The San Jose edition of Monopoly was released during a special event at the Winchester Mystery House on Monday, November 20, 2023. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
The new edition of Monopoly in San Jose was released Monday, and the most coveted spots on the board — what would normally be Boardwalk and Park Place — were dedicated to two local landmarks with more than 150 years of history between them: the Winchester Mystery House and the Original. Joe’s.
Fittingly, the game — which is now on sale for $39.95 at Amazon, CVS and other retailers — was unveiled at the Winchester Mystery House, where Mr. Monopoly himself posed for photos with Original Joe’s co-owner Brad Rocca, director of Winchester Mystery House. Director Walter Magnuson and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, among others.
“San Jose has so much history, so much to be proud of, so much to celebrate and this is just one more great opportunity to do it,” Mahan said. “I know we are all very excited to see many of our local landmarks and our local history and culture be commemorated on this game board for generations to come.”
Rocca, the owner of Original Joe, said he’s proud that the iconic downtown restaurant has such a prominent spot on the board — and frankly, he expected nothing less. Mr. Monopoly must agree because he planned to go to the South First Street restaurant Monday evening to greet diners.
The board also has some pleasant surprises: Longtime San Jose business Peters’ Bakery occupies one of the properties and $15 Sewer and Drain, a San Jose company founded in 1983, owns the spaces utilities. VTA has a monopoly on all four rail spaces, although they all have buses instead of light rail.
Popular hangouts like Santana Row, San Pedro Square and Plaza de Cesar Chavez have their place on the board, created by Top Trumps and licensed by Hasbro. Downtown attractions including Tech Interactive, Children’s Discovery Museum, California Theater, Civic Auditorium, Center for the Performing Arts and Christmas in the Park all have their place, as does San Jose State .
Nature lovers will appreciate that Alum Rock Park, Coyote Valley and the Japanese Friendship Garden are also represented, and the board even extends well beyond the city limits to include the Año Nuevo State Park, Santa Cruz Beach, and Natural Bridges State Beach.
So what went wrong? The Sharks and SAP Center appear to have stayed away, the Richard Meier-designed San Jose City Hall failed to make the cut, and History Park’s electric light tower was left in the dark. There’s also no Signia by Hilton hotel and no mention of San Jose-based tech companies like Adobe, Zoom, Cisco or eBay — or other Valley giants like Google, Apple or Facebook. Maybe these businesses seem to belong to everyone and not just San Jose.
THE PRANK IS WITH THEM: Maybe it was just me, but it felt like the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief when San Jose Stage Co. opened “The Play That Goes Wrong” Saturday night. This was the third time in the past two years that San Jose Stage has put comedy on its schedule, with previous attempts having been delayed for various reasons, including, of course, COVID-19.
But the third time proved to be the charm, especially with Kenneth Kelleher leading an all-star cast of stage favorites – almost all of whom had worked together on other shows, which no doubt helped with the timing precision required for very physical comedy. Artistic director Randall King said he had some concerns about releasing a farce given all the problems currently happening in the world, but it made him feel good to see the audience laughing. “We all need to laugh right now,” he said. “It was good timing for the show.”
It runs through December 17 and tickets are available at www.thestage.org.
PERFECT SHEET: The San Jose Fencing Center held a grand 40th anniversary celebration Saturday night, hearing from founding coach Peter Burchard and surprise coach Connie Young Yu with a lifetime achievement award. Yu told me she was inspired by Alexandre Dumas’s “The Three Musketeers” when she was younger, but life intervened and she didn’t take up fencing until later in life. life. As a coach, she continues to inspire the next generation, including her own daughter, award-winning filmmaker Jessica Yu, who was a two-time All-American in fencing at Yale.
Gn En tech