Karyl Lynn Burns News

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!

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.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was originally a short story penned in 1953 by Dorothy M. Johnson (1905 - 1984), who wrote numerous articles and stories with Western themes. In 1962, Valance was adapted for motion pictures in a blockbuster film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, James Stewart, and Lee Marvin, in the title role of the sadistic gunslinger who is taken on by Stewart, who portrayed a tenderfoot attorney new to the dusty town of Shinbone. Jethro Compton's new stage play is based on the short story instead of the movie, getting its start in England in 2014. The Rubicon Theatre Company's new production marks the play's American debut, starring Gregory Harrison in the role of Bert Barricune, the equivalent of John Wayne's Tom Doniphon in the film. Reviews of the play have called it 'gripping drama' and 'consistently absorbing.' We spoke with Jenny Sullivan, who is directing Rubicon's production and she talked about the process of presenting a subject that has become much more famous through the film adaptation than for the original story.

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.

710 Main Theatre presents Wiesenthal; the award-winning play written by and starring Tom Dugan. 

The Appalachian love story of May and Raleigh continues as Rubicon Theatre Company presents SEE ROCK CITY by Arlene Hutton, running January 27 through February 14, 2016, in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.

The Appalachian love story of May and Raleigh continues as Rubicon Theatre Company presents SEE ROCK CITY by Arlene Hutton, running January 27 through February 14, 2016, in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.

Rubicon Theatre celebrates the holidays with the company's first presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a World Premiere adaptation written by Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns and directed by Brian McDonald. Rubicon's A Christmas Carol features a 24-member cast (the largest ensemble since the company's production of Fiddler on the Roof and the largest ever for a play).

Rubicon Theatre celebrates the holidays with the company's first presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a World Premiere adaptation written by Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns and directed by Brian McDonald. Rubicon's A Christmas Carol features a 24-member cast (the largest ensemble since the company's production of Fiddler on the Roof and the largest ever for a play).

Rubicon Theatre celebrates the holidays with the company's first presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, a World Premiere adaptation written by Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns and directed by Brian McDonald. Rubicon's A Christmas Carol features a 24-member cast (the largest ensemble since the company's production of Fiddler on the Roof and the largest ever for a play).

Rubicon Theatre Founders Karyl Lynn Burns and James O'Neil announce the  company's 2016 Season of mainstage productions, entitled "Fair Ladies, Fine Gentlemen (and Others)." The season features two American Premieres, a beloved classic, a one-person drama about an American icon, and a campy musical send-up of '50s sci-fi films loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. The season opens with See Rock City (January 27-February 14, 2016), the second play in the Nibroc Trilogy by Arlene Hutton. May and Raleigh's Appalachian love story continues as the couple plans a honeymoon in Rock City, Tennessee in 1943. When victory overseas brings unexpected consequences at home, May and Raleigh are forced to face hidden truths and find common solutions to the challenges of a new, post-war America.  See Rock City stands alone as a funny, touching and universal portrayal of a young couple very much in love.

The director and designers behind Rubicon Theatre Company's acclaimed environmental productions ofFiddler on the Roof and Man of La Mancha have reunited on the two-piano chamber version of the legendary Lerner and Loewe's classic My Fair Lady. Based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion, the musical tells the story of Professor Henry Higgins, an arrogant and attractive phonetician who makes a wager that he can transform a 'deliciously low' Cockney flower-seller (Eliza Doolittle) into an elegant lady by teaching her to speak more beautifully. The magnificent score includes 'I Could Have Danced All Night,' 'On the Street Where You Live,' 'Wouldn't It Be Loverly,' and 'I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face.' For Rubicon's production, Director James O'Neil returns to the source material to explore the Shavian themes of class struggle, social reform and women's rights.

Rubicon Theatre Company welcomes stage and screen veterans Linda Purl, Brett Rickaby and Peter Van Norden in the company's mainstage production of the Tony-Award winning play COPENHAGEN, directed by international artist Judy Hegarty Lovett.

Rubicon Theatre Company welcomes stage and screen veterans Linda Purl, Brett Rickaby and Peter Van Norden to star in the company's mainstage production of the Tony-Award winning play COPENHAGEN, directed by international artist Judy Hegarty Lovett.

Rubicon Theatre Company just announced stage and screen veterans Linda Purl, Brett Rickaby and Peter Van Norden will star in the company's mainstage production of the Tony-Award winning play COPENHAGEN, directed by international artist Judy Hegarty Lovett.

Rubicon's Broadway Musical Concert Series continues with three performances of a concert reading of THE SECRET GARDEN (based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett with Lyrics by Marsha Norman and Music by Lucy Simon.

Rubicon's Broadway Musical Concert Series continues with three performances of a concert reading of THE SECRET GARDEN (based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett with Lyrics by Marsha Norman and Music by Lucy Simon.

Rubicon Theatre Company continues its robust Travel Program with the announcement of the Fall 2015 Daddy Long Legs New York Theatre Tour. The guided Fall tour will take visitors inside Broadway, providing not only accommodations, travel and show tickets, but exciting additional experiences that cannot be arranged privately.

710 Main Theatre presents the 2015 - 16 Frey Electric Construction Co. Season.  The exciting season features a diverse mix of programming including collaborations with two local theatre companies, two Off-Broadway productions and one show that ran on Broadway during the 2014-15 Season!  THREE OF THIS SEASON'S OFFERINGS WERE WRITTEN BY BUFFALO PLAYWRIGHTS:  Laura Pedersen "For Heaven's Sake!" with the story also set in Buffalo, and two plays by Buffalo's own A.R. Gurney:  "Sylvia" and "Love Letters." 

The Janet and Mark L. Goldenson Broadway Musical Concert Series at Rubicon Theatre Company continues with three concerts celebrating the genius of two of the most prolific and most important writing teams in musical theatre history in a show entitled RODGERS & HART & HAMMERSTEIN.