Four college besties set off on a decades-long journey through life at the Rubicon Theatre in Somebody To Love, a crowd-pleasing World Premiere jukebox musical that with some script tweaking could have legs on the regional theater circuit.

The year is 1973, and thanks to some string-pulling on his father’s part, Nick Gallagher (Rustin Cole Sailors) has been accepted into Columbia, and though Dad may want his son to graduate with a degree in “something real,” what Nick wants more than anything is rock stardom.

Arriving on campus for orientation, our handsome young hero quickly makes the acquaintance of a trio of undergrads who’ll become his best friends for life.

There’s dorky classical music major Joe (Donovan Meldelovitz), who’d like nothing better than to become a high school teacher.

Go-getter Gerianne (Gizel Jiménez) is not only a double major in Poly-Sci and American History, she’s got a bunch of minors she’ll be listing on her CV when she embarks on a career defending women’s rights against the patriarchy.

Completing the four Columbia musketeers is aspiring dancer Cynthia (Sophia Alawi), a raven-haired stunner with plans to “find myself, stretch as an artist, and meet talented, amazing, passionate people who will be my best friends and lovers for the rest of my life.”

And what a life that will turn out to be, because before you know it, the four friends have graduated with Nick heading out to the L.A. music scene, Joe hired to teach music at Erasmus High, Gerianne moving to Boston to begin her law career, and Cynthia staying behind in New York where she’s already been invited to join a dance company.

And though Nick is disappointed that none of them will be joining him in La La Land, the foursome separate with a “verbal contract” to “always be there for each other forever.”

It doesn’t take long for Nick’s career to take off, thanks in large part to a chance meeting with mullet-sporting aspiring talent manager Walt (F. Michael Haynie), who convinces the would-be rock star to sign on as his first client with a little help from the magic words “Ka-ching, Ka-ching,” in honor of the big bucks that will soon be rolling in.

Nick and Cynthia’s long-distance relationship, however, proves more easily said than done when the former fails to show up for his girlfriend’s big closing number when the dance company she’s part of stops in L.A. for a one-night only show.

And all this is only the beginning of four-decades of successes and disappointments and joys and sorrows as we follow Nick and Cynthia and Joe and Gerianne through the 1980s and ‘90s and well into the Obama years.

Somebody To Love has a lot going for it, beginning with over a dozen hit songs from the 1960s and 1970s ranging from the funky beats of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Dance to the Music” to the folk-rock guitar chords of America’s “Ventura Highway” to silky rhythms of Roberta Flack’s “Feel Like Making Love,” and in the musical’s alternate universe, it’s not Jefferson Airplane but Nick Gallagher who hits Number One with the show’s title song.

Not only this, but all these hits sound fabulous backed by music director Brett Ryback and the Somebody To Love Band and performed by fourteen up-and-coming New York-and/or-L.A.-based musical theater triple-threats.

What still needs work is the show’s sitcom-style dialog by Robert Sternin and Prudence Fraser of “The Nanny” and “Who’s The Boss” fame that gets in the way of performances that would dig a bit deeper into characters we come to care about but are never fully three-dimensional.

On the plus side, Sailor’s sexy, charismatic Nick, Alawi’s girl-next-door charmer of a Cynthia, Mendelovitz’a Joe (proof positive that nerds can be every bit as appealing as jocks), Jiménez’s spunky, vivacious Gerianne, Alexis Semevolos-Velazquez’s statuesque Stella, who wins both our and Gerianne’s hearts, and Haynie, instantly winning as Walt (the manager of Nick’s dreams) show off triple-threat chops under Sean Daniels’ engaging direction while dancing it up to Becca Sweitzer’s lively choreography.

The same can be said about Jesse Graham (Silverstein, Cynthia’s Dad), John Gregorio (Eddie Karp, Nick’s Dad), Molly Kirschenbaum (Natalie), dance captain Desmond Newson (Monty), Presley Nicholson (Razzle), Kayla Quiroz (Megan, Cynthia’s Mom),  and Mea Wilerson (Dazzle) in featured roles and more, and Soleil Perry is a preteen discovery as Young Natalie. (Sydney Mucha is Young Natalie understudy.)

Somebody To Love looks absolutely terrific on Mike Billings’ multilevel set, a design that takes us on a journey through time and space thanks to Andrés Poch’s colorful projections.

Pamela Shaw’s costumes are multi-period delights as are Jacob Holcombe and Alex Choate’s props, Brian Gale’s vibrant lighting makes all this look even better, and Danny Fiandaca’s sound design mixes vocals and instrumentals to crystal-clear effect.

Somebody To Love features orchestrations by music supervisor Dillon Kondor and vocal arrangements by Ryback. Camal Pug is assistant choreographer.

Hailey Mashburn is intimacy director. Christopher Beyries is production manager. Jimmy Callahan is technical director. Tyler Daniels is stage manager and Hannah Raymond is assistant stage manager. Stephanie Coltrin is casting director. David Elzer is publicist.

A nostalgic treat for audience members who lived through the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s and a show that Millennials and Gen Z-ers can enjoy every bit as much, Somebody To Love still needs work to reach maximum effectiveness, but even in this World Premiere engagement, there’s a lot to love about Somebody To Love.

Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura.
www.rubicontheatre.org

–Steven Stanley
April 5, 2026
Photos: Lore Photography

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Prudence Fraser, Robert Sternin, Rubicon Theatre, Ventura County Theater Review