Andrew Samonksy, Jason Graae, Beverly Ward and More to Star in MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG Concert at Rubicon

The 2015-16 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Musical Concert Series at Rubicon Theatre Company concludes with a concert presentation of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. This rarely performed concert will be presented for only three-performances-only next Saturday, October 1 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, October 2 at 2 p.m.

Winner of the Drama Desk Award and Olivier Award for Best Musical, this moving and eloquent story about friendship moves backwards in time and offers a snapshot of the relationships between three characters whose hopes and dreams change dramatically over 20 years. The exquisite contemporary score includes "Our Time," "Not a Day Goes By" and "Good Thing Going."

Rubicon's concert reading is directed by Bonnie Hellman, who helmed the acclaimed long-run Los Angeles premiere of the show. Dean Mora is Musical Director and accompanist.

The cast includes Broadway stars Jason Graae (Grand Night for Singing and Falsettos), Kate Reinders (Something's Rotten and Wicked), Ventura native Andrew Samonsky (South Pacific and Drood) and Beverly Ward (Epic Proportions).

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG begins in 1976, where we meet Franklin Shepard (Samonsky), an influential movie producer and former composer at the height of a successful career. As the story takes us backwards in time, we see the cost of that success, especially as relates to his idealism and his relationship with friends Charley Kringas (Graae) and Mary Flynn (Ward). The plot gradually moves us to the poignant moment in 1957 when the three meet on a rooftop in New York City -- naïve, hopeful dreamers on the cusp of bright futures.

In addition to Reinders, who plays Gussie, other cast members include Shaina Knox as Beth, Nathan Holland as Joe Josephson, BrIan McDonald as Jerome, Michael Scott Harris and Angela Baumgardner as Mr. and Mrs. Spencer, Samantha Eve as Evelyn, Jesse Graham as Terry, Caleb Horst as Tyler, Fay James as K.T. and Samantha Winters as Meg.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG opened on Broadway in 1981 under the direction of Hal Prince. The book was adapted by George Furth based on the 1934 play of the same name by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. Stephen Sondheim wrote the music and lyrics.

Although the music and lyrics were praised, the initial production received mixed reviews. Some considered the piece ahead of its time. Others felt the plot was too complex and took issue with the choice to cast young actors,feeling that they were more believable at the end of the play/beginning of the story than in the opening scenes. Some critics also found it difficult to differentiate between the characters, who were similarly attired. The production ran for only 52 previews and 16 performances at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon).

In 1983, shortly after the New York run, novice director Bonnie Hellman mounted the West Coast premiere of the play at the intimate Roland Dupree Studio in Los Angeles to critical and popular acclaim. Hellman cast actors who were roughly the age of the characters in the first scene of the play, including Michael G. Hawkins, David Eric and Linda Nichols as the leading trio, with support from Bettina Devin, Ernie Sabella and others. The show was a critical triumph and achieved cult status, running for five months.

"The process was miraculous!" says Hellman. I only had two weeks and it was my first time directing a full-length production. We worked around the clock. The content was always there. It's a beautiful story and one I find so many people relate to -- especially artists and those who work in the theatre."

Those who saw the production, including it, remember it to this day vividly (including Rubicon's Co-Founders Karyl Lynn Burns and James O'Neil).

"We had heard about the production from friends who raved about it," says Burns. We went to see it and were deeply moved by the production, which was simple and true and clear; and which has remained etched in our memories."

"We later met Bonnie when she cast us in My Fair Lady and Hello Dolly for Santa Barbara Theatre Group," continues Burns. "And when we started Rubicon, she was one of the first directors we invited to work with us. We are thrilled to share her interpretation of this landmark musical through with our audiences."

Hellman's Rubicon credits include producing and directing High Button Shoes with a cast including Jason Graae, Will Shupe, Cynthia Ferrer, Doug Carfrae, and Susan Egan of Broadway's Beauty and the Beast; The World Goes Round with Michael G. Hawkins and Linda Kerns; and Tintypes with Darlecia Cearcy and Heather Lee. She also produced the L.A. transfer of Rubicon's J for J by Jenny Sullivan (with John Ritter, Jeff Kober and Sullivan).

Hellman's other L. A. credits include critically acclaimed productions of Something's Afoot, The Curious Savage and She Loves Me (winner of two L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards, L.A. Weekly Award for Best Director and Ovation nominated for Best Musical).

Outside L.A., she has helmed productions of Finian's Rainbow, It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman and Funny Face(San Francisco - Best Director Award), 42nd Street (Denver - Best Musical Award), Oklahoma! (San Jose CLO - with Karyl Lynn Burns as Ado Annie), Peter Pan (Santa Cruz) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Whittier-La Mirada CLO).

Rubicon's concert staging directed by Hellman is not the original script she staged in L.A., but the updated version by Sondheim and Furth that was retooled at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego under the direction of James Lapine in 1985. It was later revived Off-Broadway in 1994 at the York Theatre and was also used in the Chocolate Factory production in the show's West End debut in London in 2012. That same year, New York City Center presented a staged concert of the show with Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda as Charley and Andrew Samonsky (Rubicon's Franklin) in the ensemble.

Hellman looks forward to working with the new version. "It's interesting learning a new script. The characters are the same, but there are slight differences in how they are introduced and portrayed. I'm a big fan of Sondheim. I adore his music. I'm excited to work with such a terrifically talented cast, many of them regulars on Broadway, like Jason Graae, who I'm thrilled to be reunited with following our collaboration on High Button Shoes at Rubicon. In terms of my approach, the emphasis is on the performances and the content. Sondheim is such an amazing storyteller. He writes life. Merrily is not often performed, so this is a rare treat for audiences to see and hear this with such an incredible cast."

Performances of the MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG concert take place at Rubicon Theatre in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District, located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel), Ventura, CA 93001. Tickets are $69.50 for the general public. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (805) 667-2900, or go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

ABOUT THE CAST

Jason Graae (Charley Kringas) just returned from Detroit Opera House where he was featured in The Merry Widow with Deborah Voigt. Jason was featured on Broadway in A Grand Night for Singing, Falsettos, Stardust, Snoopy! and Do Black Patent Leather Shows Really Reflect Up?. Off-Broadway credits include Forever Plaid, Olympus on My Mind, All in the Timing, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (Drama Desk Nomination - Best Actor in a Musical) and many more. Jason Made his Metropolitan Opera House debut as the male vocalist in Twyla Tharp's Everlast with the American Ballet Theatre. He performed his one-man show all over the country, from Rainbow and Stars and Birdland in NYC to Feinstein's and the Plush Room in L.A. and San Francisco, winning 4 Bistro Awards and a N.Y. Nightlife Award, also earning TimeOut NY's Top Cabaret show of the year. His show with Faith Prince, The Prince and the Showboy, was recently seen at 54 Below, and the pair won a second Nightlife Award for Best Duo. He has hosted the Bistro Awards, The NYC MAC Awards, the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards, and the Robby Awards. In L.A. Jason won his second L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award - the Joel Hirschorn Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre. He won an Ovation Award for Forbidden Broadway Y2KLA!, an Artistic Director's Achievement Award for Fully Committed, and a Santa Barbara Indie Award for High Button Shoes at Rubicon. Jason originated the role of Houdini in the L.A. production of Ragtime at the Shubert Theatre. At the Hollywood Bowl, he was Benny Southstreet in Guys and Dolls and Marcellus in The Music Man. On television, Jason has appeared on many shows including "Six Feet Under," "Rude Awakening," "Friends," "Frasier," "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," "Living Single," "Caroline in the City," "Providence" and more. On PBS, he was a guest soloist twice with the Boston Pops and once with Marvin Hamlisch and the National Symphony. Movie appearances include the title role in "Sunshine Barry and the Disco Worms," Disney's "Home on the Range," "On Edge," "Gepetto," "The Dukes of Hazzard in Hollywood" and "Awakening of Spring." He has been heard on many cartoons and for 5-1/2 years he was the voice of the Leprechaun for Lucky Charms Cereal. He made his L.A. Opera debut as Njegus in The Merry Widow, repeating the role with Dallas, New Orleans and Houston Grand Opera. Also with L.A. Opera he was featured as Offenbach in The Grand Duchess, directed by Garry Marshall. He has played Frosch in Die Fledermaus with the Washington National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera and Manhattan School of Music.

Andrew Samonsky (Franklin Shepard), a Ventura native, was most recently seen as Robert Kincaid in the first national tour of The Bridges of Madison County. Prior to that, he originated the role of Captain Phoebus in the American premiere of The Hunchback of Notre Dame at the Paper Mill Playhouse and La Jolla Playhouse. On Broadway, Andrew has appeared as Neville Landless in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Kenneth Ormisten in Scandalous, and Lt. Cable in the Tony Award-winning revival of South Pacific, in which he was also seen in the Live from Lincoln Center PBS broadcast. Andrew was nominated for a Drama Desk award for his portrayal of Frank Russell in Michael John LaChuisa's Queen of the Mist and appeared in the New York City Center Encores! productions of Fiorello! and Merrily We Roll Along. He has originated roles in Somewhere in Time as Richard at Portland Center Stage, Tales of the City as Beauchamp at ACT, Little Miss Sunshine as Joshua at La Jolla Playhouse and Disney's On the Record as Nick in First National Tour. Andrew He's been a soloist with symphonies across the country, including the New York Philharmonic. His TV and film credits include "Elementary," "Guiding Light," "The Ceiling Fan" and "Lyric Suite." Prior Rubicon credits include the West Coast premiere of tick, tick...BOOM! (which transferred to the Coronet in L.A. for a long run), and Little Miss Scrooge.

Beverly Ward (Mary Flynn) was last seen at Rubicon in Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance. She also seen at Rubicon as Ilona in She Loves Me, directed by her husband Kirby Ward. Bev has performed on Broadway in Epic Proportions and Off-Broadway in A Child's Christmas in Wales. In London she was seen in Crazy For You. Beverly has also appeared in numerous National Tours, including Sugar Babies with Mickey Rooney and Anne Miller, Billy Elliot as Mum, Crazy For You as Polly (Helen Hayes nomination) and Hal Prince's Show Boat as Ellie May Chipley. Regionally, she has appeared as Elaine Navazio/Bobbi Michelle/Jeanette Fischer in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Agnes in I Do! I Do!, Trina in Falsettos, Roxie Hart in Chicago, Shelby in The Spitfire Grill, Maria in The Sound of Music, and Edythe Herbert in My One and Only.

Kate Reinders (Gussie) originated the role of Portia in Something Rotten! She has also appeared on Broadway as Glinda in Wicked, June in Sam Mendes' revival of Gypsy starring Bernadette Peters, Caroline in The Beach Boys musical Good Vibrations and in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods. Other theatre credits include A Year with Frog and Toad (Original Cast Recording), Nerds at New York Stage and Film and Party Come Here at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Kate has been seen on television as a series regular on ABC's "Work It" and Lifetime's "Sherri," and has guest-starred on "Anger Management," "Modern Family" and "Ugly Betty." Film credits include "Russell Madness," "Grudge Match," "Such Good People," "Certainty" and "Kinsey." As half of the singing/songwriting comedy duo Tastiskank, she has performed at New York's 54 Below, the TBS Comedy Festival in Las Vegas and the HBO Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, where they received the 2007 Breakout Award. Kate is newly married to Andrew Samonsky.

Shaina Knox (Beth) was last seen in Moonlight Stage Production's critically acclaimed Titanic as Kate Murphey. Regional credits include: Sondheim on Sondheim (Kritzer/Mackey Track), Urinetown as Little Becky Two Shoes, Fancy Nancy the Musical as Rhonda, Big Fish as Sandra Bloom, Jesus Christ Superstar as Mary, Fiddler on the Roof as Hodel and The Fantasticks as Luisa.

Nathan Holland (Joe Josephson) was last seen at Rubicon in She Loves Me as the Maitre'D. His other theatre credits include 3-D Theatrical's Side Show as The Boss, Breaking Up is Hard to Do at Cabrillo Music Theatre, Nuttin' But Hutton (World Premiere) at the NoHo Arts Center, Violet at Laguna Playhouse, Steve Martin's The Underpants at the Geffen Playhouse, The Producers as Max, Guys and Dolls as Nathan Detroit, Crazy For You as Bela Zangler, Lullaby of Broadway as Al Dubin, Tommy, toured in Jesus Christ Superstar and Tracers.

Michael Scott Harris (Mr. Spencer/Scotty/Hal/Judge) was recently seen as Emile de Becque in South Pacific at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where he also played Count Orsini-Rosenberg in Amadeus. Southern California credits include Jekyll and Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde) at the Candlelight Pavilion, Mary Poppins (George Banks) at Cabrillo Music Theatre, Camelot (Sir Dinadan) at the Granada Theater in Santa Barbara (starring Robert Sean Leonard), Ewart Dunlop in Music Man with Musical Theater West, and Cyril Fonsdale in the reading of Going Hollywood. He toured the U.S. with the Broadway National Tour of The Phantom of the Opera in the role of Piangi. Michael Starred Off- Broadway with the critically acclaimed New YorK Gilbert and Sullivan Players for six seasons. He was a regional finalist in The Metropolitan Opera Competition.

BRIan McDonald (Jerome/Minister) appeared in the National Tours of Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid, the latter of which he also directed for various regional theatres including Rubicon. Other Rubicon directing credits include Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Other Desert Cities (5 Stage Scene LA Awards including Outstanding Direction and Production), A Tuna Christmas (in which he also appeared), The Sunset Limited, Bus Stop (five Ovation nominations including Best Play), Master Harold...and the boys (three Ovation nominations including Best Play, Indy Award and Stage Scene LA Award for Direction) and the World Premiere musical Hello! My Baby, written and conceived by Cheri Steinkellner. He also conceived and directed A Rubicon Family Christmas Concert. As an actor, Brian has appeared on the Rubicon stage in Forever Plaid, The Importance of Being Earnest, Man of La Mancha, A Tuna Christmas and the one-man show The SantaLand Diaries. Regionally, he has appeared on stage at Denver Center, Theatre Virginia, The Lyric Stage, La Mirada Performing Arts Center, Ensemble Theatre Company, The Pasadena Playhouse, Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center and the Ahmanson. Brian received the L.A. Weekly Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Gaveston in the Circle X production of Edward II. He holds a BFA from Boston Conservatory. Brian is Education and Outreach Director and Associate Producer with Rubicon and is a Ventura resident.

ANGELA BAUMGARDNER (Mrs. Spencer/Dory/Judy) makes her Rubicon debut with this production. She recently portrayed Winifred Banks in Mary Poppins at Performance Riverside and Lady Thiang in The King and I at Glendale Centre Theatre. Other favorite credits include Mother Superior in The Sound of Music, Fruma Sarah in Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella in Into the Woods, and Sandy in Grease. Angela holds a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Central Oklahoma. She sings locally with the L.A.-based Tinseltone Carolers.

Samantha Eve (Evelyn/Ru) of Santa Barbara is the Artistic Director of Out of the Box Theatre Company. She is a graduate of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and recipient of Indy Theater Awards for her direction of Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, BARE and Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. Recent acting credits include Heathers: The Musical as Veronica Sawyer, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as Olive Ostrovsky with Elite Theatre Company, Arsenic and Old Lace as Elaine with SBCC Theatre Group, Things to Ruin and A Very Merry Larry O'Keefe Concert with Color and Light Theatre Ensemble, The Cave as Ondine/Scarlett at the Hollywood Fringe Festival and four productions at the MUNY in St. Louis. As a young person, Samantha performed in Rubicon's very first Musical Theatre Intensive as a teenager, and is incredibly grateful to be returning to the Rubicon Theatre stage.

Jesse Graham (Terry/Photographer), a resident of Santa Paula, recently starred in this summer's education production of In the Heights as Usnavi. He has previously performed in Rubicon's mainstage productions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, My Fair Lady and A Rubicon Family Christmas. Other stage credits include The Baker in Into the Woods, Action in West Side Story, Gangster #1 in The Drowsy Chaperone, the title role in Tarzan, King Ferdinand in Love's Labour's Lost, Kurt in The Sound of Music and Ensemble for both Sweeney Todd and Beauty and the Beast. He also makes multiple appearances as a bass/baritone in the Rubicon Harmonix. Jesse studies voice with Linda Ottsen and is currently training in ballet and contemporary. Jesse was recognized by the Mayor and City of San Buenaventura for his participation in the Rubicon Harmonix for spreading joy through music.

CALEB HORST (Tyler/Makeup Artist) is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston, MA. He has a BFA in Musical Theater. Caleb enjoys writing music, dancing, and acting. He is thrilled to be in his first show at Rubicon.

Fay James (K.T.) is also making her Rubicon Theatre debut with this production. Theatre highlights include Dreamgirls, Once on This Island, Beehive and Annie. As a jazz singer/songwriter and a professional background vocalist, Fay has graced the stages of The Roxy, Celebrity Centre and the House of Blues in Hollywood. She recently earned a BFA from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles.

SAMANTHA WINTERS (Meg/1st Girl) is thrilled to be making her Rubicon debut! A Ventura native, Samantha recently graduated from California Lutheran University with a degree in history. Favorite past credits include Wendla Bergman in Spring Awakening, Mabel Stanley in The Pirates of Penzance, Princess Leia in William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope and three summers with the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company as everything from a French soldier to a can-can dancer to a fairy. Samantha also has experience as a props master and most recently as a dramaturg for Kingsmen Shakespeare.

Dean Mora (Musical Director) returns to Rubicon Theatre, having previously been Musical Director for Fascinating Rhythms, A Time For Love, Side By Side By Sondheim, Jacques Brel is Alive and Living in Paris, The World Goes 'Round, and Lady MacBeth Sings The Blues (Ovation Award for Best Musical Direction). Other musical directing credits include You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Urinetown: The Musical, The Fantasticks, Dames At Sea, The All-Night Strut, The Immigrant, James Joyce's The Dead, The Threepenny Opera, A Little Night Music, Pump Boys and Dinettes, City of Angels, Man of La Mancha, Ain't Misbehavin', Forever Plaid, The Sound of Music, Quilters, The Boyfriend and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. A native of Los Angeles and a graduate of CSUN, Dean currently resides in Sacramento with his wife Adrian, and they are expecting their first child in November.

Stephen Sondheim is one of the singularly gifted within the ranks of the Broadway musical elite, a man who has spent his entire career making wonderful music. Stephen Joshua Sondheim was born in New York City. His father, Herbert Sondheim, was a successful dress manufacturer, his mother, Janet Fox, a fashion designer. Young Stephen was given piano lessons from an early age, and showed a distinct aptitude for music, puzzles and mathematics. His parents divorced when he was only ten, and Stephen, an only child, was taken by his mother to live on a farm in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The area had attracted a number of well-known personalities from the New York Theater world; a close neighbor was the playwright, lyricist and producer Oscar Hammerstein II, who had a son Stephen's age. Stephen Sondheim and Jimmy Hammerstein soon became friends, and Stephen came to see the older Hammerstein as a role model. At the time, Hammerstein was inaugurating his historic collaboration with composer Richard Rodgers. When Sondheim was in his teens, Rodgers and Hammerstein were enjoying unprecedented success with the shows Oklahoma! and South Pacific. Sondheim resolved that, like Hammerstein, he too would write for the theater. He graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, MA, where he earned the renownEd Hutchinson Prize for Music Composition, following which he studied theory and composition with Milton Babbitt.

Sondheim's creativity came into play soon after departing from college when he wrote lyrics for such highly skilled composers as Leonard Bernstein (West Side Story) and Jule Styne (Gypsy) within the two-year span of 1957 to 1959. Soon thereafter, in 1962, came one of Sondheim's most notable successes, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, in which he created both the music and lyrics. Two years later, a virtually unending series of successful musicals featuring both music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, began their collective run extending well into the 1990s. Beginning in 1964 with Anyone Can Whistle, the list includes Follies, A Little Night Music, The Frogs, Pacific Overtures, Sweeney Todd, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion and Company.

During his 30-year career, which features a major Broadway entry approximately once every three years, he was also the lyricist for Do I Hear a Waltz and Candide and organized revue-style anthologies of his works for such Broadway presentations as Side by Side by Sondheim, Marry Me a Little, You're Gonna Love Tomorrow and Putting it Together.

Again, during the same immensely productive 30-year span, Sondheim addressed the motion picture field, composing scores for "Stavisky" and "Reds" and songs for "Dick Tracy," one of which, "Sooner or Later" won the Academy Award in 1990 for Best Song. For television, he wrote songs for "Evening Primrose," co-authored the film, "The Last of Sheila" and provided incidental music for the plays "The Girls of Summer," "Invitation to a March" and "Twigs."

Sondheim has won five Tony Awards (Best Score for a Musical) for Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, Follies and Company. All these shows also won New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, as did Pacific Overtures and Sunday in the Park with George, the latter also receiving the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985, with music and lyrics by Sondheim and book by James Lapine.

Stephen Sondheim has served on the Council of the Dramatists Guild, the National Association of Playwrights, Composers and Lyricists, and served as its president from 1973 to 1981. In 1983, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 1990, he was appointed the first visiting professor of Contemporary Theater at Oxford University. In 1993, he was the recipient of the prestigious Kennedy Center honors. Biography adapted from: Songwriters of America, The Academy of Achievement and Wikipedia.

Rubicon Theatre Company has been described as "the rising star of the Southern California cultural constellation." A not-for-profit professional regional theatre, Rubicon serves area residents and visitors with innovative productions of classic and contemporary plays, as well as a wide array of educational programs and events. The company has been acclaimed by critics and industry professionals (the company has received the L.A. Drama Critics Margaret Harford Special Award for "Sustained Excellence," a Drama Desk Award for the Off-Broadway production of The Best is Yet To Come, and has won more than 20 Ovation Awards from the L.A. Stage Alliance. Rubicon has welcomed a steady stream of high-profile actors and directors. Ed Asner, David Birney, Susan Clark, Dana Delaney, Nancy Dussault, Conchata Ferrell, Bonnie Franklin, Harold Gould, Joel Grey, Larry Hagman, Bill Irwin, Stacy Keach, Jack Lemmon, Donna McKechnie, Amanda McBroom, Ted Neeley, Paul Provenza, Linda Purl, Rondi Reed, John Ritter, Joe Spano, Bruce Weitz, JoBeth Williams, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Stephanie Zimbalist and other luminaries have graced the Rubicon stage. Company members are George Ball, Joseph Fuqua and Jenny Sullivan.

Based in Ventura's historic downtown cultural district, just blocks from the Pacific Ocean, Rubicon occupies a 185-seat former church built in the 1920s. In this renovated historic landmark, audience members are never further than 10 rows from the stage on the main floor.

True to the company's name and the vision of artistic directors Karyl Lynn Burns and James O'Neil, Rubicon has created an environment where commitment and risk are encouraged, and where artists are nurtured and respected. As a result, the company has gained a reputation for invigorating interpretations of the classics and for supporting the development of new works. Rubicon presents at least one World Premiere each season, as well as readings of works-in-progress.

Deeply rooted in the region it serves, Rubicon offers extensive outreach programs, including daytime matinees for high school students, after-school and weekend programs for at-risk youth, and summer musical theatre, drama and technical camps. More than 40,000 students have participated.

A board of directors of prominent social and civic leaders governs Rubicon. The company is also supported by an advisory group of regional ambassadors and a volunteer auxiliary with nearly 300 members. For more information, call (805) 667-2900 or visit Rubicon online at www.rubicontheatre.org.