Dear Patrons:

The cover of the BeckettFest program

As we near the end of our 24th “Welcome Home” Season, it’s apt that we also welcome back to Rubicon our friends and collaborators from Gare St Lazare Ireland. Our relationship with GSLI is dear to us and began in 2004 when, on the eve of the Samuel Beckett Centennial, with support from our brave board and our then-MD Norbert Tan, we entered into a grand adventure — the making of The West Coast BeckettFest. Our goal – a slightly crazy and ambitious one – was to present the entire Beckett canon on stage or screen in Ventura over
a month.

Joe Spano and Robin Gammell

After securing permission from the Beckett estate, we reached out to Walter Asmus, a German director who was considered the “bearer of Beckett’s brain.” Asmus had assisted Beckett during his life and we had seen Walter’s perfectly precise (every flick of the wrist, every toss of the hat), funny, and provocative production of Waiting for Godot in Ireland some years before. After months of writing back and forth about mission and intent (and sending pictures of our beautiful beaches), he agreed to come. Walter would direct Godot with a cast including Joe Spano who appears in this production, Robin Gammell, Cliff DeYoung and Ted Neeley. And, if we could entice the great Irish actor Conor Lovett of GSLI (also seen here today) to join us, he would create a new production of A Piece of Monologue.

After many more months and lots of insisting, we persuaded Michael Colgan of The Gate to host the first U.S. screening of the Beckett on Film series at our local movie theatre. The series featured a “Who’s Who” of theatre and film, with direction by Walter, Neil Jordan, David Mamet, Conor McPherson, Richard Eyre, Anthony Minghella, and others. Michael later wrote that he finally agreed to come to Ventura because he had to see the little theatre that was cheeky enough to think he would come. I think there were a few nights that Michael, a notorious rascal, and Mayor Brian Brennan closed Sans Souci.

There were countless other wonders. Elena Brokaw agreed to a Brown Bag Beckett series at City Hall (my favorite being “Gee, How Lucky Can You Get” with a panel including Barry McGovern, Ted, Conor, and Athena Murphy, a young Ojai actor who played Lucky at her high school). Patron Micheline Sakharoff told us about the San Quentin Drama Workshop, where the lives of prisoners with life sentences were transformed by performing Beckett, and former inmate Rick Cluchey agreed to perform Krapp’s Last Tape. Bill Irwin, who returns later this year in an evening celebrating his association with Beckett, came in for a special event. Beloved company artists Susan Clark, Linda Purl, Robin Rose, Jenny Sullivan, Bruce Weitz, Rudolph Willrich and others jumped in. As we had no experience in producing Festivals, Steven Schipper of the Royal Manitoba Theatre Festival came to participate and brought along his entire Fringe Festival staff to help.

In all, directors and artists from five countries joined with scholars from across the U.S., students and our community for a memorable month that brought many together for joy and debate, and yeasty discussions about the meaning of human existence.

In the years since, we have gotten to appreciate Beckett’s groundbreaking influence on the theatre in the works of Edward Albee and Will Eno, both descended from Beckett (artistically speaking), both geniuses in their own rights. We hope that this Gare St Lazare/Laguna Playhouse/Rubicon production of Mr. Eno’s will spark continued conversation about who we are as humans — daring, flawed, fragile, funny, angry, noble, frightened creatures who want and need to connect.

In addition to this hope, I share this long-ish story for another reason having to do with the future of theatre, and of our theatre in this community.

Joe Spano and Karyl Lynn Burns at the closing of BeckettFest

I was recently invited back from retirement by our board to help address some of the financial and spiritual challenges we have faced during and as a direct result of the pandemic. Ticket sales for regional theatres usually account for about 50% of the costs of operation, with the other 50% coming from donations. However, during this last year, despite safety measures, many audience members were reticent to return to live indoor events. Attendance across the nation has been between 20% to 40% of pre-pandemic figures, which means, well, you can do the math.

The trend across the nation seems to be that audiences are only purchasing tickets for shows they know, especially those they perceive to be blockbusters or comedies.

Where do we go from here? In speaking with colleagues, the temptation is to move away from shows that invite thought and discussion. To be sure, we love us some blockbusters (In the Heights was one of the most satisfying artistic experience of my career), and we remain committed to musicals and comedies. But what we also love, and what society needs, is balance. The present and future of live theatre is in peril.

You are here, so we know you are a believer. But know there are fewer of you. And in this period of recovery, for shows like this to happen, we need you to reach out a little more. To engage others on our behalf. To volunteer. To subscribe. To dig a little deeper when you donate or sponsor.

Thanks for reminiscing with us. And thanks for listening. We remain optimistic and committed. Please call me at (805) 667-2912, ext. 224, or contact me at klburns@rubicontheatre.org if you can help.

Kind regards,
Karyl Lynn Burns
Co-Founder/Producing Artistic Director

Over the past 25 years, Gare St Lazare Ireland (GSLI) has built a repertory of work that includes over 23 Beckett productions, as well as new works by Michael Harding and Will Eno; an adaptation of Moby Dick; and a Beckett creation with music, song and a visual artwork by Brian O’Doherty. The company premieres work in Ireland and tours nationally and internationally. GSLI has performed in over 25 countries worldwide and developed ongoing relationships with theatres and festivals from Kilkenny to Shanghai.

Conor Lovett and Judy Hegarty Lovett of Gare St Lazare Ireland

Between 2015 and 2021, the company staged How It Is, Samuel Beckett’s last novel in three parts across stage and screen. With live presentations at the Everyman, Cork and Coronet Theatre, London, and culminating with a filmed re-imagining of all three parts at the Dublin Theatre Festival 2020, How It Is was directed by Judy Hegarty Lovett and featured actors Conor Lovett and Stephen Dillane, with original sound design and new compositions by Mel Mercier. The productions also featured performances by The Irish Gamelan Ensemble, Nick Roth, Claudia Schwabb, MÓNCKK and Mark Padmore. Joint artistic directors Judy Hegarty Lovett and Conor Lovett are internationally regarded as leading interpreters of Beckett.

In 2021, Judy completed a Ph.D. at University of Reading on her career of staging Beckett’s prose. Her staging of How It Is in three parts completed over 6 years, has been cited as a major contribution to Beckett scholarship.

GSLI’s repertoire includes Molloy, The Beckett Trilogy, Lessness, First Love, The End, The Calmative, Texts for Nothing, A Piece of Monologue and Worstward Ho by Samuel Beckett; Here All Night (Music in Beckett) created by Paul Clark, Judy Hegarty Lovett, Conor Lovett and Caoimhin O’Raghallaigh; Title and Deed by Will Eno; The Good Thief by Conor McPherson; and Moby Dick (adapted for the stage by Judy Hegarty Lovett and Conor Lovett).

“The unparalleled Beckett champions.”

– The New York Times

Gare St Lazare production of “Waiting for Godot” by Samuel Beckett

GSLI in California
Southern California audiences have been privileged to see five of these productions on the Rubicon stage. (Gare St Lazare’s first U.S. appearance was as part of the West Coast BeckettFest produced by Rubicon Theatre Company in 2004, and the two companies, along with Joe Spano who appears in this performance, have had a long and artistically fruitful association.)

In 2023, the company will open a new research, development and residency initiative in Mericourt, France. The Atelier Samuel Beckett will welcome artists, performers, scholars and thinkers from across the globe.

Waiting for Will Eno
Playwright Will Eno is often described by critics as the American modern-day Beckett. So a connection between the lauded U.S. writer and Gare St Lazare seemed inevitable.

This production of The Realistic Joneses, which opened at the Dublin Festival in September and October of last year, marks Gare St Lazare’s second collaboration with the award-winning U.S. playwright Will Eno. In 2011, Eno wrote Title and Deed especially for the company. Following its premiere at Kilkenny Arts Festival, the production went on to a successful Off-Broadway run at the Signature Theatre (New York) where it was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award, and at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014 where it was winner of The Stage Award for Acting Excellence. Rubicon presented the West Coast premiere of that same production for local audiences in 2014.

Will Eno (Playwright) recently completed the Residency Five Fellowship at the Signature Theatre, which premiered his play Title and Deed in 2012 (co-production with Gare St. Lazare Ireland /West Coast Premiere at Rubicon Theatre Company in 2014), The Open House in 2014, and Wakey, Wakey in 2017. Will’s play The Underlying Chris premiered at 2nd Stage Theatre in October of 2019, directed by Kenny Leon, and The Plot premiered at Yale Repertory in November of 2019, directed by Oliver Butler.

The Realistic Joneses appeared on Broadway in 2014, where it won a Drama Desk Award, was named USA Today’s “Best Play on Broadway,” topped The Guardian’s 2014 list of American plays, and was included in the New York Times’ “Best Theatre of 2014.” The play was recently included in “25 Significant Plays of the last 25 Years,” in the New York Times. The French premiere Juste Les Jones will be directed for the Paris stage by documentary filmmaker Frederick Wiseman.

The Open House won the 2014 Obie Award, the Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, and a Drama Desk Award, and was included in the list of “Top 10 Plays of the Year” in both Time Out New York and Time Magazine.

Title and Deed was on the New York Times and New Yorker magazine’s “Top Ten Plays of 2012.” Middletown, winner of the 2011 Horton Foote Award, premiered at the Vineyard Theatre and subsequently at Steppenwolf Theatre and many other American theatres and universities. The Canadian premiere at The Shaw Festival in 2017 received a rapturous response from critics and audiences and was remounted in 2018 in Toronto. Thom Pain (based on nothing) was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. It was performed by Michael C. Hall in a sold-out revival at the Signature Theatre in the fall of 2018. The L.A. premiere was performed by Rainn Wilson at the Geffen Playhouse in 2016, and a film was made from those performances, directed by Will and Oliver Butler. In the spring of 2019, Will wrote the book for the hugely successful ad campaign Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical, which also starred Michael C. Hall.

JUDY HEGARTY-LOVETT (Director) has a Ph.D. from University of Reading, a degree in Fine Art from Crawford College, Cork, and a post graduate degree in Dramatherapy from University of Hertfordshire.

She has directed all but one of Gare St Lazare Ireland’s 23 Beckett titles since 1996 when she directed Conor Lovett in Molloy by Samuel Beckett at Riverside Studios, London and at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Other Beckett titles include Waiting for Godot, Rockaby, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Lessness, Enough, Texts for Nothing, Worstward Ho, All That Fall, Embers, Cascando, Words and Music, The Old Tune, Rough for Radio 1 & 2, First Love, The Calmative, The End, How It Is, Ill Seen Ill Said and the collaborative music/visual art creation Here All Night.

Other non-Beckett directing credits include Title and Deed by Will Eno (New York Times/New Yorker/Time Out NY Critics Picks), Moby Dick by Herman Melville (adapted by Judy with Conor Lovett), Swallow by Michael Harding, Tanks a Lot by Judy Hegarty Lovett and Raymond Keane, The Good Thief by Conor McPherson, and Copenhagen (Los Angeles Times’ Critics’ Pick), the latter two at Rubicon.

Judy’s work has been nominated and awarded in London, Berlin, Boston, Dublin, Edinburgh, New York, Santa Barbara, and Shanghai, and has been nominated for seven Irish Times Theatre Awards, with 2018’s How It Is (Part 1) winning Best Soundscape (Mel Mercier) and Best Lighting (Kris Stone) in 2019. In 2020, Judy was nominated for Best Director for How It Is (Part 2) at The Everyman.

FALINE ENGLAND (Pony) is very excited to have made her Gare St Lazare and Dublin Theatre Festival debut with The Realistic Joneses. In the U.S., she has received multiple Independent theatre and Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards for her performances in dozens of productions spanning the past two decades. She was last seen pre-pandemic as Georgie Burns in the Rubicon Theatre Company/Laguna Playhouse co-production of Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg opposite Joe Spano. She also appeared with Rubicon Theatre Company in Gulf View Drive, Crimes of the Heart, Turn of the Screw, and All My Sons. Other stage credits include Julius Caesar and Twelfth Night with Shakespeare Center L.A.; Carry the World: Women and Peace with Creative Visions; Twelfth Night, Chicago, The Rover, The Three Sisters, Playboy of the Western World, The Changeling, The Tavern, Heartbreak House, and The Tempest with Theatre Artists Group; an original telling of Finnegan’s Wake with Santa Barbara Dance Theatre; Purge! with James Donlon & Co.; and All in the Timing at Western Stage. She received her B.F.A. in Theatre from the University of California, Santa Barbara. TV apprearances include “9-1-1,” “Station 19,” “Criminal Minds,” “The Mentalist,” “Nip/Tuck,” “CSI,” “Numb3rs,” “Medium,” and “Without a Trace.” When not on stage or in front of the camera, Faline teaches and coaches acting at Diana Castle’s The Imagined Life© Studio in Los Angeles.

SORCHA FOX (Jennifer) has twice been the recipient of an Irish Arts Council Bursary Award for her performance poetry. She received the UNESCO New Work award for her commissioned poetry performance Remember for Lingo: A Spoken Word Festival. She was Theatre Artist in Residence at The Glens Centre and The Dock Arts Centre in Leitrim, Ireland. She has worked with sculptor Jackie McKenna in prison with the people serving time there on The Mask Project, about identity. Sorcha performed in Fishamble’s Little Thing, Big Thing by Donal O’Kelly which won the Stage Award for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Festival and toured to 59E59 in New York and the Adelaide Arts Festival, Australia. She has performed with Fishamble on Tiny Plays for Ireland 2 at the Project Arts Centre which toured to the Kennedy Centre in Washington D.C. and The Irish Arts Centre, New York. Sorcha was co-director of Benbo productions with Donal O’Kelly. She won Best Actress Award at the 1st Irish Festival in New York twice – in 2011 and 2015 for Bogboy and Little Thing, Big Thing, respectively. She performed in The Cambria which toured the U.S. and ran at The Irish Arts Center, New York in rep with Frederick Douglass Now and in conjunction with The Classical Theatre of Harlem. The Cambria also travelled to the Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe and Lusaka in Zambia. Sorcha played the part of Julia in Rosaleen McDonagh’s play Walls and Windows at The Abbey Theatre in 2021. She wrote her first Spoken Word play; For Rachel – 2 Squirrels, as part of the Home Theatre Ireland project in Draíocht, Dublin 2018 for the Dublin Theatre Festival. This play developed into a long-term project with women in addiction recovery in Ashleigh House called Amplify thanks to Draíocht, the Arts Council and Create Ireland. This is Sorcha’s first time working with Gare St Lazare, Rubicon and Laguna.

CONOR LOVETT (John) trained with Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Through his Beckett work with Gare St Lazare Ireland and others he has gained a reputation as one of the foremost Beckett interpreters. In all, he has performed 19 Beckett roles in 24 Beckett productions internationally and has played in over 83 cities in 25 countries around the world. As Joint Artistic Director of Gare St. Lazare Ireland he has collaborated with Judy Hegarty Lovett on over 15 Beckett titles including Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable, Texts for Nothing, First Love, The End, The Calmative, and Waiting for Godot; the radio dramas All That Fall, Embers, Cascando, and Words & Music; the music creation Here All Night; and most recently on How It Is. Conor played the role of Lucky in The Gate Theatre’s 50th Anniversary revival of Waiting for Godot directed by Walter Asmus in 2003 and on tour to China in 2004. He also played Lucky for 2 performances in Walter Asmus’ production for Rubicon Theatre in 2004. Asmus also directed him for Gare St Lazare Ireland in Beckett’s solo play A Piece of Monologue at Rubicon Theatre and around the world. In 2013, Conor played Vladimir in the Gare St Lazare/Dublin Theatre Festival co-production at The Gaiety Theatre, Dublin and on tour to Belfast, Boston, New York, and Shanghai. He performed What Where and Acts Without Words 1 & 2 at The Barbican in London for The Gate’s London Beckett Festival in 1999. For three weeks in 2016, for Gare St Lazare’s Beckett in London Festival, he performed five different solo shows and in the musical work Here All Night. Non-Beckett work includes Title and Deed by Will Eno, Moby Dick adapted by Conor Lovett and Judy Hegarty Lovett, The Good Thief by Conor McPherson for Gare St Lazare, Leaves by Lucy Caldwell directed by Garry Hynes for Druid, and Michael Keegan Dolan’s The Bull. Other theatre roles include Ferdinand in The Duchess of Malfi, Joey in The Homecoming, Army in Requiem for a Heavyweight, Les in Bouncers, The Torturer in The Possibilities, Gus in The Dumb Waiter, Orpheus in Orpheus, and Ed in Entertaining Mr. Sloane. Television includes “Belgravia,” “Versailles,” “Endeavour,” “Acceptable Risk,” “On the Hemline,” “Charlie,” “Father Ted,” and “Fallout.” Films include “The Man in the Hat,” “I’ll Find You,” “Libres,” “Small Engine Repair,” “Intermission,” “Moll Flanders,” “L’Entente Cordiale,” and “The Kings of Cork City.” In 2014, Conor received The Stage Award for Acting Excellence at Edinburgh for Title and Deed by Will Eno.

Joe Spano (Bob) is an Emmy Award-winner in his 20th season as Tobias Fornell on the television series “NCIS.” He starred for seven years as Lt. Henry Goldblume on “Hill Street Blues.” Joe also starred in the series’ “Mercy Point,” “Amazing Grace,” “Murder One,” “NYPD Blue,” and 20 films made for television. He has guest-starred on 38 episodic television shows and appeared in 30 feature films, including “Hart’s War,” “Primal Fear,” “Apollo 13,” “American Graffiti,” “Hollywoodland,” “Fracture” and “Frost/Nixon.” New York stage: Roundabout Theatre Company production of Arthur Miller’s The Price (Tony nominated for Best Revival). West Coast: ten seasons with Berkeley Repertory Theatre, of which he is a founding member; American Buffalo (L.A. Drama Critics’ Circle Award), School for Scandal, Speed the Plow and A Chorus of Disapproval for South Coast Rep; and Bill Cain’s Equivocation at the Geffen. At Rubicon Theatre where he is company member, Joe has appeared in Sylvia, Waiting for Godot, R. Buckminster Fuller: The History…and MYSTERY of the Universe (Ovation Award), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cormac McCarthy’s Sunset Limited, Karyl Lynn Burns’ beautiful adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Simon Stephens’ Heisenberg (also at Laguna Playhouse), and, most recently, The Gin Game with JoBeth Williams.

Molly O’Cathain (Set and Costume Designer) based in Dublin, works across theatre, dance, opera, and various other art forms. Molly’s recent designs include Absent the Wrong (Set Design, Abbey Theatre/Dublin Fringe Festival), Constellations (Gate Theatre), Bajazet (Irish National Opera/Royal Opera House – Best Opera Production Olivier Award nomination), An Octoroon (Costume Design/Abbey Theatre), It Was Easy (in the end) (Abbey /THEATREclub) and Ask Too Much of Me (Abbey/NYT), Minseach (Sibeal Davitt Dance), The Playboy of The Western World (Dublin Theatre Festival/The Gaiety Theatre/The Lyric Belfast); La Liberazione di Ruggiero (Royal Irish Academy of Music); Serious Money and The Ash Fire (The Lir); Mr Burns (Rough Magic), The Enemy Within (An Grianan Theatre), To the Lighthouse (The Everyman/Hatch Productions), Shit (ThisIsPopBaby). Her designs for Malaprop Theatre: Where Sat the Lovers, Before You Say Anything, Everything Not Saved, Jericho, BlackCatfishMusketeer and LOVE+. Her associate design credits include The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Fly Davis/National Theatre London), The Welkin (Bunny Christie/National Theatre London), The Snapper (Paul Wills/Gate Theatre Dublin), Road (Chloe Lamford/Royal Court Theatre London). www.mollyocathain.com

Simon Bennison (Lighting Designer), is from Manchester and has trained in lighting, architecture and music at UCL, Yale, Surrey and RADA. He was Lighting Associate for the Royal Opera House until 2022. Recent works for theatre include Happy Days and Disgraced for the Norwegian National Theatre, How It Is (Parts 1 and 2), First Love, The End, The Beckett Trilogy, and Here All Night (Gare St Lazare); and The Lady from the Sea, Dead Dogs and Ivy & Joan (The Coronet). Recent designs for dance include A Diamond Celebration, Pilgrim (Dante Project); Anemoi, Scherzo, The Illustrated Farewell, Morgen (Royal Ballet); Nureyev Legend & Legacy (Theatre Royal Drury Lane); Ondine (Bolshoi Ballet); Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet of Flanders and Ekaterinburg Ballet); Le Baisir de la Fée, (Perm Ballet & Scottish Ballet); and the Headspace Dance Company programs Three & Four Quarters and If Play is Play. And recent works for film include “Agnus Dei” for Arthur Pita and Ballet Boyz and the full length “How It Is” for Gare St Lazare and the Dublin Theatre Festival. Scenes from an Execution for Dundee Repertory Theatre and In a Minor Key for the Mikhailovsky Ballet were both nominated for Best Lighting awards. Scherzo and Anemoi have each received Best New Dance Piece awards from the South Bank and the Dance Critics 2021 and the Dante Project won Best Dance Work 2022.

MEL MERCIER (Sound Designer/Composer) is a multi-disciplinary, award-winning, Tony-nominated artist with an international reputation as a performer, composer and sound designer. Renowned as an innovative musician, rooted in traditional music, he is committed to collaborating across artforms, music genres and traditions. He is director of the Irish Gamelan Orchestra, MÓNCKK new music ensemble, and PULSUS, the first Irish traditional percussion ensemble. Mel received his M.F.A. in World Music at CalArts in 1992 and his Ph.D. in Music from University of Limerick, Ireland, in 2011. He was Lecturer/Professor of Music at University College Cork, Ireland, from 1992 to 2016, and inaugural Chair of Performing Arts at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland from 2016 to 2022. Mel was introduced to music by his father Peadar Mercier, a member of The Chieftains, who taught him to play the bodhrán and bones. He collaborated as a traditional percussionist with Irish pianist and composer Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin for 40 years. Throughout the 1980s, Mel and his father performed in Europe and the USA with John Cage and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. In addition to Irish traditional music, Mel has studied and taught musics from Ireland, Indonesia, West Africa and India for more than 30 years. Mel has created music for theatre in Ireland and internationally for 25 years, during which time he has worked regularly with some of the world’s most respected theatre artists, including Fiona Shaw, Deborah Warner and Gare St Lazare Ireland. He has composed the music for many critically-acclaimed theatre productions and art installations that have been presented at theatres and venues in Ireland, the UK, Europe and America

KEVIN WILLIAMS (Prop Design) a native of Los Angeles, has spent over two decades working as a designer, fabricator and consultant for clients such as Walt Disney Imagineering, The HUB Network, Red 5 Studios, and Twentieth Century Fox, among many others. Notably, he worked as the Resident Production Designer for the interactive theatre company Delusion for seven years – Lies Within (2014), His Crimson Queen (2016), the Lies Within VR series (2017), The Blue Blade (2018), and, most recently, Reaper’s Remorse (2021). Kevin is currently the Prop Department Supervisor for UCLA’s School of Theater, Film & Television. He works as a freelance designer and lives in Orange County with his incredible family. Proud S.P.A.M. member.

Phil Gold* (Stage Manager) is pleased to be making his debut at the Rubicon Theatre Company with The Realistic Joneses. Tours: Soul Doctor (International); and Sisterella (European). Off-Broadway: Miss America’s Ugly Daughter. Opera: Blue and Carmen (Pittsburgh Opera). Regional: All Things Equal (freeFall Theatre and Bay Street Theater); A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill (Geffen Playhouse); A Grand Night for Singing (Musical Theatre West); Tevye in New York! (The Wallis); In a Booth at Chasen’s (El Portal); Dirty Blonde, The Cocktail Hour, Love, Loss and What I Wore (Coyote StageWorks); Hold These Truths, Smokey Joe’s Cafe (Pasadena Playhouse); I Only Have Eyes for You (The Montalbán); Billy Elliot, Les Misérables, Next to Normal (McCoy Rigby Entertainment); and Forever Plaid (Cabrillo Music Theatre), among others.

EDUCATION DONORS

Susan Adamich
Anonymous
Amanda McBroom and
George Ball
Penelope Barnds
Norma Beck
Gary Best
Marla Brown
Bonnie Hellman Brown and Buzz Brown
Donna Burger
James and Lori Burke
Coastal Copy
Robert and Carol Cole
Loretta Collet
Freddie Contarino
Barbra Conway
Melinda Dannenberg
Michelle and Matthew Demaria
Lynda and Fred Evans
Ken and Carolee Feltch
Judith and Mark Fleischman
The Harry and Judy Friedman Family
   Foundation

Rebecca Fox
Nancy and Richard Francis
Morgan Stanley Gift Fund
Laura Lee Merewether Fund*
Katie Goode
Jeannie and Rick Graham
Julia and Walter Hamann
John Hankins
Eileen Hansen
Martha Jaffe
Donna Jones
Joanne Kaplan
Judy Kerr
Jordan Laby
Kate Larsen
Jennifer Macafee
Christine and Paul Magie
Lily Mallare
Carol Manzani
Frances and Jack Marshall
Geoffrey Matlock
Ed McCombs
Elmira and Robert McDonough
Katharine Metropolis
William Mitchell
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Ruth and George Owens
Debbie and John Perry
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The Sence Foundation
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Jody Shapiro
Nancy and Arthur Simpson
Dawn Stidham-Husted
Robert Stroh
Karen Trainor
Adela and Ken Trainor
Allen Vail
Carol Ann Wiley
Stephanie Zierhut

*Administered through the Ventura County Community Foundation

The listing below reflects gifts received from January 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022. To make a donation, or to notify us regarding any errors or omissions, please contact Araceli Aggarwal, Development Associate, at 805.667.2912, ext. 246, or aaggarwal@rubicontheatre.org.

$50,000+

Loretta and Mike Merewether
Barbara Meister

$10,000 – $49,999

Thomas Pecht
Lori and Dr. Richard Reisman
Darrel Schultz
Becky and Steven Snyder
Anne Smith Towbes
Stephanie and Kurt Zierhut

$1,000 – $9,999

Joanie and Dr. Moustapha Abou-Samra
Law Offices of Richard L. Francis and Associates
Norma Beck
Claire and Reid Bowman
Donna Burger
Ginger and Kim Caldwell
Bonnie and Don Carlton
Betsy Chess
Susan Clark
Carol and Robert Cole
Barbara Conway
Frances Elson
Linda Kay Fisher
Abra and Ed Flores
Gene Haas Foundation*
Judith Friedman
Judi and Manny Garcia
Renee and Mark Garrett
Lynn and Al Geller
Rosalind and Richard Goldstein
Jeffrey and Gerald Grove
Randy Encinas and Doug Halter
Mary and Jim Harrison
Genevieve and Tom Hinkle
Ann and Jon Ives
Marilyn Juday
Marji Knowles
Sandra and Neal Lassila
Irene Lawler
Tracy Long
Jeannette and Dennis Longwill
Michael Mance
Rosa Lee Measures
Mike Powers
Kay and Jerry Rich
Paula and Scott Rushing
Susan and Louis Samonsky
Mary Schaeffer
Lainey and Dan Scully
Diana Troik and Art Shaffman
Jody Shapiro
Karen Fritts and John Shwope
Nancy Sieh
Rebecca and Jeffrey Smith
Lane Stalbird
Kevin Surace
Adela and Ken Trainor
Nancy Rasmussen and William Wayson
Laurie and Steven Weiss
JoBeth Williams
Annie Winch
Leah Palmer Zondlo and Jim Zondlo

*Administered through the Ventura County Community Foundation

$100 – $999

Judy and Joel Adelman
Raul Alvarado
Denisse Ambert
Catherine and John Baker
Richard Baldwin
Jill and Edward Banman
Penelope Barnds
Victoria Basolo
Donna and Gerald Beatty
Larry Behrens
Robert Benham
Jane Berg
Sally and Bruce Bishop
Dell and Paul Bishop
Ruth Blystone
Josefina Boner
Theresa Brenner-Farrell
Bonnie Hellman Brown and Buzz Brown
Donn Browne
Colleen Bruns
Diana Burdick
Patricia Butler
Doris Capra
Antonio Casares
Kim and Bobby Castanga
Peter Chapa
Linda Chatenever
Weitz Chatenever
Ruth Cirillo
Harriet Clune
Shelley and David Cole
Takako Colman
Melinda Dannenberg
Dorothy and Gary Davis
John Dobroth
Diane Dowler
Leonard Dryer
Judy Dugan
Lorraine Ebdon
Elaine Edwards
Wanda Edwards
Jennifer Jannone and John Edwards
Lynda and Fred Evans
Karen and Paul Finkel
Lois and Roy Fischman
Judith and Mark Fleischman
Anita Flood
Terrance Foley
Rebecca Fox
David Fuhrmann
Cynthia Garcia
Clarissa and Bill Garlington
Joyce Gelsinger
Susan and Mark Ghilarducci
Stephanie Greger
Rozanne and Randy Haege
Julia Hamann
Eileen Hansen
Sharon and Myron Harrison
John Hawkes
Deanna Hehl
Lori and Daniel Hermelin
Barbara and Larry Hilburn
Marilyn Hilton
Kathie Hira
Linda Hitt
Melita Hoffman
Charlotte Hoyt
Diane and Clark Hubbard
Martha Jaffe
Robert Gibson Johnson
Lisa Kadowaki
Linda Kerns
Patrice Kilby
Elizabeth Kinney
Alan Kirschbaum
Wendy Leib and Ronald Kopp
Jean Kraabel
Ronald Kramar
Carol Lande
Sharon Landecker
Haady Lashkari
Edward Lay
Harriet and Eric Leibovitch
Jennifer Macafee
Valerie Magro
Rita March
Paula Markgraf
Manuel Marquez
L. Paige Marvel
Marget and Gerald Matchin
Nancy Maxson
Christopher May
Emma Mayer
Stuart McDaniel
Brian McDonald
Kay McElroy
Sharon McGahan
Edward McHale
Suzanne and Ernie Melonas
Linda and Jerry Mendelsohn
Kathleen and Brian Meyer
Jean and J Midgley
Irene Miller
Margret Miller
Diance Moore
Frank Moore
Sally and Tom Mueller
George Munro
Carlton and Peter Nebreklievski
Phyllis and Richard Nielsen
Leonard Nunney
Jean and Zelma Olson
Judith Owen
Matty Park
Benjamin Pecht
Diane and The Hon. Steven Perren
Linda Peterson
Gene Pitman
Marilyn Potter
Susan Poulson
Michelle Prichard
Lynda Racimora
Chris Rae
Ann and Rodney Resnik
Margery Richards
Eleanor and Mark Richman
Joyce A Robinson
Catherine Rose
John Russell
Judy Russo
Mary and Sam Saputo
Doris Schaffer
Cheryl Schuler
Harvey Silverberg
Karen Spoentgen
Berta and Allan Steele
Michael Steinfeld
Elizabeth and Noel Paul Stookey
Donna Swift
Judith and Melvyn Swope
Norbert Tackman
Marcia Tannehill
Rosemary Tobin
Jane Totten
Karen Trainor
Kim Trainor
Allen Vail
Robert Ward
Marie Warner
Marjorie Warren
Pam Warren
Kathy Weber
Judith and Mort Weisman
James Whitney
Sylvia and Duane Wikholm
Carol Ann Wiley
Vernon Willet
Melvin Willis
Judith and David Wittig
Wanda Woessner
Hiroko Yoshimoto
Tricia and Arnold Zane

$50 – $99

Maria Alamin
Casey Barbaro
Jay Bevan
Michael Beyries
Mary and Bob Braitman
Arlene Braun
Douglas Burbank
Alisha Cardoza
Kim Charnofsky
Stephanie Coltrin-Beyries
Lilia Coppa
Sharon Crane
Chris Crice
Chice Davison
Susan Drapkin
Kathleen and Robert Ellison
Pamela Fuller
Catherine and Cranston Gesell
Martha Groszewski
Jean Hall
John Hankins
Betty Harris
Karen Harter
Kathryn Helms
Anyce Hency
Victoria Hill
Randall Jones
Joanne Kaplan
Marianne and Theodore Leitereg
Cheryl Lewis
Lou Lotorto
Melissa Manchester
Ann and Dave Millican
Janna Minsk
Lindsay Nielson
Debra and John O’Neal
Jone Pence
Debbie and John Perry
James Roberts
Sandra Rush
Charles Russell
Jackie Saltz
Joyce Shipley
Jean Smith
Dale Stamos
Judith Streamer
Jenny Sullivan
Renee Sutton
Joanne Wolf

Tributes are made to honor a loved one, celebrate a special occasion, or remember those who have passed away. Thank you to the following individuals for commemorating landmark moments with a gift to the theatre. These listings reflect one-time gifts of $100 or more, received January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. To make a gift, or to let us know about a correction, please contact Araceli Aggarwal, Development Associate, at 805.667.2912, ext. 246, or aaggarwal@rubicontheatre.org.

In Honor of Karyl Lynn Burns
Barbara Meister
James Whitney

In Memory of Richard A. Burns
Carole A. Burns

In Honor of Julia Campbell
Fred and Lynda Evans

In Honor of Mary Ann Cohen
Lynda Paige Marvel
Cheryl Schuler

In Memory of Susan Cooper
Gloria and Ronald Chess

In Honor of Jack and Rivie Drapkin
Susan Drapkin

In Memory of Diana Einhorn
Leonard Dryer

In Memory of Karen Finkel
Paul Finkel

In Honor of Roy Fishman
Judi and Manny Garcia

In Memory of Rite Harris
Lori and Gregory Harris

In Memory of Tom Hashbarger
Cynthia Hashberger

In Honor of Patricia Lay
Edward Lay

In Honor of Joseph Fuqua
Penelope Barnds

In Honor of Doug Halter and
Randy Encinas
Sonia Chala Tower

In Memory of Normand Kurtz
Jane Berg
Deanna Hehl
Jenny Sullivan

In Honor of Barbara Meister
Eleanor and Dr. Mark Richman

In Memory of Nick and Olga Melonas
Suzanne and Ernie Melonas

In Honor of Loretta and Mike Merewether
Penelope Barnds
Brett Hilton

In Honor of Loretta and Mike Merewether’s 60th Wedding Anniversary
Donna J. Burger

In Honor of Lori and Richard Reisman
Barbara Meister

In Memory of Marlena Daly Roberts
Wanda Edwards

In Memory of Nancy Tonkin
Emma Mayer

In Memory of Kim Weiskopf
Jody Legendre

In Memory of Kathleen Yuss
The Yuss Family Trust