San Jose Center for the Performing Arts — Attraction in San Jose

I went to see Lion King with my partner last night, and it was fantastic!

Traffic for a Wednesday between 5~6 pm was bad. There are also several road closures due to constructions or temporary pedestrian shopping space.

We managed to find street parking close to the theater around 6, which is when most street parking is free. Our alternative would have been Alameda & Woz lot, which is part of ParkSJ, therefore offering a $7 flat. It is the also lne of the closest parking lot, which is the block next to the theater.

As of yesterday, vaccines and masks were not required but highly recommended. Most of the audience and staff wear a mask still.

Getting through "security" around 7pm took about 5 mins, and we were allowed to bring in our empty water bottles.

Plenty of merch up for purchase once you set foot inside, and I would have gotten something if it wasn't for the crowd.

Currently they have an outdoor bathroom set-up, which I suggest you use before the show because the line gets pretty intense during intermission. Not sure if this set-up is a temporary or permanent situation, but for the time being it is being well maintained. It is clean, well lit, and fully functional. No broken lock or loose toilet paper holder falling off the wall, which I am happy with given the high usage.

There is a water fountain, which we refilled our water bottles before the show started. You are allowed to purchase beverages and bring them back to your seats (even alcoholic ones).

We got aisle seats, therefore we were able to get in and out of our seats with ease. The down side is when people come in late, ushers guiding them to their seats will have these flashlights that is distracting when they walk past you. The seats are a bit dated, therefore I had to adjust myself a few times throughout the show because I was getting uncomfortable.

The show itself is great, and I enjoyed most of it. The part that I didn't enjoy as much is because the first few songs were slower with darker lighting after the intermission, and I was getting sleepy.

So all in all, the theater is a 3.5 star. The show itself...

We have gone to all of the Harry Potter symphony film showings here. It's a rather small theater but that adds to the coziness. If you are going to purchase tickets for a program here make sure you look carefully at the seats depending on which event you are attending. We purchased $70.00 tickets on the main floor. We chose seats at the end of the aisle so we would have easy entrance and exit. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the last two seats in each orchestra row have an obstructed view. This doesn't matter for a ballet, play, or a symphony. But for a film screening it was terrible. The people in our party in the end seats could only see 3/4 of the screen! Even the usher was shocked by this. The seat map did not indicate obstructed view. The usher found us seats further down the row after intermission so as well that ends well. If you have a chance to attend the symphony playing the soundtrack for a movie, go for it. It was great fun. The conductor encouraged audience participation and the audience obliged, hosting at the villans and cheering the heros. The ticket price was high for a movie that we have seen dozens of times and own on DVD but the money goes to the orchestra and they really did a fantastic job. There are several refreshment stands and a lounge serving wine, sodas,a few mixed drinks, cookies, and other treats. The chocolate chip cookies are fantastic. Everything is a little over priced but no more so than at other venues. There is balcony seating with stair and elevator access. Most events also have a souvenir table. This one sold tee shirts, wands, DVDs, and pins. This is a pretty little venue and the staff is very professional and accommodating. Parking is available on the street (limited so come early) or in a nearby garage. The garage offers $10.00 event parking however they only accept CASH so plan for that because there are no nearby ATMs. The setting for the center is right in the city but it's very pretty and there is a lovely bridge over the creek that's great for photos If this review was helpful, please click...

My son and I saw Cats here yesterday. Overall, the experience was quite nice. Parking was quite easy since there was street parking available and a few parking garages. It's very close to the SAP center, so we were quite lucky that a Sharks game was not at the same time as the performance.

The Center For The Performing Arts had multiple entrances which made for a smooth entry. It also seemed like the venue was prepared for the crowd because trailers containg restrooms/porta potties were brought in. Now these aren't your everyday horrendously smelly, green porta potties, these were extremely nice trailers with four stalls, wood doors and nice sinks with water and soap.

The only reason why I gave this venue four stars is because the seats are extremely low to the ground, each row is very narrow. It is so narrow that you must stand up to let somebody pass by. The other problem is each row is extremely long. Each row has between 20-70 seats, respectfully. Our row had about 55. The bad part is there is only one aisle on either side of the rows. As a result, if you need to get up in the middle of a performance and your seat is in the middle of the row; you're screwed. Granted most people are kind enough to not want to disrupt others, but just a thought when you are purchasing tickets and deciding what to eat for dinner before a show.

Another issue that came up, and the reason why my husband, who is a bigger guy, ended up not going to the performance was because the seats are a little tight for people who are more than 250 lb. The seats themselves are roughly 22in wide.

Other than the slightly small seats for bigger people, low seats which caused me to constantly shift in my seat because of my bad knees, and the narrow rows, my son and I had a great time! We would definitely see a...