Children's Musical Theater San Jose Names Kikau Alvaro as New Artistic Director

Children’s Musical Theater San Jose Board of Directors and Managing Director Dana Zell named Kikau Alvaro as the new Artistic Director, succeeding Kevin Hauge, who will retire at the end of the current season.
 
“I am honored to join the leadership team at CMTSJ, a cultural institution and in so many ways the pride of the San Jose arts community,” said Alvaro. “I look forward to bringing my artistic and leadership experience to this nationally acclaimed arts organization and to carry on the legacy of producing high quality award-winning work, building community, and nurturing skills on and off stage through dynamic performance and educational opportunities. My experience as a performer, director, choreographer, producer, and educator has led me to this amazing opportunity and I am so grateful!”
 
“Kikau Alvaro embodies the heart and spirit of CMT—both as an alumnus and as a visionary leader who will guide us into the next chapter while staying true to our core values,” said Board Chair Carin Watson. “His breadth of experience as a performer, director, choreographer, and mentor, combined with his authenticity, warmth, and ability to inspire young artists, made him the clear choice to follow in Kevin Hauge’s extraordinary footsteps. We are thrilled to welcome him home to San Jose and CMT, where his creativity and leadership will shape the next 30 years.”
 
“The search for CMT's new Artistic Director has been an incredible collaborative process. With leadership and unwavering support from Management Consultants for the Arts (MCA), we had the privilege to meet many inspiring artists and leaders from across the country,” adds Zell. “Ultimately, Kikau won our hearts because of his well-rounded experience as multifaceted artist and educator, connections to the broader theater community in the Bay Area and beyond, his vision for endless possibilities of what CMT can become, and his inherent passion for this organization.” 
 
“Nothing is more important to me that the future of CMT,” said Hauge. “I have had the unique opportunity to witness Kikau's growth from a performer in his youth to his blossoming career as an arts educator, teacher, and director.  I'm confident that Kikau and Dana are the right team to create the next successful chapters of CMTs history.”

Kikau Alvaro will be returning to his hometown of San Jose after spending several years on the East Coast. He will be moving from Philadelphia with his husband Derrick and their puppy, Boggnes. 
 
Alvaro has been uniquely positioned for this role thanks to his leadership positions in higher education and regional theater. He served as the Associate Artistic Director at Virginia Repertory Theatre from 2017–2021, which is one of the largest performing arts organizations in Central Virginia, built the Musical Theatre program at Virginia Commonwealth University, and held leadership positions at University of the Arts as an Associate Professor of Musical Theatre, building new curriculum for the next generation of performers and artists. As a multi-hyphenate artist, he is a performer, director, choreographer, producer, and educator.  
 
Alvaro earned his MFA in Musical Theatre from San Diego State University in 2016 and is an Associate Member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). He also served as the Vice President of Conferences for Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance (MTEA). In addition to workshops he has given across the country, he taught Musical Theatre at Marymount Manhattan in New York City.
 
At Virginia Commonwealth University he directed and choreographed Little Shop of Horrors, Into the Woods, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and Spring Awakening on the Raymond Hodges Stage; as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Something Wonderful, a collaboration between the Music and Theatre departments at the Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall.
 
As the Associate Artistic Director of the Virginia Repertory Theatre, he directed and choreographed A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Richmond Theatre Critics Circle nominee for Best Direction: Musical), and The Wiz (RTCC award winner for Best Choreography, 2019); additionally, he choreographed Atlantis: a New Musical (World Premiere - RTCC nominee for Best Choreography), was the Associate Director of In the Heights, and Associate Director and Choreographer of Fun Home, a co-production with Virginia Rep and Cadence Theatre Company.  
 
Alvaro has worked on both new and previously produced musicals. He provided direction and/or choreography for Theatreworks Silicon Valley in Palo Alto, CA for the following productions:  Big River, [title of show], The Trouble With Doug, and Fly By Night (World Premiere).  Some of his other favorites include: Shrek, and Guys and Dolls (Diablo Theatre Center in Walnut Creek, CA—Shellie Award Nominations for Direction and Choreography); Anything Goes and Oklahoma! at Cabrillo Stage - Summer Musical Festival, Lysistrata Jones (Pace University), Urinetown (San Jose State University), and was the Associate Director to Josh Walden (Ragtime) on The Full Monty at Transcendence Theatre Company in Sonoma, CA and to Jeff Calhoun (Newsies) on Elvis: A Musical Revolution at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. 
 
At CMTSJ, he directed and choreographed Once on this Island, The Drowsy Chaperone and Avenue Q.  He was the Associate Director and/or Choreographer on Oklahoma!, The Who’s Tommy, Disney’s When You Wish, The Secret Garden, Chicago, and A Chorus Line. He has served as an adjudicator for the Junior Theater Festival, which is the world’s “biggest and best celebration of young people performing musical theater” since 2013 at JTF Atlanta, JTF West in Sacramento, and JTF Texas in Sugar Land, TX. 
 
As a performer, Alvaro is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association (AEA). He originated the role of Captain of the Guard in Up Here at La Jolla Playhouse, a new musical written by Bobby Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez (Frozen), directed by Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge) and choreographed by Josh Bergasse (On The Town, SMASH).   He performed classic Lerner and Loewe songs during Modernism Week as part of a celebration of composer Frederick Loewe at his estate in Palm Springs.  He has also performed at The Old Globe Theatre in a concert series called “Pushing the Envelope”, which made connections between Michael John LaChiusa and other visionary composers like Maury Yeston, Jeanine Tesori, and Adam Guettel.  In addition to this, he has been a part of a New Works collaboration between San Diego State University and La Jolla Playhouse, portraying the role of Albert in Tony Award winner BD Wong’s new musical, Mister Doctor; and Chase Spacegrove in the new musical, On the Eve, by indie band Home By Hovercraft.
 
Alvaro is the co-host of  “Carefully Taught: Teaching Musical Theatre with Kikau and Matty” a podcast with Matthew Teague Miller, an Associate Professor and Head of Musical Theater at Chico State University.
 
Now celebrating its 57th year as the longest thriving arts organization in Silicon Valley, CMT San Jose offers a robust arts education program along with 11 annual productions presented at the historic Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose. Alvaro assumes his new role as Artistic Director in August and will help usher in CMT's 58th season starting next fall.

CMT remains committed to train and educate today's youth through musical theater, to set and achieve high artistic and personal goals, and to inspire them to become exemplary artists, patrons and citizens of tomorrow. Inclusiveness and quality are the two touchstones of CMT's vision and the organization is committed to offer access to the arts for all youth in our community through an equitable lens. CMT is dedicated to providing the highest possible caliber of musical and theatrical training to children from ages 4 to 20, spanning all abilities and stands behind its promise to never turn a child away, regardless of financial or physical limitations.