It\u2019s a big weekend for Kikau Alvaro, the new artistic director of Children\u2019s Musical Theater of San Jose, who is directing \u201cFinding Neverland,\u201d the musical based on the 2004 movie about Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie.<\/p>\n
Alvaro\u2019s directed lots of shows before, but this is one of CMT San Jose\u2019s Marquee Productions \u2014 a fundraiser that includes working actors and CMT alumni in the cast. While the season started with two shows last month, this one will likely draw a wider audience and put Alvaro in a bigger spotlight as the person who took over for Kevin Hauge, who retired this spring after 30 seasons in the role.<\/p>\n
![\"Director](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764956117_526_SJM-L-PIZARRO-COL-1205-2.jpg\")
Director Kikau Alvaro works with crew members on the set during a rehearsal for \u201cFinding Neverland\u201d at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. Alvaro is the new artistic director of Children\u2019s Musical Theater. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n
But Hauge\u2019s legacy as a national leader in youth theater is more inspiring than intimidating for Alvaro, who worked with Hauge since he performed in a production of the jukebox musical \u201cLeader of the Pack\u201d as a teenager.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my mentor for\u00a0so many years, directing and choreographing my own shows,\u201d said Alvaro, 45. \u201cIt\u2019s been glorious being in this spot because I can really appreciate the kind of artistic excellence he held at every level. It has really felt like I have inherited a really amazing opportunity, and I can appreciate every single second of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alvaro\u2019s career has woven together education and regional theater. He served as associate artistic director at Virginia Repertory Theatre from 2017-21 and most recently as an associate professor of musical theater at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His CMT credentials include directing or choreographing \u201cOnce on this Island,\u201d \u201cThe Drowsy Chaperone\u201d and \u201cAvenue Q,\u201d as well as serving as an associate director or choreographer on several other shows and working in similar roles with Bay Area companies like TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n
![\"Director](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1764956117_140_SJM-L-PIZARRO-COL-1205-5.jpg\")
Director Kikau Alvaro on the set during a rehearsal for \u201cFinding Neverland\u201d at the Montgomery Theater in San Jose, Calif., on Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2025. Alvaro is the new artistic director of Children\u2019s Musical Theater. (Jane Tyska\/Bay Area News Group)<\/p>\n
At CMT, Alvaro expects to honor and continue some longstanding traditions while being open to new things, too. This year, the company held an open house for the first time at its Creative Arts Center on Parkmoor Avenue that allowed residents in the neighborhood to enjoy an ice cream social and peruse the costume shop. \u201cIt was a good example of how new traditions can be born,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also excited for San Jose audiences to see \u201cFinding Neverland,\u201d which ran on Broadway about a decade ago, followed by a national tour in 2016-18 (which had its second to last stop at the Center for the Performing Arts).<\/p>\n
\u201cNot a lot of people may be familiar with the show, but they know the characters,\u201d he said. \u201cI really do think \u2018Finding Neverland\u2019 is a great family show,. While it doesn\u2019t have anything to do with the holiday season, there\u2019s something really family related about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFinding Neverland\u201d runs through Dec. 14 at the Montgomery Theater. You can get more information about the show and the rest of the current season at www.cmtsj.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n ARTISTIC COLLABORATION: MACLA has partnered with the Montalvo Arts Center on its new exhibition, \u201cFrom Their Hands to Ours,\u201d which opens Friday night at MACLA\u2019s downtown San Jose gallery.<\/p>\n The exhibition, which highlights how ancestral wisdom and childhood experiences shape identity, features new work by\u00a0Estefania Ajcip, Miguel Arzabe, rafa esparza , Edra Soto and Arleene Correa Valencia. The artists \u2014 whose work includes painting, sculpture, textile art, and video \u2014 will be part of an artist talk during an opening night reception, which begins at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n The opening is just one of many events taking place Friday night during the monthly South First Fridays Art Walk. You can get a full listing and a walking map at www.southfirstfridays.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n HOLIDAY CALENDAR: Wanda Buck, a longtime community leader and volunteer in Santa Clara, will be the Honorary Tree Lighter at the city\u2019s 114th annual Holiday Tree Lighting in Central Park on Friday evening. The festivities begin at 5:30 p.m., but Buck won\u2019t perform her official duties until 7 p.m., leaving time for entertainment from groups including the Roberta Jones Junior Theatre Choir and the Santa Clara Elite Dance Team as well as taking photos with\u00a0Santa and the recently unveiled FIFA World Cup Countdown Clock. You can get more details at santaclaraca.gov\/holidaytreelighting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Los Gatos also will have its tree-lighting festivities Friday night starting at 5 p.m. at Town Plaza Park, where the grand Deodar Cedar tree \u2014 planted in 1923 \u2014 will be illuminated. Of course, that\u2019s just a prelude to Saturday\u2019s big event, the 69th annual Los Gatos Children\u2019s Parade, which will have Los Gatos High School teacher Kurt Kroesche as grand marshal. The parade, organized by the Lions Club of Los Gatos and Los Gatos-Saratoga Recreation, starts at 11 a.m. at North Santa Cruz and Almendra avenues. It proceeds through town before the finish in front of the Civic Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a big weekend for Kikau Alvaro, the new artistic director of Children\u2019s Musical Theater of San Jose,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[7,967,23,88,90,89,1058,420],"class_list":{"0":"post-82989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-san-jose","12":"tag-san-jose-headlines","13":"tag-san-jose-news","14":"tag-theater","15":"tag-things-to-do"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}