Rubicon Presents 'WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?' 1/31

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its "Brave New World" Season with Edward Albee's most intoxicated and haunting play, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? The play will begin previews Thursday, January 29, open on Saturday, January 31 at 7pm and run through Sunday, February 22, 2009 at the Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura.

In this electrifying play, we meet George, a disillusioned academic, and Martha, his caustic wife, who have just come home from a faculty party. When a handsome young professor and his mousy wife stop by for a nightcap, an innocent night of fun and games quickly turns dark and dangerous. Long-buried resentments are unleashed as George and Martha turn their rapier-sharp wits against each other, using their guests as pawns in their verbal sparring. By night's end, the secrets of both couples are uncovered and the lies they cling to are exposed. Considered by many to be Albee's masterpiece, WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?? won both a Tony® Award and Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Play. Newsweek calls the play a "brilliantly original work of art -- an excoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire." Jenny Sullivan directs a cast led by Emmy Winner Joe Spano.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is an R-rated theatre production containing adult material. This production includes adult themes, hard language, some violence and sexually-oriented material. Parents are counseled to take this rating very seriously. Children under 17 are not allowed to attend this production unless by express written consent of a parent or adult guardian or accompanied by a parent or adult guardian. Parents are strongly urged to find out more about Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (scripts are available at your local library) to determine suitability for their children. Please note that this production also contains cigarette smoking on stage.

The cast of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? features Joe Spano (this year's Ovation Award winner for Best Actor in Rubicon's R. BUCKMINSTER FULLER: The History and Mystery of the Universe) as George, Karyl Lynn Burns as Martha and Jason Chanos as Nick. The role of Honey is still to be cast.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

JENNY SULLIVAN (Director) recently directed Rubicon's Hamlet, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Tuesdays with Morrie, all starring Joseph Fuqua; The Clean House, Dublin Carol and The Memory of Water at Ensemble Theatre in Santa Barbara; the West Coast Premiere of Jane Martin's Flags; Death of a Salesman with Stuart Margolin and Wendy Phillips at AUM in Alabama; and The Dresser with Len Cariou and Granville Van Dusen at Manitoba Theatre Centre. Other Rubicon credits include Happy Days with Robin Pearson Rose; Defying Gravity with Harold Gould, Stephanie Zimbalist and many of her favorite actors; Art with Cliff DeYoung, Joseph Fuqua and Bruce Weitz; Dancing at Lughnasa with Susan Clark, Bonnie Franklin and Stephanie Zimbalist; The Rainmaker with Stephanie Zimbalist; The Little Foxes with Linda Purl; two casts of Ancestral Voices; Love Letters with Jack Lemmon and Felicia Farr; and Old Wicked Songs with Harold Gould. Jenny was Associate Director for the L.A. production of The Vagina Monologues. Also in L.A., she directed premieres of Ad Wars, The Cat's Meow. Against the Glass, The Awful Grace of God: a Portrait of RFK and Bicoastal Woman. Her World Premiere production of The Baby Dance began at Pasadena Playhouse and moved to Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre (CT Critics' Directing Award) and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway. In six seasons at Williamstown, Jenny directed MACS (A Macaroni Requiem), Defying Gravity, Hotel Oubliette, Dirt and The Ferry Back. Regional credits include work at San Jose Rep, and Access Theatre and the Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara. Jenny's film credits include "Access All Areas" and "The Next Best Thing" (in which she directed her father Barry). Rubicon produced the World Premiere of Jenny's play J for J with Jeff Kober and the late great John Ritter, which subsequently played at the Court Theatre in L.A. Jenny was appointed Rubicon's first Artistic Associate in 2003.

Edward Albee (Playwright) plays include The Zoo Story (1958), The American Dream (1960), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1961-62, Tony Award), Tiny Alice (1964), A Delicate Balance (1966, Pulitzer Prize and 1996 Tony Award), All Over (1971), Seascape (1974, Pulitzer Prize), The Lady From Dubuque (1977-78), The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981), Finding the Sun (1982), Marriage Play (1986-87), Three Tall Women (1991, Pulitzer Prize), Fragments (1993), The Lorca Play (1995), The Play About the Baby (1997), The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? (2002, Tony Award), Occupant (2001), Peter and Jerry: (ACT 1, Homelife. ACT 2, The Zoo Story.) (2004), and Me, Myself and I (2008). He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and president of the Edward F. Albee Foundation. Mr. Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980, and in 1996 he received both the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? features Scenic and Lighting design by Thomas Giamario. Sound Design by David Beaudry. Costume Design by Marcy Froehlich, Property Designer T. Theresa Scarano, hair and make-up design by Spanky Reynoso with production stage manager Kathleen J. Parsons.

ABOUT THE CAST

JOE SPANO (George) is a native of San Francisco and a graduate of the University of California. He made his Broadway debut in 1992 in the Roundabout Theater revival of Arthur Miller's The Price, with Eli Wallach, which was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival. West Coast stage credits include Eduardo Pavlovsky's Potestad, and David Mamet's Speed the Plow and American Buffalo, for which
he was awarded an L.A. Drama Critics' Circle Award. At Rubicon Theatre in Ventura he has played General Burgoyne in George Bernard Shaw's Devil's Disciple, Greg in A. R. Gurney's Sylvia, Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the title character in Doug Jacob's R. Buckminster Fuller, the History and Mystery of the Universe, for which he was honored with an Ovation Award for Lead Actor. He is a founding member of three theatre companies, including Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Joe is an Emmy® Award winner (for "Midnight Caller") and starred for 7 years as Lt. Henry Goldblume on the television series "Hill Street Blues." He also starred in the series "Mercy Point," "Amazing Grace," "Murder One" and "NYPD Blue." He has starred in 20 films made for television and guest-starred on 38 television shows. For the last 5 years he has played FBI Agent Tobias Fornell on "NCIS." He has appeared in 30 feature films, including "Hart's War," "Primal Fear," "Apollo 13," "American Graffiti,"
"Hollywoodland," "Fracture" and, most recently, "Frost/Nixon," directed by Ron Howard. He is a past director and current e-mail coordinator of the Southern California chapter of Families with Children
from China; and a founding, past board member of the Half the Sky Foundation, which brings early childhood development training and infant nurturing programs to orphanages in China. He and Joan Zerrien are the parents of 13-year-old Liana Clare Xiaohe Spano and 10-year-old Meili Qing Spano.

KARYL LYNN BURNS (Martha) recently appeared at Rubicon with Bruce Weitz and Lauren Patten as Mrs. Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank. Other Rubicon roles include Hannah Mae in A Couple White Chicks..., Melissa in Love Letters (with husband and Rubicon co-founder James O'Neil), the Mother in Samuel Beckett's Footfalls (helmed by German director Walter Asmus as part of the first West Coast BeckettFest), the title role in Shirley Valentine (for which she received Rep, Indie and Drama-Logue Awards), Birdie in The Little Foxes (with Linda Purl) and Rosie
in Dancing at Lughnasa (with Susan Clark, Bonnie Franklin and Stephanie Zimbalist). The latter two were directed by Jenny Sullivan, with whom she is thrilled to be reunited.
Other local appearances include the title role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Gooch in Mame and Adelaide in Guys and Dolls (Indie Award/Drama-Logue Award) for Santa Barbara CLO; the premiere of Dale Wasserman's Shakespeare and the Indians and Man of La Mancha for Santa Barbara Rep; leads in The Heiress (Robby Award nomination), Mrs. California, The Importance of Being Earnest, Dracula, Come Back to the Five and Dime..., Scapin's Scandals and Romeo and Juliet over multiple seasons with Ensemble Theatre. Karyl Lynn appeared in the West Coast premiere of Heat at Night Flight Theatre and Animal Kingdom at the Liberty Theatre. On television, she had a recurring role as Nellie on the NBC series "Against the Grain" and was featured on "Another World" and "Aaron's Way." Karyl Lynn trained at the University of Kansas and American Conservatory Theatre.

JASON CHANOS (Nick) was last seen by theatre audiences in The Theatre @ Boston Court's production of 1001 and the Rubicon theatre's award-winning production of Bus Stop. Since moving to the West Coast in 2005, he has performed in productions of Ubu Roi and The Tempest at A Noise Within Theatre Company, The Uneasy Chair at The Ensemble Theatre, co-starred on episodes of "Cold Case" and "Numb3rs" for CBS, and filmed several independent movies. Previously, he worked as a regional stage actor, performing in numerous theatres across the Rocky Mountain and East Coast regions for over 13 years. He won several acting awards for starring roles in Hamlet and the one-man show Fully Committed. Other award-winning credits include The Merchant of Venice (Denver Center Theatre Company),
The Last Night of Ballyhoo (Kansas City Repertory), Whale (Coterie Children's Theatre), and Henry V (Utah Shakespeare Festival).

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? previews Thursday, January 29 and Friday, January 30th at 8:00 p.m. and opens Saturday, January 31st at 7:00 p.m. Opening Night Gala tickets are $90 and include a pre-show champagne reception, the opening performance, an after-party and a tax-deductible donation to Rubicon. Regular performances of WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? continue through February 22 on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. ($29) and 7:00 p.m. ($42), Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ($42), Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ($49), Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. ($42) and 8:00 p.m. ($52) and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. ($42). Seniors ages 65+ save $5 per ticket. Student and equity tickets are available for $20 with ID.

Discounts of up to 30% are available for groups of 12 or more, and group organizers receive one free ticket. To purchase single tickets or discounted group tickets, call the Rubicon box office at (805) 667-2900. To purchase tickets online, go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

Special performances include:

· Opening Night Gala, Saturday, January 31st: Rubicon Theatre hosts a pre-show champagne reception at 6:15 pm before the seven o-clock curtain. Following the opening performance of the show, guests are invited to an after-party with cast, crew and local dignitaries.

· Talkback Wednesdays: a chance to talk with the director and cast immediately after the 7pm performance on February 4.

SHOW RUN

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? previews January 29 and January 30, opens January 31 and runs through February 22.

SPONSORS

WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? is sponsored by Barbara Meister and Family. Co-sponsors are Shelly and Rick Bayer and Marriott Ventura Beach. Media sponsors include Time Warner Cable, Gold Coast Broadcasting, and Ventura County Star.

LOCATION
All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, an intimate former church built in the 1920s. The theatre is located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel) in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.

FOR TICKETS

Ticket prices $39 to $75. Please call Rubicon Theatre Company's box office at (805) 667-2900 or visit www.rubicontheatre.org