Get ready to blast off when Rubicon Theatre Company closes its 2015-16 season with the hilarious, out-of-this-world musical RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Musical, this fabulously campy send up of “Forbidden Planet” and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare. Set on a spaceship sometime in the future, the show features a galaxy of 1950’s and 1960’s rock and roll classics, including “Wipeout,” “Good Vibrations,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “All Shook Up,” “Monster Mash” and “We Gotta Get ...Read More
Get ready to blast off when Rubicon Theatre Company closes its 2015-16 season with the hilarious, out-of-this-world musical RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET. Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Musical, this fabulously campy send up of “Forbidden Planet” and other sci-fi film and TV shows of the 1950s melds plot elements from The Tempest with language from multiple plays by Shakespeare. Set on a spaceship sometime in the future, the show features a galaxy of 1950’s and 1960’s rock and roll classics, including “Wipeout,” “Good Vibrations,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “All Shook Up,” “Monster Mash” and “We Gotta Get Out of this Place.” The jukebox musical spoof rockets into Ventura just in time for Halloween – with a gala costume party on Saturday, October 29 at 7:00 p.m. followed by an after-party at Skating Plus. Low-priced previews are October 26-28. The show runs Wednesdays through Sundays through November 13.
RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET is directed and choreographed by KIRBY WARD, who has directed or performed in 65 theatrical productions and concerts, from the showrooms of Las Vegas to London’s West End where he received a “Best Actor” Olivier Award nomination for the premiere of Crazy For You. The cast of RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET features returning Rubicon veterans JASON GRAAE (Broadway’s A Grand Night for Singing, Rubicon’s Merrily We Roll Along), KIMBERLY HESSLER (My Fair Lady), CALEB HORST (Merrily We Roll Along), HARLEY JAY (Hello! My Baby), REBECCA ANN JOHNSON (Little Miss Scrooge), CRAIG MCELDOWNEY (Babes in Arms), and JAMES O’NEIL (Clarence Darrow); with MARTIN LANDRY making his Rubicon debut (and doubling as Associate Musical Director). Ushers who will double as Flight Crew Members are JESSE GRAHAM (Crew Head) of Santa Paula, MADELINE GAMBON of Camarillo, STEPHEN RUSSELL of Ventura, and LUCY WILLHITE of Oak View. Ensign and band members are Musical Director TREVOR WHEETMAN and OMAR D. BRANCATO on Bass.
Film and TV star FRED WILLARD joins the cast in a digital appearance as Narrator. Regarded as one of our generation’s most gifted comic actors, Fred has appeared in over 70 films and received an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor for “Waiting for Guffman.” For his performance in “Best in Show,” Fred won the Boston Film Critics Award, the American Comedy Award, The Sierra Award and a tribute from AFI.
Winner of the Olivier Award for Best Musical, RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET follows the adventures of the dashing spaceship captain Tempest and his crew, who hit a meteor shower and are then mysteriously drawn off course to the planet D’Illyria. There they discover the mad scientist Dr. Prospero and his beautiful daughter Miranda, along with the robot Ariel. As a romance develops between Captain Tempest and Miranda, a monster threatens the spaceship, and a sacrifice is made to ensure everyone’s safety.
RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET was created and directed by BOB CARLTON, who completed his 17-year tenure as Artistic Director at the Queen's Theatre in Essex, UK with a revival of the production in 2014. The show began at the Bubble Theatre Company in England as an open-air performance in a tent. A revised in-door production appeared at The Everyman Theatre in Liverpool and the Tricycle Theatre in London. It final version opened at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End on September 11, 1989. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for both 1989 and 1990. The production is currently enjoying a 25th anniversary U.K. tour helmed by Carlton.
Low-priced previews for RETURN TO THE FORBIDDEN PLANET are Halloween week - Wednesday, October 26 at 7 p.m., Thursday, October 27 at 8 p.m. and Friday, October 28 at 8 p.m. Opening night is Saturday, October 29, at 7 p.m. with a post-show party hosted by SKATING PLUS. The production continues Wednesdays at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursdays and Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through November 13. All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura’s Downtown Cultural District (the corner or Main and Laurel). For tickets, go to www.rubicontheatre.org or call (805) 667-2900. Regular tickets range from $35 to $64 plus a $4 service fee, depending on day of the week and time. Special pricing for students with ID are $30; Equity members and military are $35. There is a $5 discount for seniors 65 and older. The opening night is a benefit performance, with tickets at $95 (price includes a tax-deductible contribution). For tickets, call (805) 667-2900, Monday-Sunday, noon to 6:00 pm, or visit www.rubicontheatre.org.
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