The History of Rubicon

1998

Rubicon Theatre Company is founded by Karyl Lynn Burns and James O'Neil. The first presentation is a concert version of Jesus Christ Superstar at Ventura Concert Theatre with Carl Anderson and Ted Neeley, stars of the Broadway and film production. Three sold-out performances.

Board recruitment begins with a "First Supper" hosted by Ted Neeley and actors at Jonathan's Mediterranean Restaurant. A 58-member Board of Directors is formed.

1999

Volunteer auxiliary (“The Grandes Dames”) is formalized with a high-tea at the home of Sandra and Jordan Laby. Membership quickly grows to over 100 (now nearly 300).

Rubicon inaugurates its home, a historic 1920s converted church, with Shirley Valentine. The Ventura City Council declares Rubicon the “anchor of the new downtown cultural district.”

Student matinee program is launched with Darrow, presented in the former County Courthouse and at Rubicon Theatre. Local attorneys and judges moderate thought-provoking post-show discussions with students on the nature of law and justice. Barbara Meister and Judy Bysshe launch an outreach committee of former educators to support and facilitate student participation at Rubicon.

Rubicon provides first in-school “Shakespeare in the Schools” program with Romeo and Juliet, presented to more than 7,000 students at 10 area high schools.

2000

Jack Lemmon gives his final stage appearance in Rubicon’s production of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters, playing opposite his wife Felicia Farr. Mr. Lemmon and Ms. Farr dedicate Rubicon’s youth conservatory program following their performance.

Rubicon presents the Company’s first world premiere, the stage adaptation of Murder in the First. Linda Gray directs a cast including Larry Hagman.

Stephanie Zimbalist plays Lizzie in Rubicon’s production of The Rainmaker. Latino Actor Carlos Sanz performs the role of Starbuck. The soundscape, rooted in Zapotec tradition, imbues the production with a romantic, mythic quality. Local Latino students receive a Spanish synopsis, and participate in a bilingual “talkback” following special matinee performances.

2001

Emmy Award-winning actress Susan Clark makes her Rubicon debut in the company’s first Tennessee Williams play, The Glass Menagerie. James O’Neil directs, earning a reputation as an innovative interpreter of Williams’ work (cemented by subsequent productions of A Streetcar Named Desire and The Night of the Iguana).

Access Theatre Founder Rod Lathim directs The Boys Next Door. Rubicon begins audio-described performances for individuals who are blind or visually impaired.

Rubicon produces Bardwalk, a walkathon and celebration of Shakespeare that takes place on Ventura’s pier, boardwalk, and city streets and culminates with a Rockin’ Renaissance Celebration.

Jenny Sullivan stars alongside John Ritter and Jeff Kober in the World Premiere of her semi-autobiographical play J for J. (The play is part of a “Special Additions” series which includes David Birney in his own adaptation of Twain’s The Diaries of Adam & Eve.) J for J transfers to The Court in Los Angeles and is presented in a reading at the John Houseman in New York, hosted by Daryl Roth.

2002

A major revival of Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris is helmed by original Broadway director Moni Yakim. Amanda McBroom and George Ball, who appeared in the New York production, reprise their roles.

James O’Neil directs a workshop of Beggar’s Holiday, a revival of the only musical Duke Ellington ever wrote for Broadway with a new book by Dale Wasserman. The production, starring Carl Anderson, begins Rubicon’s “Lost and Found” musical concert series.

Students ages 9-to-18 create a production of Once on This Island, Jr. under the direction of new Education Outreach Director Brian McDonald. Rubicon Young Professionals intern program is launched, with students participating in Master Classes taught by artists including Eva Marie Saint, Jeffrey Hayden and Daniel Davis.

2003

Rubicon presents Harold Gould in Old Wicked Songs in partnership with Santa Fe Stages in New Mexico – the Company’s first co-production.

An acclaimed production of the Irish drama Dancing at Lughnasa is followed by A Streetcar Named Desire starring Linda Purl.

Rubicon launches “Plays-in-Progress,” a staged reading series created to support playwrights in the developmental process.

Sylvia with Joe Spano and Kristi Lynes sets new box office records. The production is later revived.

On Canada Day, Len Cariou, along with other celebrity actors and diplomats, announces Rubicon’s new artistic partnership with Manitoba Theatre Centre of Winnepeg at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Norbert Tan joins Rubicon from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the organization’s first Managing Director. Building owners place The Laurel on the market and Rubicon launches Cornerstone Campaign to acquire the property.

James O’Neil directs the timely Arthur Miller classic All My Sons featuring George Ball and Robin Pearson Rose. Production later wins the Ovation Award for Best Play of the year, making Rubicon the youngest company ever to receive that honor.

Jenny Sullivan directs Jane Anderson’s Defying Gravity during the Centennial of Flight. The production, inspired by the life of astronaut Christa McAuliffe, incorporates aerial and trapeze performances and large-scale multi-media projections.

Cornerstone contributors are honored at an International Holiday Gala at the Reagan Presidential Library. The event, hosted by Ventura Mayor Brian Brennan, is attended by Consul Generals from five countries.

2004

Rubicon hosts a benefit concert with Grammy-award winner Kenny Loggins at the private ranch of Claire and Reid Bowman in Ojai, raising funds for the building campaign and education programs.

Rubicon announces two international collaborations with Manitoba Theatre Centre (the World Premiere of Mating Dance of the Werewolf; and The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams). Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and daughter Stephanie Zimbalist appear on stage for the first time together in The Night of the Iguana.

Rubicon completes public Cornerstone Campaign during Driving Miss Daisy and makes down payment on the theatre building, with a $500,000 lead gift from Helen Yunker. The performance hall is named in Ms. Yunker’s honor.

World Premiere Musical Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues starring Amanda McBroom and directed by Joel Silberman receives critical acclaim. Ventura native son and director Michael Addison returns home to helm Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Renowned German Director Walter Asmus (Samuel Beckett’s Assistant Director) directs fall production of Waiting for Godot, during first West Coast BeckettFest at Rubicon. Rubicon’s BeckettFest celebrates the groundbreaking work of playwright Samuel Beckett the year prior to his centennial. The entire Beckett canon is offered on stage or film with over 100 performances, symposia, workshops and events. Producers, actors and directors from six countries participate: Ireland, Canada, France, Germany, England and the U.S.

Rubicon garners 20 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award nominations (more than any theatre in Southern California), receiving Awards for Best Play, Best Musical Direction and Best Featured Actor.

2005

Rubicon receives 3 NAACP Theatre Award nominations, and James O’Neil receives the Best Director Award for Driving Miss Daisy. The production travels to the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Winnipeg for an encore run.

The entire theatre is converted into an eclectic, hip coffeehouse for an environmental production of Songs for a New World, which goes on to receive 7 LA Stage Alliance Ovation nominations and 3 technical awards (Set Design, Lighting Design and Sound Design).

La Cage aux Folles: A Tribute to Jerry Herman is held at Chateau Plaisance, the estate of Lynn & Ed Hogan in Lake Sherwood, to benefit Rubicon’s artistic and education programs.

Rubicon presents an added Spring/Fall series of plays, including Tuesdays with Morrie, Shirley Valentine and Defending the Caveman in repertory, plus a two-person adaptation of Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw.

A Woman of Will (originally world-premiered at Rubicon as Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues), opens Off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York. Rubicon supporters attend the opening night in NYC.

2006

Rubicon mounts West Coast Premiere of tick..tick..BOOM! coinciding with the opening of the Sony film of Larson’s Rent. The critically-acclaimed production transfers to the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles, where it is seen by over 12,000 patrons. The production is helmed by original New York and London director Scott Schwartz and choreographer Christopher Gattelli.

Tony-award winning composer Jason Robert Brown performs in a benefit concert at the Tower Club to benefit Rubicon’s education outreach programs and to launch the Larry Meister Memorial Musical Fund.

Rubicon produces the first-ever three-play Dale Wasserman Festival, with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Man of La Mancha, and the world-premiere of Open Secrets. Man of La Mancha marks the Company’s largest production to date in terms of cast size and technical budget. The production breaks all Rubicon box office records.

Rubicon presents in repertory award-winning plays by modern Irish playwrights: Belfast Blues by Geraldine Hughes and The Good Thief by Conor McPherson performed by Conor Lovett.

The Jack Oakie Foundation makes a generous multiple-year commitment to underwrite and name the Summer Musical Theatre Camp.

Rubicon’s annual fundraising gala is held at the new Air Force One pavilion at the Reagan Presidential Library.

Rubicon partners with Broadway producer Hal Thau to present the World Premiere of Back Home Again: A John Denver Holiday, conceived by Tony nominees Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman. The production moves to a theatre in Northern California and later is announced for Seattle Rep’s 2007 season.

Rubicon receives a $500,000 gift by an anonymous donor and launches a Milestone Match campaign to raise $250,000.

2007

New York legends Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire premiere their new musical A Time for Love at Rubicon, directed by Joel Silberman. The production moves to Studio Arena in Buffalo and is announced for the Signature Theatre’s fall schedule.

Rubicon’s Tower Club cabaret series continues with performances honoring Stephen Schwartz and later Maltby & Shire. Singers include Alice Ripley, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Patrick Cassidy, Amanda McBroom, George Ball and others.

The opening night of The Diary of Anne Frank is hosted by the Jewish Federation at Temple Beth Torah. Special guests, welcomed by Rubicon Board President Richard Reisman, include a Holocaust survivor and a Rubicon volunteer who was a concentration camp liberator.

Rubicon presents the Company’s second Shakespeare: Hamlet, selected for Rubicon company member Joseph Fuqua, and directed by Jenny Sullivan with an adaptation by dramaturg William Keeler. Rubicon expands number of student matinees for both Anne Frank and Hamlet with assistance from the Annenberg Foundation and the Orfalea Foundation.

Access Theatre founder Rod Lathim returns to Rubicon to helm a revival of Children of a Lesser God. The number of signed performances is increased to five.

Record attendance is expected for the Company’s summer youth programs: the Jack Oakie Summer Musical Theatre Camp, the Summer Acting Intensive and the Summer Technical Theatre Camp. Presentations will include Babes in Arms and Little Women.

Rubicon announces upcoming 10th Anniversary Season and launches Innovation Fund to present more World Premieres and bold or reinvented revivals of classics.