The dog days of summer arrive early this year, as Rubicon Theatre Company presents a spring production of A.R. Gurney's howlingly funny canine comedy SYLVIA, a love story about empty nesters Greg and Kate, and an irrepressible mutt named Sylvia. Written by Drama Desk, Obie and Lortel Award-winning playwright A.R. Gurney (also known for Love Letters and The Dining Room), the plot follows what happens after a man going through a midlife crisis finds a dog in Central Park and brings her home without consulting his wife.
Gregory Harrison stars as Thomas Jefferson in a gripping, powerful and timely play - the American premiere of Jefferson's Garden - by internationally acclaimed playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker (Our Country's Good) that brings a fresh slant and theatrical inventiveness to the story of the American Revolution.
Rubicon Theatre Company celebrates Black History Month with THE DEVIL'S MUSIC: THE LIFE AND BLUES OF BESSIE SMITH, starring singer and actress Miche Braden of the original Off-Broadway production (named one of the 10 Best Off-Broadway productions of the year by the N.Y. Daily Times). Described by CBC as a, "bawdy, bluesy, boozy rollicking night out at the theatre," the show follows the life, loves and career of blues and jazz singer Bessie Smith, called the "Empress of the Blues."
Rubicon Theatre Company celebrates Black History Month with THE DEVIL'S MUSIC: THE LIFE AND BLUES OF BESSIE SMITH, starring singer and actress Miche Braden of the original Off-Broadway production (named one of the 10 Best Off-Broadway productions of the year by the N.Y. Daily Times). Described by CBC as a, "bawdy, bluesy, boozy rollicking night out at the theatre," the show follows the life, loves and career of blues and jazz singer Bessie Smith, called the "Empress of the Blues."
Rubicon Theatre Company presents GULF VIEW DRIVE , the third and final play in Arlene Hutton's Nibroc Trilogy, directed by Indy award-winning Katharine Farmer with the same cast reprising their critically-acclaimed roles from the Los Angeles Times "Critic's Choice" productions of Last Train to Nibroc and last season's See Rock City. Lily Nicksay ("Boy Meets World"/The Wild Duck at A Noise Within) and Erik Odom("The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2"/Sons of the Prophet at The Blank) return as May and Raleigh, along with See Rock City featured cast membersClarinda Ross (Spit Like a Big Girl/Steel Magnolias) and Sharon Sharth (Waiting for Grace/ member of Actors Studio and Circle Rep in New York). Joining the cast is returning Rubicon artist Faline England (Crimes of the Heart (Indy Award)/Turn of the Screw (Ovation Nomination).
What if true love never happens? Or worse… what if it does? Theatre Planners presents the world premiere of an award-winning comedy by Sharon Sharth. Waiting for Graceopens as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre on November 12, directed by Lee Costello.
Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the complete cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.
Rubicon Theatre Company presents RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.
What if true love never happens? Or worse… what if it does? Theatre Planners presents the world premiere of an award-winning comedy by Sharon Sharth. Waiting for Grace opens as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre on November 12, directed by Lee Costello.
Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the complete cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET, a fabulously campy send up of 'Forbidden Planet' and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s which melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare.
As BroadwayWorld sadly reported earlier this week, Marni Nixon, perhaps best known for dubbing the singing voices of the leading actresses in films, including THE KING AND I, WEST SIDE STORY and MY FAIR LADY, passed away from breast cancer on July 24th. She was 86.
Rubicon Theatre Company presents Moonlight and Magnolias, the hilarious fly on the wall comedy by Ron Hutchinson about how the most iconic film in Hollywood history almost didn't get made. Directed by Stephanie A. Coltrin, this production features the same principal cast members from her critically acclaimed staging of Moonlight and Magnolias at Hermosa Beach Playhouse in 2010. Just in time for the 80th anniversary of Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, 'Gone With the Wind,' Rubicon brings this wildly funny, behind-the-scenes farce to Ventura on Saturday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m. with an after party to follow atThe Greek Mediterranean Steak & Seafood. Previews are August 31, Sept. 1 and 2. The show runs through September 18.
Rubicon Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that its critically acclaimed American premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton, adapted from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that also inspired the legendary John Ford 1962 film, will extend through Saturday, March 26 at the Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a classic tale of love, honor, ambition and revenge set against the backdrop of the American West.
Rubicon Theatre Company has announced a benefit concert this Sunday, March 20 at 7:30 p.m. called SONGS FROM THE WEST AND BEYOND, which will feature Nashville based singer/songwriters SYLVIE DAVIDSON and TREVOR WHEETMAN (currently appearing in the cast of Rubicon's acclaimed American premiere production of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE).
How often do you see an American western onstage? Especially one that was a famous John Ford film in 1952 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Both the film and the stage play are adapted from a short story by Dorothy Johnson about the American west in 1890-1910. The names of the characters in the film are slightly different from those in the play, but the plot is basically the same. What seem to matter more than plot are the historical, cultural, political themes that the story exudes. Now onstage at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, in its American premiere, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is helmed by uber skilled director Jenny Sullivan and boasts a stellar cast, but you only have one more week to catch it, through March 20.
Celebrities dressed in Western attire walked the red carpet last Saturday as Rubicon Theatre Company of Ventura presented the American Premiere of the stage play THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton. Attendees included musician Jim Messina of Loggins & Messina, Poco and Buffalo Springfield and his beautiful wife Michaela; Golden Globe nominated actor Ted Neeley with his wife Leeyan and daughter Tessa; and Emmy Award-winning actor Joe Spano with his daughters Liana and Meili. Scroll down for photos from the opening night festivities!
John Ford's 1962 film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, is one of motion picture's all-time classic westerns. So when I heard that a play version was making its American premiere at the Rubicon Theatre Company in Ventura, I got more than just a little excited. Envisioning the tensions seen on the screen in epic portrayals by Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, and Lee Marvin promised to be riveting theater. Unfortunately, the play version was taken not from the screenplay by James Warner Bellah and Willis Goldbeck (it was unavailable) but an adaptation by British playwright Joshua Compton from Dorothy M. Johnson's original short story, and although the Rubicon has created a fabulous setting, marvelous performances from all of the actors, and an atmospheric, on-stage musical tableau by Trevor Wheetman, the result is simply not as compelling as the movie.
Rubicon Theatre Company's 2015-2016 Season continues with the American premiere of THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE by Jethro Compton. Adapted from the short story by Dorothy M. Johnson that also inspired the legendary John Ford 1962 film, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE is a classic tale of love, honor, ambition and revenge set against the backdrop of the American West.
