FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
Saturday, March 21st, 2009
No matter how many times you’ve seen Fiddler On The Roof, you have never seen a Fiddler like the one currently playing at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, under the masterful direction of James O’Neil.
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WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
Sunday, February 1st, 2009
The Rubicon Theatre’s production of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf is one that I have been eagerly awaiting since it was first announced as part of the Rubicon’s 2008-9 season, and to end any suspense, let me say right away that this Virginia Woolf does not disappoint. It is a flawless production of one of the most famed and discussed plays of the second half of the 20th Century, the tale of one drunken evening at the home of college Assistant Professor George and his wife Martha, and their two young late night guests.
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BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO
Friday, January 9th, 2009
Neil Sedaka’s back—again—in Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, the entertaining new musical which features his most famous hits from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s.
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A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS
Thursday, December 11th, 2008
When I was a kid, my Decembers were brightened and my holiday spirit heightened by much-anticipated yearly TV Christmas specials, hosted by Andy Williams, Perry Como, and Dinah Shore, sponsored by Kraft Foods, and “brought to you in living color on NBC.” The Rubicon Theatre brings back those days with its lovingly conceived and terrifically performed A Rubicon Family Christmas. Though L.A. stages are currently filled to the brim with A Christmas Carols and holiday themed comedies, the Rubicon is the place to go for music of the season, especially as performed by six of the finest musical theater talents the Southland has to offer.
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THE KING AND I
Sunday, October 19th, 2008
What would CLOs do without Rodgers and Hammerstein? There’s scarcely a season in which a regional Civic Light Opera doesn’t present at least one of their Big 5—Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King And I, or The Sound Of Music. Fortunately for lovers of contemporary musicals, these Golden Oldies do hold up rather well, thank you. Theatergoers are assured of recognizing most if not all of the songs, the roles created by R & H offer actors some of the best in musical theater of any era, and the themes which R & H snuck in (racism, domestic violence, cross-cultural understanding, etc.) remain valid even half a century or more later.
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SHE LOVES ME
Saturday, September 6th, 2008
A man and a woman who can’t stand each other in real life fall in love with each other in cyberspace. Sound familiar? It should be if you’ve seen Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in You’ve Got Mail. But before email, there were letters, and 35 years before You’ve Got Mail, there was the 1963 Broadway musical She Loves Me, a pre-Internet version of the same irresistible tale.
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SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN
Sunday, July 27th, 2008
The customary path for a musical to follow is the one from stage to screen, the most recent example being Mamma Mia, in movie theaters (and live on Broadway) even as I write this. Far less usual is seeing an original movie musical adapted for the stage, yet just as MTW’s The Wizard Of Oz closes, Singin’ In The Rain opens at Cabrillo Music Theatre, a veritable bonanza for lovers of MGM musicals of Hollywood’s golden age.
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IT’S ONLY LIFE
Saturday, June 21st, 2008
In 2005 I paid my first visit to Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, to see its justly lauded production of Jason Robert Brown’s musical revue Songs For A New World. Now, a bit more than three years later, the Rubicon has become one of my favorite Southland theaters and (despite outlandish gasoline prices) still worth the drive north, especially when the production being presented is as sensational as 2008’s musical revue, John Bucchino’s It’s Only Life. In fact, it’s only distance and gas prices that prevent me from seeing It’s Only Life a second, or even third time.
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Since 2007, Steven Stanley's StageSceneLA.com has spotlighted the best in Southern California theater via reviews, interviews, and its annual StageSceneLA Scenies.
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