Review: Some Like It Hot!

My wife purchased tickets to the Some Like It Hot! musical playing at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, October 25, 2025.

Before attending the performance, we decided to stop by Scott's Seafood in downtown San Jose for dinner. While traffic was light, we had difficulty finding inexpensive parking. The outdoor parking lot near the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts had a more reasonable price of $10/day (while many others charged as much as $30).

We arrived at Scott's Seafood a bit late. Inna had made reservations for 17:15, but after parking nearby and walking to the restaurant, we arrived at 17:30 (and our reservation was cancelled). However, the restaurant was not busy and quickly accommodated us.

After looking at the menu, we ordered the following items:

• Inna: Cup of Lobster Bisque, Large Seared Ahi Tuna Salad
• Boris: Seafood Saute (shrimp, scallops, rice)
• Drinks: Sparkling Water

Inna liked her Lobster Bisque and Ahi Tuna Salad. I thought my Seafood Saute was excellent.  After dinner, we walked around, noticing celebrations for the Diwali festival nearby.

Eventually, we strolled back to the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts and sat down in our seats (row 6) for the musical. Inna and I both really liked the movie, Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe, and we were looking forward to the musical.

Fortunately, the musical was excellent and closely followed the movie's plotlines. There was a 20-minute intermission at around 21:00, and the show was surprisingly long (over 2.5 hours).

Both Inna and I really liked the show, as it was fast-paced, entertaining, and light-hearted. We would definitely be happy to see it again.

Some Like It Hot Review

Highlights

• Excellent singing, dancing, staging, and decorations (close to a Broadway-quality show)
• Well-paced, with lots of interesting dialogue
• Favorite song: Let's Be Bad
• The actor playing Osgood was clever and funny

Lowlights

• Initially, I had difficulty understanding the words being sung (maybe more clarity in the sound system would have been helpful)
• Not too many catchy songs except for Let's Be Bad.

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Suzuki No. 34 Classical Guitar

As I started playing more classical guitar music on my Yamaha FG830 acoustic (metal-string) guitar, I ran into difficulties with the narrow string spacing common to most metal-string acoustics. Unlike modern acoustics, classical guitars are strung with nylon strings, with the strings further apart to allow more space for plucking.

I decided that to perfect the classical guitar technique, I really needed to learn on a Classical, nylon-string guitar and started my search online.

At first, I looked at new instruments only, focusing on the following classical guitars:

• Yamaha CG192C Classical Guitar ($679 on Amazon.com). Made in China
• Yamaha CG172SF Flamenco Guitar ($439 at Starving Musician Made in China
• Cordoba C7 CD Classical Acoustic ($599 on Amazon.com or Sweetwater) Made in China

I really liked the Yamaha CG172SF Flamenco guitar with its low action and beautiful tone, and I was ready to purchase it if I could not find a better used guitar.

I was hesitant about the Cordoba brand due to mixed reviews about quality issues, particularly since all guitars are made in China. 

I looked at some used classical guitars on the local, SF Bay Craigslist and found the following:

• 2020 Cordoba C10 ($699) at Starving Musician. (Sold before I could consider it)
• 2021 Cordoba C9 CD Luthier Series ($700) Made in China
• 1975 Suzuki Violin No. 34 ($250) Made in Japan

Both the Cordoba C9 and the Suzuki Violin No. 34 looked and sounded excellent. I decided to purchase the Suzuki, as it was extremely light, sounded beautiful, and was made in Japan (specifically in Nagoya). Japanese luthiers are well known as among the best in the world.

After purchasing the Suzuki, I took it into my local Music Village (Union Ave.) to have the guitar examined and re-strung with new strings.

Luis Gonzalez (the shop's luthier) examined the guitar and installed D'Addario Pro-Arte Classical Carbon Strings (EJ45FF) in normal tension. The guitar sounds beautiful with these strings, and I look forward to playing it.

Suzuki No. 34 Classical Guitar Review

Highlights

• Extremely light (solid woods)
• Like-new condition (well taken care of)
• Made by the Suzuki Violin Company in Nagoya, Japan, in 1975, Serial: 750417
• Used price of $250 (very reasonable)
• Leather case included

Lowlights

• Original nylon strings were a bit rusty and needed to be replaced

Classical Guitar Learning

Name	Focus / What Makes It Good	Notes / Cost & Feedback
Classical Guitar Corner (CGC)	Very structured curriculum (grades 1–8), video lessons + PDF downloads + community & live workshops	Paid membership, but good mix of free lessons too (Classical Guitar Corner)
This Is Classical Guitar (Bradford Werner's site)	Free lessons, suitable for beginners and intermediate players — technique, repertoire, etc.	A strong "always available" resource. (Classical Guitar)
Classical Guitar Shed	Practical tutorials, tips on technique, strategies for learning pieces, etc.	Some free content, more with "premium" plans. (Classical Guitar Shed)
ArtistWorks – Jason Vieaux Course	Video‐based lessons + video submissions & feedback from a master guitarist	More expensive, but valuable for personal feedback. (ArtistWorks)
Berklee Online – Classical Guitar 101	A formal course from a respected institution covering basics, repertoire, and technique	Has deadlines and structure (more "course-like") (Berklee Online)
Tonebase	Hundreds of tutorials + courses from top classical guitarists	Especially good for intermediate/advanced players; paid subscription. (tonebase)
LAGA Classical (Los Angeles Guitar Academy Online)	Structured lessons from beginner → advanced, with faculty feedback	Suitable for students who want guided growth. (onlineguitaracademy.net)
EliteGuitaristClassical.com	Extensive video library, piece-by-piece tutorials, technique modules	Helpful in picking specific repertoire and detailed breakdowns. (ELITE GUITARIST)
iClassical Academy	Focuses on masterclasses and advanced-level courses	Suitable for when you want to learn from big names in classical guitar. (Wikipedia)

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