American Musical Theatre of San Jose Brings the Final Curtain Down

One of the South Bay's "longest-running cultural institutions," American Musical Theatre of San Jose, is calling it quits. The Broadway musical-ish theater will halt all performances this week and file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

But in an odd twist, according to theater officials, AMT's failure doesn't necessarily stem from the current economic crisis that has slowed tickets sales across the country, but rather "by the collapse of the touring production of Disney's Tarzan that AMT was mounting with theaters in Atlanta and Dallas." According to Robert Nazarenus, American Musical Theater’s chief financial officer, "The cancellation of Tarzan meant nearly a $2 million loss to us."

Disney musicals, it now seems clear, are much more harmful than we ever knew. Beware.