2025-2026 Season

The Cost of Live Theatre

By |2025-11-03T16:34:01-08:00November 3rd, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Behind The Scenes, Blog-erviews!, Fundraising, Opinion|

by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director I occasionally like to post answers to questions asked from the community. You can always ask your question using this convenient anonymous form. This question came in the other week: “I think it would open a lot of eyes and maybe inspire a few more donations to have a blog outlining all the costs associated with putting on a show and what percentage of ticket sales cover those costs. I don't think many of our patrons know we pay our musicians, creative staff, the cost of show royalties, etc.” I am frequently asked about [...]

Cheers, Tears, and Standing Ovations

By |2025-10-27T09:14:23-07:00October 27th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Blog-erviews!, Opinion|

by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director Walking into a full theatre charged with the voltage of raw human energy anticipating a musical adventure is titillating, intoxicating, and just so much fun! Nothing compares to it. Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the distinct pleasure of watching well over 3,000 of you go through that very experience with our production of The Sound of Music. Almost every performance was sold out, and every performance was astounding. Here are a few takeaways that have me feeling hopeful and inspired for the future: Live theatre is as impactful as ever. Tears, cheers, [...]

The Show Must Go On!

By |2025-10-20T16:49:45-07:00October 20th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Announcements, Behind The Scenes, Blog-erviews!, Opinion|

SBMT Understudy, Standby, and Swing Policy by Walter M. Mayes, Artistic Director At South Bay Musical Theatre, we honor the long-standing tradition that the show must go on. At the same time, our top priority is the health and safety of our performers, crew, staff, and audiences. Illnesses and unforeseen emergencies are an unavoidable part of live theatre, and canceled performances can bring both artistic disappointment and economic hardship. To address this, SBMT has created a policy that establishes clear guidelines for the use of understudies, standbys, and swings. Our goal is to ensure that performances can continue safely, responsibly, [...]

Happy Halloweeding

By |2025-10-14T17:03:49-07:00October 14th, 2025|2018-19 Season, 2025-2026 Season, Blog-erviews!, Fundraising, Opinion, Photos|

Special event breathes new life into old costumes by Michael Paul Hirsch, Executive Director Hundreds of costumes have found new life after last Saturday’s Great Costume Give-Away, and we could not be happier! This event was an opportunity for SBMT to reduce our large inventory of costumes accumulated over many years of productions and see they get a good home, while also raising funds through generous donations to help underwrite the amazing shows we have in store for you during the 2025-2026 season and beyond. Almost a hundred people came to visit our rehearsal studio/costume storage in San Jose to [...]

Cast announced for Little Women: The Broadway Musical

By |2025-10-10T13:04:29-07:00October 10th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Announcements, Auditions, Meet The Cast|

Artistic Director Walter M. Mayes is happy to announce the cast for Little Women, which begins rehearsals next month and will run from January 24 through Valentine's Day at the Saratoga Civic Theater. Brenna Silva as Jo March Aishy Panwar as Meg March Katie Worrell as Beth March Leah Kennedy as Amy March Sadat Hossain as Theodore "Laurie" Laurence Mary Melnick as Marmee Robin Melnick as Mr. Laurence Jackson Velez as Professor Bhaer Barbara Heninger as Aunt March Jai Kaushik as John Brooke Covers: Lauren Berling (Meg/Jo), Jacob Janssen (Laurie), Kimberly Kay (Marmee/Aunt March), Leah Kennedy (Beth),and Kaitlyn Scadina (Amy) [...]

If You Liked These SBMT Favorites, You’ll Love What’s Coming Next

By |2025-10-07T13:51:59-07:00October 7th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Blog-erviews!, Opinion|

By Doug Hughes, SBMT Director of Marketing South Bay Musical Theatre’s 2025–2026 season of Noteworthy Entertainment brings you a whole new spin on stories you know and love. Whether it’s through a new adaptation, a rare revival, or a creative concert experience, each show invites you to see something beloved in a new light. To give you a better sense of what’s in store, I’ve matched each upcoming production with SBMT favorites from past seasons going back a decade and a half — because if you liked those, we think you’ll really love these. Mainstage Musicals (11 performances each) If [...]

Behind the Curtain with Selina Hsu

By |2025-10-04T11:00:59-07:00October 4th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Behind The Scenes, Meet The Cast, Video Link|

We sat down with Selina Hsu, who is part of "the nuns ensemble" in SBMT's production of The Sound of Music. In this short interview, she tells us there are no puppets in the stage version of this iconic musical—but "The Lonely Goatherd" still makes an appearance, with "Uncle Max" playing an expanded role. She also reveals why she auditioned for the show.  Watch the video (runtime 2:43), or read the transcript below.   My name is Selina and I'm a part of the Nuns Ensemble. What does the Nuns Ensemble do in the show? The Nuns set the scene [...]

Fresh Faces, Fleeting Seating

By |2025-09-22T13:40:27-07:00September 22nd, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Blog-erviews!, Opinion|

By Doug Hughes, Director of Marketing One of the joys of community theatre is discovering new talent, and South Bay Musical Theatre’s current production of The Sound of Music demonstrates that in abundance. Of the 40 cast members bringing this beloved story to life, an impressive 30 are making their SBMT debut. That includes our Captain von Trapp, played by Brad Satterwhite, who has graced stages all over the Bay Area and recently wrapped up a powerful run in A Few Good Men at Woodminster. All 13 of the young actors who play the von Trapp children (across two alternating [...]

Behind the Curtain with Mohamed Ismail

By |2025-09-19T11:30:24-07:00September 19th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Behind The Scenes, Blog-erviews!, Meet The Cast|

We sat down with Mohamed Ismail, who plays the role of Max Detweiler in our upcoming production of The Sound of Music, to talk about the expanded role Max has in the stage play (with two songs that are not sung in the movie), where we've seen him most recently, how he got started, and how he and his real-life wife Jessica Whittemore are looking forward to playing opposite one another in this outing. He tells us why he doesn't look like his headshot, introduces us to the large cast, and makes an urgent plea to each of us to [...]

Announcing our spring show for 2026

By |2025-09-15T09:15:10-07:00September 15th, 2025|2025-2026 Season, Announcements, Blog-erviews!|

by Doug Hughes, Director of Marketing On a sweltering summer day in New York City, music spills from the corner bodega, laughter echoes from the fire escapes, and every block seems to hold a story. That’s the world of In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning love letter to his neighborhood. Long before Hamilton took the world by storm, Miranda introduced audiences to a vibrant community full of dreams, traditions, and tough choices. This spring, South Bay Musical Theatre invites you to step into that neighborhood and feel the heartbeat of Washington Heights right here in Saratoga. Set over the [...]

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