John Ritter News

Laurel Little Theatre continues their 57th season with the Michael Frayn comedy "NOISES OFF" running the first weekend of March under the direction of Sam Buchanan.

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. Inspired by Barbra Streisand's book My Passion for Design, Tolins' one-man, tour-de-force is described by the N.Y. Times as a seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy about the price of fame, the cost of things, and the oddest of odd jobs. Winner of the 2013 Drama Desk Award for Best Play, this Off-Broadway sensation follows a struggling actor named Alex who winds up working for an unnamed show-business legend in her Malibu basement mall. An unlikely friendship develops between the two from which Alex learns profound lessons about himself.

Hailed as an icon of style, grace and strength, Jacqueline Jackie Kennedy Onassis was known for her alluring mystery and piercing sensuality. Much has been written and said about America's most famous First Lady. However, one detail usually omitted from the story is that she was human. Award-winning playwright Tom Dugan's one-woman drama Jackie Unveiled starring Saffron Burrows (Amazon's Mozart in the Jungle ) dares to peek behind the fa ade of America's most private public figure.

A week ago, the artists of Rubicon Theatre of Ventura were in final dress rehearsals for the first show of the company's 20th Anniversary Season - an original adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol by Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns. The next day, rehearsals came to a halt when the electricity went out in the building; staff, cast and crew were evacuated, and fires throughout the area came within blocks of the theatre. The Thomas Fire, as it has come to be called, has since engulfed more than 230,000 acres and destroyed more than 500 homes and structures in the area (135 in the City of Ventura). At this time, the fire is 15% contained. Recognizing that the whole community is affected and that local support must go to basic needs in Ventura, Rubicon is reaching out across the nation to ask for support from other theatre communities.

Laguna Playhouse has announced the fourth show in the Laguna Playhouse 97th season, I AM MY OWN WIFE, written by Doug Wright and directed by Jenny Sullivan and starring John Tufts.

Tony nominees Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway bring their acclaimed cabaret show, SIBLING REVELRY, to Rubicon Theatre Company as part of the 2017 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series.

Tony nominees Ann Hampton Callaway and Liz Callaway bring their acclaimed cabaret show, SIBLING REVELRY, to Rubicon Theatre Company as part of the 2017 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series.

Tenille Arts made waves with her self-titled debut EP last year, resulting in streaming giant Pandora naming her one of their new artists to watch and other media outlets touting her insightful songwriting and powerful vocals.

Rubicon Theatre Company (RTC) opens the company's 2017-2018 20th Anniversary Season with a provocative and gripping drama based on the story of German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtw ngler, who remained in Germany after Hitler's rise to power and was later accused of being a Nazi sympathizer.

Tony-nominated actor Alan Campbell (Sunset Blvd.) will appear as famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright in a staged reading of Truth Against the World: The Life and Loves of Frank Lloyd Wright, a new solo play by writer-director Christine Toy Johnson.

Tenille Arts made waves with her self-titled debut EP last year, resulting in streaming giant Pandora naming her one of their new artists to watch and other media outlets touting her insightful songwriting and powerful vocals.

Director Chase Ramsey saw the movie "Noises Off" as a kid and thought it offered a brilliant master class on farce and pacing.  He loved it, and was "obsessed" with the comedic talents of Carol Burnett, John Ritter and Michael Caine.

How much of our identity is created by our minds and our memories? Award-winning playwright Nick Payne (Constellations) explores this question in the Southern California Premiere of his dazzling new play about what it means to be human. Four actors play 21 characters in interwoven stories (some based on true events) that examine the extent to which our identities and our choices are governed by the complex and delicate mechanisms of the brain. Payne's moving and deeply profound play seeks to make sense of the relationship between the physical and metaphysical. Directed by Indy Award-winning director Katharine Farmer (The Nibroc Trilogy),

It truly is one of the funniest plays I've ever seen.

The name Nannerl Mozart has been a footnote in classical music history, but Sylvia Milo's award-winning play THE OTHER MOZART reveals the extraordinary talents and rich inner life of Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart's sister, whose artistry was stifled and whose compositions were ultimately lost to the world because of her gender. Previews begin May 31 for Rubicon Theatre Company presentation of the acclaimed Off-Broadway drama the N.Y. Times describes as "strikingly beautiful."

On the heels of a thrilling performance by Phantom star DAVIS GAINES, the 2017 Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Concert Series at Rubicon Theatre Company continues with a concert starring Emmy Award-winner and multiple-Tony nominee NANCY DUSSAULT in MY LIFE…UPON THE WICKED STAGE. Perhaps best known to audiences as the first host of "Good Morning America," and for her co-starring role on TV on "Too Close for Comfort," Dussault's remarkable career began on the stage. Her concert includes anecdotes about Dussault's remarkable career and songs by many of her favorite composers, such as Richard Rodgers, Jule Styne, Burton Lane and Stephen Sondheim. Dussault's extraordinary musicality and comedic storytelling infuse new meaning into beloved classics such as "Getting Married Today," "Look to the Rainbow," "Old Friend" and her iconic "Make Someone Happy." Nancy is joined by Musical Director Christopher Marlowe and Director Valentine Mayer. NANCY DUSSAULT: MY LIFE…UPON THE WICKED STAGE comes to Ventura for three-performances-only: Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 21 at 2 p.m.

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.

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.

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."