Elphaba rooms with gorgeous blond Glinda in school, Doctor Dillamond the goat teaching class in school, Glinda catching the rich and handsome Fiyero, Magnificent backdrops from the Emerald City, Elphaba's father The Wizard of Oz and his gigantic mechanical machine, The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz, Elphaba's wheel chair bound sister wicked witch of the East meeting her untimely demise Elphaba in an all black costume becomes the wicked witch of the West, Glinda becoming the good witch, Elphaba taking Fiyero from Glinda, as her own. Elphaba escaping the palace guards by defying gravity in her flight , Elphaba reunion with Fiyero as the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz Elphaba seemingly fizzling to dust after someone put out a fire on her with a cup of water. Fiyero and Elphaba reemerging from the cellar and escaping together. Wicked has decent acting, and some singing, such as "Defying Gravity" and "As Long as Your Mine", and minimal dancing, but excels in costumes design, story adoptation, screen scenery, and special effects, just like I saw in New York's Broadway two years ago, but at half the price. Just be aware of the lengthy security and bag search lines - a sign of the ominous times we live in.

This review is for the Jurassic Quest event held at Santa Clara Fairgrounds, not the fairgrounds…read moreitself. I was really excited to take my toddler based on the website, promo videos, YouTube clips, and all the hype and media mentions. Unfortunately, the event was very underwhelming. It was held inside an expo hall and the space felt much smaller than expected. The dinosaur exhibit itself consisted of maybe five or six displays total, which was far less than what the videos and marketing led us to believe. There were a few additional activities, one dinosaur meet-and-greet, some LEGO stations, and a couple small activities, but overall it felt very minimal. My son is only two, so he was still excited to see the dinosaurs, but as a parent, I expected a lot more based on how this event is advertised. If you're managing expectations and just want a short outing for a very young child, it may be fine. But if you're expecting a large, immersive experience like what's shown online, this didn't live up to it.

IMHO I used to come…read morehere decades ago when the fairgrounds hosted the huge summer county fair. In the day, the county fair lasted for at least two weeks and was a big deal. These days, the county fair is back but only for three or four days... The fairgrounds still host events but on a smaller scale. Lately I've only attended the San Jose Harvest Festival, which moved from downtown San Jose to the fairground a few years ago. I like the fact that it is closer to my home, but the venue's parking fee of $20 is outrageous! When speaking to some of the vendors at the Harvest Festival, they were wondering if the lower attendance was due to the hefty parking fee, amongst other financial reasons. Plus, we are still paying an admission fee to the event... I still attend some fairground events but usually when there is free or low-cost admission fee. Continuing to pay $20 just to park will definitely give me pause to re-think my need to attend such events in the future.