Rubicon Theatre Company presents
the WORLD PREMIERE of
THE SPIN CYCLE
Written by David Rambo
Directed by Rubicon Artistic Director James O’Neil

“No matter how old I am, I’m always my mother’s little girl again the minute I show up at the door.”

June 21, 2008…Ventura, CA… This summer, Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 10th Anniversary “Festival” Season with the World Premiere of David Rambo’s THE SPIN CYCLE, directed by Rubicon Artistic Director James O’Neil and starring Marcia Rodd, Morgan Rusler, and Rubicon Company member Stephanie Zimbalist.

David Rambo, known for his work as an executive producer and writer for television’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” is also the author of the tenth most-produced show in regional theatre, Gods Man in Texas, as well as recent successes The Ice-Breaker (2006 World Premiere at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco) and The Lady with All the Answers, a one-woman show about the life of Ann Landers (2005 World Premiere at San Diego Old Globe). THE SPIN CYCLE receives its World Premiere production at Rubicon after appearing in the theatre’s 2005 Fashion Forms™ Plays-in-Progress Program where it received a hugely positive audience response.

Director and Rubicon Artistic Director James O’Neil commented, “Our wonderful Ventura audiences always give great feedback during Plays-in-Progress, but this play especially ignited them. They said that THE SPIN CYCLE is their lives…they really loved it. We are so excited to be bringing it back for the World Premiere production.”

The comedic three-person play pivots upon the return of a baby boomer to her childhood home - a home in which her mother is still trying to do her live-in adult son’s laundry. As the sibling rivals quibble, and all three attempt to “spin” their shared history and tell the story from their point of view, they slowly confront each other’s limits, strengths, and the mother’s mortality. Among the hilarious antics of the trio, the trials of the baby boomer generation are exposed.

Rambo commented, “One of the reasons I chose the differing points of view [in this play] is we think its all about us…but the core of humanity is empathy. That’s what got us out of the cave and what brought us this far. It’s what we have to cling to if we’re going to make it.”

Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns reflected, “This play deals with some very painful subjects in a funny, human way that we can all relate to.”

Stephanie Zimbalist returns to Rubicon after her scene-stealing turn as drunk actress Gay Wellington in You Can’t Take It With You. For THE SPIN CYCLE, she transforms into Wendy, the accomplished baby boomer whose resume includes multiple failed relationships and multiple careers.  Stephanie is joined by Rubicon newcomers Marcia Rodd (Broadway’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers) and Morgan Rusler (“Mad Men”).

About the Author
Playwright David Rambo was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania in 1955 and raised in nearby Spring City, developing a lifelong interest in literature and art due in no small part to having both a mother and a grandmother who were librarians.  After acting in several Philadelphia area productions, he moved to New York at 19 and appeared in musicals and plays with the Octagon Theatre Company and other off-off-Broadway companies. He supported himself by taking office work and gigs as a cabaret pianist. A music and comedy act with close friend Thea Ramsey – “On the Loose!” - was a personal joy and critical triumph, cut short by her battle with cystic fibrosis (she died in 1987 at 37).

Seeking TV and film work, David moved to Los Angeles and was awarded a starring role in the 1981 ABC-TV pilot “The Best of Times,” co-starring with Nicolas Cage (then Coppola) and Crispin Glover. Other small TV roles followed, but the theatre remained David's passion. He started selling real estate as a means to support a theatre career. The sales career took off, the acting career did not.

In 1993, he briefly returned to his musical roots with the off-Broadway hit Howard Crabtree’s Whoop-Dee-Doo! when the show's creator, long-time friend Crabtree, asked to use David's “Elizabeth Taylor” song in the revue. It became the hit of the show, and a standout on the 1995 BMG cast recording. In 1991, happy with the financial reward of a sales career, but unfulfilled by the grind of the house-selling game, David began spending the hours at idle open houses sketching ideas for plays on the backs of property sales brochures. The tinkering led to a first play, then another, and another. One of these early plays was presented at the Ashland New Plays Festival in 1997.

On a snowy February, 1998 evening in a rented cabin in the San Bernardino mountains, David typed the words “End of Play” to God’s Man in Texas. Agent Mary Harden liked the play and submitted it to Actors Theatre of Louisville, where it was given its World Premiere a year later at the 23rd Humana Festival of New American Plays.

Productions followed at theatres all over the country, including The Old Globe, Geffen Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Alliance Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Hippodrome Theatre, The Florida Stage (Carbonell Award - Best Play), Tennessee Rep, Arkansas Rep, Mill Mountain Playhouse and the Warehouse Theatre. By 2002, God’s Man in Texas ranked as one of the most produced plays in U.S. regional theatres. For the 24th Humana Festival, David contributed a short work, “Maid of Athens,” to Back Story, an anthology play developed from a story by Joan Ackerman.

On March 30, 2003 in Los Angeles, the curtain of the Ahmanson Theatre rose on David's stage adaptation of the classic Joseph L. Mankiewicz screenplay All About Eve. The star-studded cast included Tim Curry, Stockard Channing, Calista Flockhart, Blythe Danner, Angela Lansbury, Kirk Douglas, Victor Garber, Carl Reiner, Jennifer Tilly, and John Ritter. The one-time only performance benefitted The Actors Fund of America. A year later for the Actors Fund, David's adaptation of the screenplay Sunset Boulevard by Charles Brackett, Billy Wilder and D.H. Marshman, Jr. was presented at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood with another star-studded cast led by Anjelica Huston, Sir Ben Kingsley, Patrick Wilson, Lauren Ambrose, Noah Wyle, Charles Durning and legendary director Stanley Donen as Cecil B. DeMille. His adaptation of Casablanca for the Actors Fund in 2005 starred Anne Heche, Christian Slater, Edward Hermann, Dan Castellaneta, Michael York and Andre deShields.

At the Hollywood Bowl, conductor John Mauceri and director Peter Hunt took David’s Sunset Boulevard adaptation to a new level. As Betty Buckley, Len Cariou, Douglas Sills and an all-star cast performed the script, 96 musicians played Franz Waxman’s evocative original score for the film.

David adapted another classic screenplay, Adam’s Rib by Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, for L.A. TheatreWorks, where it was performed in October 2003 for broadcast on National Public Radio, starring Anne Heche and Adam Arkin. L.A. TheatreWorks also produced God’s Man in Texas.

David’s first foray into writing for television was an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” titled, “Butterflied.” Its January 2004 premiere was the highest rated TV program of the week. He joined the “CSI:” writing team, and is now an executive producer on the show. Some of his most memorable episodes include “Who Shot Sherlock?,” a Sherlock Holmes mystery; “Kiss-Kiss, Bye-Bye,” which boasted a dynamic performance by guest star Faye Dunaway, and “Built to Kill, Parts 1 and 2,” the spectacular Season 7 two-part season premiere that included the cast of Cirque du Soleil’s KA, singer John Mayer, Danny Bonaduce and Sean Young.

Recently, commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse, David wrote a new book for its highly successful revival of the Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon, directed by Gil Cates. David’s play The Lady With All the Answers, a one-woman play based on the life and letters of Ann Landers, premiered at the Old Globe in San Diego in August 2005.

The Ice-Breaker, a two-character play exploring the relationship between a reclusive climate scientist and an admiring acolyte, had a “rolling world premiere” at Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Phoenix Theatre in Indianapolis and the New Rep in Cambridge. A production followed in 2006 at the Laguna Playhouse. The play was co-commissioned by the Geffen Playhouse and A.S.K. Theater Projects, and developed at Denver Center Theatre’s Working Stages Program. David is a member of the Dramatists Guild, ASCAP, and Writers Guild of America, West.

About the Production Team

Director James O’Neil most recently served as director for Rubicon productions of Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance and The Diary of Anne Frank for which he earned an Independent Award. O’Neil co-founded Rubicon Theatre Company in 1998 with his wife Karyl Lynn Burns. Other Rubicon directing credits include Man of La Mancha, The Night of the Iguana (a show which traveled to the Manitoba Theatre Centre in Canada), A Streetcar Named Desire (Independent Award), Driving Miss Daisy (NAACP Award, traveled to MTC in Canada), All My Sons (2004 Ovation Award for Best Play), Sylvia, The Glass Menagerie, Jesus Christ Superstar, Love Letters, and Romeo and Juliet at the Bella Maggiore Inn and in area schools. Prior to starting Rubicon, Jim worked for more than 25 years in the theatre as a producer, director and actor. He received his B.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts. While on staff at Landmark Entertainment Group in LA, Jim directed a multi-million dollar animatronic/special effects show and supervised all aspects of production and creative direction for several themed attractions in Sanrio’s Harmonyland on the island of Kyushu in Japan. As Associate Producer/Artistic Associate for the Santa Barbara Repertory Theatre, Jim helmed a new works program, premiering David Michael Wieger's The Gentlemen's Club and Dovetail. Other directing credits include The Lion in Winter, The Petrified Forest, Inherit the Wind and regional premieres of John Ford Noonan’s A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking and Rupert Holmes’ Drood! As an actor, Jim received rave reviews in the role of Pontius Pilate in the National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.  For Rubicon he has appeared in Love Letters, The Rainmaker, The Devil's Disciple, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Turn of the Screw and most recently as Claudius in Hamlet (Independent Award). Jim is the recipient of an Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre Rep Award and a Friend of Education Award from the California State Board of Education on behalf of Rubicon’s outreach programs.

The design team of THE SPIN CYCLE features Scenic Designer Tom Buderwitz, Lighting Designer Nick McCord, Rubicon Resident Sound Designer David Beaudry, Costume Designer Rachel Myer, and Resident Property Designer T Theresa Scarano with production stage manager Linda M. Tross.

About the Cast

The cast of  THE SPIN CYCLE includes Marcia Rodd as Mom, Morgan Rusler as Mikey, the ne’er-do-well brother, and Stephanie Zimabalist as Wendy, the baby boomer returning home.

Marcia Rodd has a career that spans over forty years.  Marcia made her Broadway debut as the only American actress in Joan Littlewood’s renowned Oh, What a Lovely War! She created the role of Olivia in the award-winning musical Your Own Thing, which garnered a Drama Desk Award, traveling with it to Los Angeles and London, and followed that with the creation of Bobbi Michelle in Neil Simon’s smash hit Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Marcia received a Tony nomination as Best Actress in a Musical for her starring role in Cryer & Ford’s Shelter. She played Hal Linden’s daughter in Herb Gardner’s I’m Not Rappoport.  Other New York credits include leading roles in Daughters , I Can’t Keep Running in Place, The Mad Show and The Merry Wives of Windsor at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Marcia appeared on the big screen in Jules Feiffer’s “Little Murders,” “T.R. Baskin” (co-starring Candice Bergen and James Caan) and in “Citizen’s Band (aka Handle with Care)”directed by Jonathan Demme, she was “responsible for the funniest sequences” (New York Times)  and was named one of the year’s “Ten Best Female Performers” by both Time and Newsweek.  More recently, Marcia has appeared in “The Scottish Tale,” “The Scout” with Albert Brooks, “Mulligans” opposite Tippi Hedrin and “Wanted.” A California resident for some time, Marcia won raves in the title role in Driving Miss Daisy at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse and before that, starring as Mary Todd Lincoln in James Prideaux’ The Last of Mrs. Lincoln.  She has starred in Once in a Lifetime at the Mark Taper, Rodgers & Hart at the Geffen Playhouse, Supporting Cast at the James Dolittle, On Golden Pond at the Ahmanson (with Julie Harris and Charles Durning), Fiddler on the Roof  (as “Golde” opposite Topol) at the Dorothy Chandler, the premiere of And if That Mockingbird Don’t Sing at the Circle (“a bravura performance” Hollywood Reporter), Melody Sisters at the Coronet, and as “Jesse” in the premiere of Gale Baker’s Velma and Jesse.  She garnered the “Best Actress” award from the Valley Theatre League for her portrayal of first-lady Florence Harding in Everyone’s Friend at the Whitefire Theatre and a Robbie Award for Driving Miss Daisy at the Huntington Beach Playhouse.She also toured as “Golde” in the 25th and 30th Anniversary Tours of Fiddler on the Roof. She starred in Steel Magnolias in Chicago, House of Bernarda Alba  in Santa Fe, Sam Bobrick’s new play Remember Me, opposite Tom Poston, in Kansas City and as Diana Vreeland in the one-woman play Full Gallop at The Actors’ Theatre of Louisville. Marcia was a series lead in several television shows including “13 Queens Blvd.” with Eileen Brennan, “The Dumplings” with James Coco, “Four Seasons” with Jack Weston and “Flamingo Road.” For four years she portrayed the candy-eating dentist E.J. Riverside on “Trapper John M.D” and was the mother of Johnny Depp on “21 Jump Street.” She has a long list of guest-starring roles on such TV shows as “Family Law,” “Home Improvement,” “Without a Trace,” “Sisters,” “Murder…She Wrote,” “M*A*S*H,” “Maude,” “Night Court,” and “All in the Family.” Marcia has also created a second career as a director. She’s brought new original works to the stage including David Rambo’s There’s No Place Like House, Rick Lenz’ Familiar Places, Oliver Hailey’s Round Trip, Lou Felder’s Far From the Tree, Jerry Mayer’s Aspirins &Elephants, and Terry Kingsley-Smith’s Breaking up the Act. Some of the revivals she has helmed include The Owl and the Pussycat, Big Fish Little Fish, Blithe Spirit, G.B. Shaw’s Getting Married, Deathtrap, Oh Coward, Period of Adjustment, Barefoot in the Park and Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Marcia has also written several TV scripts and a short play, all of which have been produced. A few years ago, she went back to school to get a Certificate in Graphic Design, making use of her lifelong interest as a painter and sketch artist. Marcia has successfully performed her cabaret act in New York and L.A.  She has a degree in Theatre from Northwestern University and has taught at the SAG Conservatory.  She has served on the Boards of both SAG and Actors’ Equity.

Morgan Rusler makes his Rubicon Theatre debut with The Spin Cycle. He debuted at the Geffen Playhouse in another Rambo play, Paint Your Wagon. Morgan was last seen as Boolie Werthan in McCoy Rigby’s production of Driving Miss Daisy with Michael Learned and Lance E. Nichols. He also played Charlie Baker in The Foreigner for McCoy Rigby, a role he later recreated at the Norris Theatre in Palos Verdes.  An erstwhile member of LA’s Troubadour Theatre Company, Morgan originated leading roles in Hamlet, the Artist Formerly Known as Prince of Denmark (Garland Award Honorable Mention) and Fleetwood Macbeth. Other theatre credits include All My Sons with Len Cariou and Laurie Metcalf at the Geffen Playhouse (Ovation Award for Best Play), Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates and Nighthawks for the Center Theatre Group, The Foreigner, The Importance of Being Earnest (with Shirley Knight and Patrick Dempsey), and On Borrowed Time for the Pasadena Playhouse, Room Service and The Woman in Black, both directed by Andrew Barnicle at the Laguna Playhouse, and Around the World in 80 Days (in which he created 17 roles) for the Colony Theatre.  Morgan has also won Best Ensemble awards for his performances in War Music at LATC and A Servant to Two Masters for ICT; both productions directed by Jessica Kubzansky. Morgan’s film credits include “Catch Me If You Can,” “Solaris” and “Galaxy Quest.”  Director Tom Putnam has given Morgan starring roles in “Shafted!,Tom Hits His Head,” which garnered both the Spirit of Slamdance Award and an Aspen Shortsfest Grand Jury Prize, and “Broadcast 23” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. On television he has a recurring role on AMC’s award winning “Mad Men,” and has appeared on “Big Shots,” “Charmed,” “Crossing Jordan,” “Touched By An Angel,” “Judging Amy,” “The Guardian,” and “Firefly.” Morgan received his MFA from CalArts and is a proud member of Actors Equity.

Stephanie Zimbalist returns to Rubicon, having last appeared here late last year as ‘Gay’ the drunk and ‘Olga’ the Russian princess turned waitress in Jenny Sullivan’s production of You Can’t Take It With You. Her other Rubicon appearances include Hamlet (with her father Efrem), The Night of the Iguana (also with her father), Defying Gravity, Dancing at Lughnasa, two runs of The Rainmaker (Robby Award), and Love Letters. Other stage credits include ‘Desirée’ in A Little Night Music at South Coast Rep; Vincent in Brixton at the Pasadena Playhouse; Follies at the Irvine Barclay Theatre; The Cherry Orchard (with Alfred Molina) at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble; Side Man at the Guthrie Lab; Mr. Bundy (World Premiere) at the Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville; Wonderful Town (with Lucie Arnaz) for Reprise!; Sylvia at the Coronet Theatre (LA Premiere, Dramalogue and Robby Awards) AdWars at the Court and Tiffany Theatres (Dramalogue Award); The Threepenny Opera with Betty Buckley and Linda Purl at Williamstown Theatre Festival; Jane Anderson’s The Baby Dance (original production with Linda Purl, directed by Jenny Sullivan) at Pasadena Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre and the Lucille Lortel Theatre in New York; My One and Only (National Tour with Tommy Tune); Barbarians and Summer and Smoke at Williamstown; The Tempest at the Mark Taper Forum (with Anthony Hopkins, directed by John Hirsch) and Festival at the Las Palmas Theater (with Gregory Harrison and Brian Stokes Mitchell).  On the Big Screen, she has been seen in “The Prophet’s Game” (with Dennis Hopper), “The Awakening” (with Charlton Heston, directed by Mike Newell), and “The Magic of Lassie” (with James Stewart).  For TV she has appeared in over 30 movies, including “The Gathering,” “Centennial,” “The Golden Moment,” "The Babysitter," “The Story Lady” (with Jessica Tandy), “Caroline?” (with George Grizzard for Hallmark, Golden Globe nom.), “Incident in a Small Town” (with Walter Matthau and Harry Morgan), and “Stop the World – I Want to Get Off” for A&E. Stephanie appeared as 'Laura Holt' in 94 episodes of the NBC/MTM series “Remington Steele” with Pierce Brosnan.

Schedule and Pricing

THE SPIN CYCLE previews Thursday, July 31st and Friday, August 1st ($29 per ticket) at 8:00 p.m. and opens Saturday, August 2nd at 7:00 p.m. Opening Night Gala tickets are $90 and include a pre-show champagne reception, the opening performance, an after-party and a tax-deductible donation to Rubicon. Regular performances of THE SPIN CYCLE continue through August 24th on Wednesdays at 2:00 p.m. ($29) and 7:00 p.m. ($42), Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. ($42), Fridays at 8:00 p.m. ($49), Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. ($42) and 8:00 p.m. ($52) and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. ($42). Seniors ages 65+ save $5 per ticket. Student and equity tickets are available for $20 with ID.

Discounts of up to 30% are available for groups of 12 or more, and group organizers receive one free ticket. To purchase single tickets or discounted group tickets, call the Rubicon box office at (805) 667-2900. To purchase tickets online, go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

Special performances include:

•Opening Night Gala, Saturday, August 2nd: Rubicon Theatre hosts a pre-show champagne reception at 6:15 pm before the seven o-clock curtain. Following the opening performance of the show, guests are invited to an after-party with cast, crew and local dignitaries.

•Talkback Wednesdays, August 6th and 13th: Rubicon’s Artistic Team facilitates a post-show discussion with the director and performers following the 7 p.m. early-bird performances

•Audio Described Performance, Sunday, August 17th: Via headphones, audience members who are blind or visually impaired are privy to a live description of the performance to aid in their enjoyment

For a complete performance schedule, visit www.rubicontheatre.org. All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, an intimate historic church built in the 1920s. The theatre is located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel) in Ventura’s Downtown Cultural District.
Show Run
THE SPIN CYCLE previews July 31, opens August 2, and runs through August 24.
Sponsors
THE SPIN CYCLE is sponsored by Janet and Mark Goldenson and co-sponsored by Jano Graphics.

Rubicon’s 2007-2008 Season, the 10th Anniversary Festival Season is sponsored by Barbara Meister and the Meister Family Foundation and Ann Deal and Fashion Forms. Media sponsors include Time Warner Cable, Gold Coast Broadcasting, and Ventura County Star.
Location
All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, an intimate former church built in the 1920s. The theatre is located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel) in Ventura’s Downtown Cultural District.
For Tickets

Please call Rubicon Theatre Company’s box office at (805) 667-2900 or visit www.rubicontheatre.org