If you are looking for a talented group that specializes in professional, Broadway-style performances, then look no further than the American Musical Theatre of San Jose. All of their performances take place at the San Jose Center for the performing arts. The theatre also serves as a training ground of sorts for up-and-coming actors and actresses.

DOWNTOWN. Big Lil's Barbary Coast Dinner Theatre offers some of the best interactive theatre in the San Jose area. If you like the age-old plot line of the dastardly villain and absurdly good hero, then this theatre was made for you. The shows are vaudeville-like, and ragtime music is an added treat. A ticket for the performance costs $20; meanwhile, the cost for dinner and performance is around $40.

DOWNTOWN. If the night calls for a measure of culture, look no further than Opera San José. Founded in 1984 by Irene Dalis, the company is unusual in that it maintains a resident company of principals, allowing them regular performance opportunities in main-stage productions and in community programs and educational curricula. Past performances have included "The Magic Flute," "Carmen," "Madame Butterfly," and "Il turco in Italia." The California Theatre is a renovated, circa-1927 vaudeville theater that now seats 1100.#13;#10;

This talented volunteer company is dedicated to incredible vocal performances and to expanding San Jose's appreciation of choral arts. Performances range from the likes of Handel's "Messiah" to "A Celebration of Winds and Voices," a collaboration with the San Jose Wind Symphony. Concerts are presented in spring, fall, and winter, and the company regularly performs throughout the US and around the world. In existence since 1924.