Brian McDonald News

This season features a remarkable selection of plays, but starts its season with a spectacular reimagining of the operaCarmen with Carmen Jones, music by George Bizet, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, followed by Patrick Barlow’s imaginative take on the timeless A Christmas Carol, then the Off-Broadway hit Selling Kabul, Lucy Kirkwood’s thought-provoking The Children, and ETC will close its season with an absolutely delicious play from acclaimed playwright Theresa Rebeck, Seared. 

The Spring Lake Theatre is opening the 2022-2023 season with one of the most beloved stories of all time: Beauty and the Beast.

.Ensemble Theatre Company has announced its remount of its tour-de-force one-man show Vincent, which was presented at The Santa Barbara Museum of Art in March to sold-out audiences. 

Dallas Theater Center, in collaboration with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and AT&T Performing Arts Center, announced the highly anticipated title of the 2022 Public Works Dallas production, The Odyssey.

Ensemble Theatre Company, Santa Barbara's professional theater, is now accepting applications for its 5th Annual Young Playwrights' Festival for aspiring writers aged 14-19.

This Valentines' Day, Ensemble Theatre Company will present performances by renowned artists that look at love and healing. This free on-demand streaming event will feature Meredith Baxter, Michael Gross, Gregory Harrison, T. Coraghessan Boyle, Amanda McBroom, and others who will present an evening of short tales and music that are haunting, comic, bittersweet and uplifting.

This December, Ensemble Theatre Company will offer two holiday events the entire family can enjoy. First, ETC welcomes back Porgy and Bess cast members Elijah Rock and Frank Lawson for a rockin' musical Christmas variety show LIVE from Las Vegas.

In Richard Bean's hilarious comedy we find ourselves in Brighton, England. 1963. Francis Henshall is in the employ of TWO men: gangster, Roscoe Crabbe and Stanley Stubbersa?"mortal enemies of one another. However, it turns out that a?oeRoscoea?? is already deceased and Roscoe's twin sister, Rachel, has been posing as him. Fighting a mounting sense of confusion and distractions, Francis frantically tries to keep Roscoe and Stubbers apart so they cannot find out he's secretly been working for both of them. How long can he keep this charade up? Be sure to catch this splendidly silly comedy making its way to the Circle stage on January 30th.

Director Brian McDonald does a nice job of keeping the actors rotating around the multiple microphones on stage (or having them add and remove costuming items) to distinguish between multiple characters. The staging is dynamic and the sight gags are clever, and the actors give pleasant and efficient performances, bringing out the warmth and hopefulness of this holiday tale. Ensemble's production highlights humor and heart for an agreeable, well-produced night of festive entertainment.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald. It's A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play begins previews on Thursday, December 5, opens on Saturday, December 7 at 8:00pm, and runs through Sunday, December 22, 2019 at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara.

ENSEMBLE THEATRE COMPANY (ETC) presents the second show of its 2019-20 Season, the can't-miss, holiday event of the season, IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY, adapted by Joe Landry, from the screenplay by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra & Jo Swerling and directed by ETC's Director of Education and Outreach, Brian McDonald.

Brigham Young University's Ballroom Dance Company (BDC) is one of the most distinctive and unique university dance companies in the world. Based in Provo, Utah, this company consists of 32 dancers, all of whom are full-time students at BYU.

At its final Board of Trustees meeting of the season, McCarter Theatre Center welcomed Robert J. Caruso as its new President. Mr. Caruso was elected to serve a three year term, succeeding outgoing Interim Board President Reginald Browne.

The California Arts Council announced a grant award of $16,200 to Ensemble Theatre Company's (ETC's) 3rdAnnual Young Playwrights' Festival as part of its Youth Arts Action program.

Ensemble Theatre Company (ETC) announces its 2019-20 Season of plays. ETC's 41st Season is the company's seventh year at The New Vic in downtown Santa Barbara, and features a thrilling selection of extraordinary works, including William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, a radio play version of the beloved holiday story It's a Wonderful Life, a musical adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma, the West Coast premiere of the Broadway play American Son, and an inspirational pop and jazz musical about the legendary Rosemary Clooney. ETC's 2019-20 Season will build upon the momentum of its successful and celebratory 40thAnniversary 2018-19 Season.

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced what is expected to be the biggest and most extraordinary Kids for Kids Benefit Concert in the company's history for Saturday, December 29 at 7:00 p.m. at the theatre, located at 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District. More than 70 young people will be performing onstage or via video in an entertaining musical variety show that raises funds for scholarships for next summer's education and outreach participants. 

WaterTower Theatre Artistic Director, Joanie Schultz, today announced casting and creative team details for A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen, adapted and directed by Joanie Schultz.

Enrollment is now open for spring acting classes at Rubicon Theatre Company for adults and children ages 5 and older. Classes will be taught by Rubicon Associate Artistic Director Brian McDonald, an award-winning professional actor and director and graduate of Boston Conservatory, whose credits include national tours and work with prestigious regional theatre companies including Denver Center Theatre for the Performing Arts, McCoy-Rigby at La Mirada, Musical Theatre Guild at Thousand Oaks Performing Arts Center, and Rubicon.

Rubicon Theatre Company presents the outrageously funny, critically-acclaimed comedy Buyer & Cellar by Jonathan Tolins. The production is directed by Ovation Award-winner Stephanie A. Coltrin and stars award-winning actor and Rubicon's Associate Artistic Director Brian McDonald.