Tonight my husband, our daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of three shows now running at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, courtesy of the 8th annual Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival. As with other shows we've attended in past years, this one was playing to a full house.
The other offerings this year are A Midsummer Night's Dream and Jungle Book. I haven't seen them, but it is the same, strong cast (the Festival Theater Ensemble).
What is a little amazing to me is to realize that several of the ensemble members act in all three shows, which are running concurrantly. So for instance, Friday they performed in A Midsummer Night's Dream, tonight was The Merry Wives of Windsor, and tomorrow night will be The Jungle Book. Although my own experience performing onstage is very limited, it seems to me that doing three shows at once is a lot like trying to study Italian, Spanish and French in the same semester: it is probably very challenging to do it gracefully, not stumble or get confused.
But to watch them tonight, you'd never know that there was any other show to perform this week. All of the acting was good, with particularly stellar jobs done by Todd Wright (playing Falstaff) and Rachael Bakker (as Mistress Margaret Page). The lighting, sound, costumes, sets and everything that backs up good acting was right on target too.
Congratulations to the cast, crew, directors, producers and gazillion volunteers on another very successful run! Thanks to all of you who make this festival the newer tradition that we appreciate so much.
Some practical stuff for attending the shows:
Shows are at 8pm and last 2 hrs, 40 minutes with intermission. They do take credit cards and checks. If you want to attend all three shows, buy them as a bundle and save some money (see website for details).
Other stuff: Nice looking fleece sweaters and tshirts, as well as caps and other goodies, can be purchased and coffee, tea and cookies are available during the intermission for whatever donation you'd care to make.
Parking at the Oak Meadow lot can be iffy when the summer evenings are pleasant, as they were tonight (apparently it was foggy and cold last night!). Street parking is always a choice but it may take a little time. So to get the best seats (as you can probably tell from the photo, we were in the top row) and better parking, arrive 20 or 30 minutes early (not the 7 or 8 we did.)
And - I cannot stress this enough - dress in layers! The temperature drops considerably once the sun goes down. Bring your jacket, bring a blanket. You'll be glad you did.
Every couple of weeks I get a phone call or an email from someone who wants to get a "cheap" home in Los Gatos by finding a bank owned house or condo, or a short sale, here in town. Real estate prices in Silicon Valley have fallen substantially due to foreclosed homes, but the areas primarily impacted are the least expensive neighborhoods, not the most expensive ones.
So let's have a look at the numbers. The chart below is data gleaned by me this morning from MLSListings.com, our mls provider.
Currently for sale, available
Available
Avail Short Sales
Avail REOs
% Normal Sales
Santa Clara County SFH
2871
584
214
72.20%
Santa Clara County Condos & TH
915
252
71
64.70%
Los Gatos & Monte Sereno SFH
201
14
5
90.55%
Los Gatos & MS Condos & TH
51
4
0
92.16%
Sold & Closed within last 30 days
Sold
Sold Short Sales
Sold REOs
% Normal Sales
Santa Clara County SFH
1707
229
522
56.00%
Santa Clara County Condos & TH
362
47
123
53.04%
Los Gatos & Monte Sereno SFH
33
2
0
93.94%
Los Gatos & MS Condos & TH
9
1
0
88.89%
The majority of homes selling & closing in Santa Clara County are "regular" or non-distressed sales and in Los Gatos (as in other high-end areas), the percentage of short sales and bank owned properties are very low.
Bottom line: while there are some very good deals to be found in Los Gatos &Monte Sereno (as well as in Almaden,and Sarato, there are not a lot of foreclosures to buy and prices have not dropped so dramatically in these areas as in other parts of Silicon Valley.
In recent years, the town of Los Gatos has enjoyed a historic walking tour, "A Walk in and Out of the Past". The date moves around a bit but I didn't see it on any schedule and was wondering what happened to it as it's truly a delightful way to reconnect with the town's past.
As it turns out, Carol Gruetzner (who is in charge of the walk and created the concept) is recovering from some ankle surgery, so no walk is planned for this calendar year. However, the familiar cast of historical characters from the wild west days of Los Gatos are returning this Sunday, July 19th, 2009 - they will just be in one place this time rather than scattered around several blocks of the downtown.
The Vine to Wine exhibit is equally historical and will include the favorites from the last few years, and it will be a free event (unlike the walk) located at the Los Gatos history museum (Forbes Mill). Stop by the history museum at Forbes Mill (75 Church Street, near Los Gatos high and tucked away off the main drag) on Sunday afternoon between 1 and 4 pm for the exhibit, and between 1:15 and 3 for the visit of historic characters.
I was sorry to read that not only is our lovely Los Gatos Smith & Hawkin store to close, but all of the stores around the country are closing, with 700 employees losing their jobs. Apparently it will be closed sometime this calendar year, with sales ongoing between now and then.
Congregation Shir Hadash formed a Re-employment group in February of 2009 to provide skill building programs and mutual support for the local South Bay Jewish community and is welcoming the wider community to participate. Meetings are every other Wednesday from 10:30 to 11:30am. Dave Slesnick, an HR professional and congregant, is coordinating the group.
For more information, please contact Rabbi Melanie Aron at 358-1751 x 4 or RabbiAron@ShirHadash.org. On Linked In? Log in, search for the group "Congregation Shir Hadash Re-Employment Group" and request to join it. If you have job leads to share, please write to jobs@ShirHadash.org.
From 11am until 5:30pm, there will be loads of fun events to celebrate Independence Day in downtown Los Gatos. The town has a flyer with detailed information on the entertainment (music, dancing, games) and more. Happy Fourth of July!
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, SRES, E-PRO
Luxor Real Estate Group
Mailing Address for Mary: PO Box 440 Los Gatos, CA 95031-0440
877 397-5391 (office/toll-free)
Tonight my husband, our daughter and I enjoyed a wonderful performance of The Merry Wives of Windsor, one of three shows now running at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, courtesy of the 8th annual 
But to watch them tonight, you'd never know that there was any other show to perform this week. All of the acting was good, with particularly stellar jobs done by Todd Wright (playing Falstaff) and Rachael Bakker (as Mistress Margaret Page). The lighting, sound, costumes, sets and everything that backs up good acting was right on target too.
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