I first heard Zukerman play in the early 1980’s in Avery Fisher Hall. I no longer remember what he played, but I remember knowing that it changed how I thought about music and what music was capable of.

This script may only have 75 unique words, but taken together, they had the audience jumping up and down in their seats as dogs of all colors cycled through their irrepressible antics with hats that rival Beach Blanket Babylon.

I'm convinced that exploring the other side of the brain is a highly rewarding pursuit, especially for us in Silicon Valley who often find ourselves navigating an iPad instead of a non wi-fi enabled device such as an artist's brush.

"My feelings for you are like a big bowl of fishhooks," she tells her offspring. "You can't pick out just one."

This co-production with A Contemporary Theatre (ACT) in Seattle proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Double Indemnity works as a play. All the hallmarks of a classic noir are here, right down to the dancing shadows, the smoke-filled rooms, and after hours stealth.

It astounds what can be done with red felt, and old garden hose. A steamer trunk, all 9 cubic feet of it? Pure gold.

This experience triggered new insights into the choreography and the blocking. Ensemble characters related in ways that I’d never seen before. Dance scenes could have been drawn out with arrows across the stage as if it were a football play.

In 2009 we set out on a mission. Our goal was to fill the gap left by traditional media's cutback in local arts coverage. It all began with The Kite Runner at the SJ Rep.

It’s been a couple of years since CATS was performed at the Center of Performing Arts, and Broadway San Jose more than delivered on this gem. With stellar lighting, acting, singing and choreography, the cast and crew created a show that must be experienced to be believed.

With everything from reingoats to Anthony Weiner’s pull toy and a buzzing Norelco razor speeding dementedly across the tiny thrust stage, Kevin Blackton, Martin Rohas Dietrich and Will Springhorn, Jr. delivered a fast-paced script that had the audience in the aisles wiping their eyes as they listened a passel of amphetamine-crazed munchkins screeching in unison.