San Jose Center for the Performing Arts

The venue is a favorite. But the parking for the Nutcracker was a huge mess. There's absolutely no effort to guide people to open parking lots. Two lots I used before we're closed/full, River Park and the convention center. Luckily searching on my Model 3 provides a list of other choices. They really need to step up and make downtown easier to find parking for events and shopping.

Two Stars is for the venue, not the performers. I saw the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Orchestra here. The show and orchestra was great. The venue, acoustics, and sound system were not good. There was a pretty bad echo of all the percussion instruments from what seemed to be the actual sound traveling before the microphones and speakers were projecting the sound. To make this worse, the speaker just above me was hissing and crackling with white noise pops through the entire show. I really wanted to get into the music more, but the sound system was really bad. This venue needs to work more on restricting movement during the performance, and waiting until songs are finished before allowing late people in. All through the performance people were entering and scooting down the long rows of people to get to their seats. This is very distracting. Between this and the sound system, I probably wouldn't return for another show.

Went to Alton Brown: Live, Last Bite performance. Great venue but the rows are like 30+ seats wide so folks have to step over you to get to middle seats. Great acoustics, clear line of sight to the stage. Comfortable seats.

There are No bad seats at this performing arts center. The bathrooms are clean and large enough that even when there is a line the lines move quickly and it's not a problem. If you have any issues with vertigo I would recommend staying out of the balcony as it does feel a little steep up there however any other seat in the house is absolutely perfect. My family doesn't like going to any other theater except this one for when we want to see a show. So much so in fact that I have subscribed to their ticket subscription for my entire family.

It is difficult getting into the rows, with them being the full width of the theatre. The seats are comfortable, but it's difficult to avoid contact with folks adjacent. For those who take advantage of sign language interpretation during select shows, be aware that the interpreters are on the right side in the middle rows of the orchestra section, so choose where you sit carefully. They also have assistive listening devices available.