The American Musical Theatre of San Jose had been through many name changes:
San Jose Light Opera Association In 1934, a group of community volunteers formed the San Jose Light Opera Association (SJLOA), performing works by
Gilbert and Sullivan. The first production was
The Mikado, held at the Victory Theatre on North First Street near Santa Clara Avenue in
downtown San Jose, where they would perform for several more years. Shows were later held at Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School Auditorium, the Montgomery Theatre downtown, and then the
Santa Clara University Theatre. For the 1957/1958 season, SJLOA shifted from light opera to musical theatre. (Light opera is light-hearted
opera usually with a happy ending; musical theatre can be thought of as a
play with singing.) Also, performances were moved to the
San Jose Civic Auditorium. The first productions in the new venue were
Carousel and
Guys and Dolls. In 1975, SJMT finally debuted at the Center for Performing Arts with
Guys and Dolls. That same year, SJMT began to contract much more Equity talent, including stars like
Michele Lee,
Tommy Tune,
JoAnne Worley,
Theodore Bikel, and
Tyne Daly. ushering in a new era and another new name: the San Jose Civic Light Opera (SJCLO). In Slater, who had been general manager of
American Conservatory Theater in
San Francisco, the board chose someone from outside the organization and a proven business leader. Within two years of Slater's hiring, SJCLO once again had a balanced budget and began a streak of eight profitable seasons. When Slater took over, the company relied heavily on star power to draw audiences. The big names were paid for at the expense of production quality; many of the supporting cast were unpaid volunteers. One of Slater's first acts was to end this practice, avoiding costly stars to bolster the quality of the entire production. In 1984, thanks to a successful season ticket renewal campaign, the CLO had a rare surplus of $40,000 in advance ticket sales, prompting Slater to take an unprecedented risk for the organization. He hired a
Chicago arts publicist,
Danny Newman, to organize the largest
direct mailing campaign ever done by an arts organization, spending the entire surplus.
American Musical Theatre of San Jose In 1995, the theatre changed its name yet again, this time to American Musical Theatre of San Jose, to commemorate its 60th anniversary. In February 2002, AMTSJ announced an agreement with the
Nederlander Organization, one of the largest operators of live theatre and music in the United States, allowing AMTSJ to present touring
Broadway shows in the same season with locally produced shows. The move ended a 67-year era of exclusive locally produced works and led to the departure of artistic director Dianna Shuster. Following the Nederlander agreement, single-ticket sales, subscriptions, and donations all plummeted, leading to a loss at least $2 million over two years, and to the departure of Slater after 24 years as executive producer. Michael Miller, the new executive producer, blamed the downturn on the community disconnect caused when the Nederlander agreement displaced local talent and on the struggling
Silicon Valley economy. Upon his arrival from
Paper Mill Playhouse in
New Jersey, the AMTSJ alumnus Miller launched a program to boost revenues with flexible ticket package offerings, extensive marketing, and aggressive fundraising. ==Bankruptcy and liquidation==