Los Altos Stage Company

My wife and I saw «Man of La Mancha» on Sunday, December 13. It is a spectacular performance — better than the Peter O’Toole/Sophia Loren version from the movie. The singing and live musical accompaniment is top notch. It’s a great show, quite moving.

Just saw Man of la Mancha here… first time since I saw it on Broadway as a teenager. They really did it justice — it was a pleasure to watch. What a great team!

We’ve seen five performances here, and consider it community theater at its best. It’s a small, intimate venue, with seating close to the stage. The actors are excellent, and had us rolling in the aisles with laughter in The Trailer Park Musical. A small gripe is that they wait until 15 minutes before show time to seat you.

This is a really interesting local theater, and I think you should check it out.
Coupla things that come to mind when I think of Los Altos Stage: Smart, friendly, accessible.
As someone who enjoys theater but didn’t study it or work in theater, I think LASC presents an interesting mix of «classics» (think Cat on a Hot Tin Roof or The Fantasticks) and plays you theater buffs probably know well but I hadn’t seen before (in the past year, for example, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, House of Blue Leaves).
The quality is consistently high, so you definitely get your money’s worth at LASC.

Came here w/​six others to see ‘cat on a hot tin roof’. Purchased my tix via a 3^rd party and had a little snafu in getting them all.
Like most of the comm theaters in the bay area, it’s an intimate setting, seating around 80 ppl or so (?). It’s a small theater so it doens’t matter where you sit. We sat in the 1^st row and i think it’s better further in the back actually. The show was very good. We enjoyed it alot. GPS led me to the city library. The theater is just a yellow bldg diagnoally behind the library.
If you want to eat before the show, downtown is about 1.5 miles away.
Soda was sold during intermission. I think it’d be nice if they had a bigger variety (healthier) to include water and perhaps some juices & maybe fruit. The play was very long (3 hours) so I got abit hungry despite having had some food prior.

We saw Avenue Q here — hilarious!
This little theater is really cute. Parking is super easy and the spot is easy to find. Walking in, it is a small theater, so you really can’t find a bad seat in the house. We were up close on the left and we could see everything perfectly. But if you were in the back, I think it would be just fine too. The acting was fantastic, the staff was helpful and welcoming. They even had little snacks to buy during the break. They have a really small outdoor style bathroom, which is the only drawback with so many ladies.
This is a lovely theater and we would definitely consider coming back.

It’s like going to someplace ordinary and then opening the doors to discover a secret world that only few have laid eyes on.
Bus Barn was apparently a barn for old school buses, that’s where it got the name. They have clearly turned it into something delightfully more creative than the name (although the new name «Los Altos Stage Company» is far less quaint than the previous name). There are only 7 rows, and about 100 seats. The seating is cozy and it feels as though you are watching a private show, just for you and a handful of friends! No seat is a bad seat. The ticket prices are a fraction of the cost compared to a larger theater, and the quality of performance is up to snuff with Broadway. In fact, having experienced Avenue Q for the first time at Bus Barn, I went on to compare the performance to the original New York show. The actors at Bus Barn had better voices and line delivery compared to New York, in my opinion.
One suggestion: if you go to an evening show, plan to eat dinner in advance or bring snacks to eat during the 15 minute break. Perhaps Bus Barn should consider adding a vending machine-​type snacks and drinks bar during halftime!
If you are looking for a fun date night, group activity, or family outing — Bus Barn is a good place to spend your time and money! It beats going bowling every weekend.

Cute little place in Los Altos. Parking is great and prices are not bad. Watched Avenue Q here last night and AMAZING and HILARIOUS. LOVED IT! BF saw the play in dtwn SJ and loved this version just as much as the larger one. Def would come back. Very impressed with the performance and the bathroom was pretty clean considering it’s like a outdoor public park style restroom.

What a cool space! The outside totally belies the fully-​functional black box theatre on the inside. They work really well with the space they have– the bathrooms are clean and functional, but outside… like at a beach.
Productions here are affordable, and well above the quality of your average community theatre. Their production of Avenue Q was especially phenomenal… Almost Broadway quality! They choose shows that have wide appeal, and I can’t wait to see some of the ones in their upcoming season!

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players, but this particular stage used to be a bus barn.
I found the name Bus Barn Stage curious when arranging for the show. Once I arrived and saw the place I realize that it used to be a barn/​shed that housed school buses. There is ample parking in the front. The theater itself is quite nice. The seats are comfortable and has stadium seating so there’s not really a bad seat. The theater is small and cozy.
The worst part is that the bathrooms are hard to find and gross. They are outside of the theater to the left and around behind the box office. The bathroom is also like a state park bathroom that is open and exposed and not very clean. It’s not bad for guys but I suggest women go before they get to the theater.

Attended the opening night of SYLVIA, January 28. Bravo to director, Marcia Frederick, for her skillful staging of this romantic comedy, by A.R. Gurney. Kudos also to cast members, Greg Boswell, Sondra Putnam, Katie O’Bryon, and Michael Sally. Each character was brought to life with energy and verve. Katie O’Bryon is spectacular! as SYLVIA, Go see this play.

We came here last Saturday to watch a fabulous performance: «Angels of America» by First Stages. Full house!!! It was directed by an impressive high school senior called Revati Dhomse. The cast — both teenagers and adults — are just AMAZING in this show. Extremely talented and impressive. The energy is amazing. It’s hilarious, funky, and emotionally powerful at the same time. Wonderful interpretation of Tony Kushner’s work by both professional and semi-​professional /​young /​very young actors! Bus Barn’s Barbara Cannon is amazing too!
And I love the physical layout of the theater. It feels super homey, cozy and quaint! It’s a small-​scale community theater located in the quiet, small town-​like Los Altos, near the Los Altos library and city hall. The stage and the size of the theater is small enough to allow you to feel the dramatic impact shooting out at you from the stage, yet big enough to house a relatively large audience. Surrounded by greenery. Ample parking. Super friendly staff. What a wonderful hidden gem… Definitely would come back for some other shows soon!

Saw another great show last night, still love it there.

So you live south of Palo Alto but still like to have some culture in your life. besides going to the movies. The theatre in the city is great but that long drive home is a huge drawback. Enter the Bus Barn Theatre. Great quality theatre in your backyard. We just saw «Bus Stop» on Friday and it was fabulous.

This was my first visit to the Bus Barn and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I have driving by Hillview Ave many times over the years but I had no idea this was here. The Bus Barn is surrounded by a large field where soccar games take place on Saturday mornings. Yesterday was a beautiful day and daughter and I went to see Dr. Noize. He was awesome! He is full of energy and gets the kids excited and up on the stage playing instruments and dancing. My daughter had a blast! And it was clear the other kids were having a great time too! I could see the parents getting into it too, having fun watching their children having fun!
The Bus Barn is a little theater, maybe 100 seats, and it’s nice and intimate. It’s nicely set up and the rows are easy to get by in, unlike some smaller theaters. It lends itself to letting the kids stand up during a performance. I loved this little gem of a theater. I will definetly take my daughter back for another show.

The Bus Barn Theater is a funky little community-​based theater company housed on the edge of Hillview Park in Los Altos. It turns out it is one of the Packard family’s many influences on the area as it is was started with seed money from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. I’ve had two very different theater experiences here — I saw «Enchanted April» with a bunch of girlfriends then came back with my kids for the mother of all kids concerts — the double bill of Andy Z and Dr. Noize.
From the ticket booth to the snack bar and the ushers, these folks go the extra mile to make sure your experience is pleasant! The kids event couldn’t have been an easy one for holding their composure either — just imagine, large packs of small children all under the age of 8 and their parents. (Honestly, I saw many examples of parents being a bigger pain.) The theater experience viewing «Enchanted April» was a lot more subdued and restrained.
My bottom line point here though is whether they’re delivering culture in the form of a classic play or rocking the roof off the place with the kiddies, the Bus Barn theater and its staff is equipped to handle it all. If you haven’t seen a production there yet, do yourself a favor and treat yourself to one as soon as possible!
Here’s their season schedule: