Rubicon Theatre to Present LITTLE MISS SCROOGE, THE SANTALAND DIARIES & More this Holiday Season

Move over Grinch; Santa Claus is coming to town and taking up residence at Rubicon Theatre in Ventura! Rubicon's November/ December HOLIDAY CENTRAL calendar offers a sparkling array of more than 35 shows and events for all ages. The festivities begin with the return of a holiday revue with six Broadway singers and a local children's chorus; followed by a late-night adult comedy presented in a cabaret setting; a poetic reading of wartime love letters; and culminating with an enchanting new musical from the Tony and Olivier Award-winning director of LES MISERABLES and Nicholas Nickleby and the creators of Jane Eyre and Daddy Long Legs, who will have a five-week residency at Rubicon during the holidays.

As part of the celebration, Rubicon's downstairs rehearsal room has been magically decorated and transformed into SANTA's VILLAGE, and Rubicon elves will help arrange family photos with Santa, Frosty and Rudolph (bring cameras!). On the weekends, a professional caroling group (The Tinseltones) will appear in Dickensian costumes to serenade visitors, and Rubicon's Merry Elves will perform 30-minute Tiny Tots concerts. A holiday boutique in the Village will feature one-of-a-kind, hand-made gifts by local artists, and gift certificates for tickets to Rubicon season shows will be available for purchase. At scheduled times, Rubicon actors will perform casual readings of "'Twas the Night Before Christmas."

HOLIDAY CENTRAL launches on Friday, November 29 with A RUBICON FAMILY CHRISTMAS CONCERT, a musical revue of classic and contemporary songs-of-the-season conceived and directed by BRIan McDonald. A Rubicon Family Christmas features Broadway stars from The Phantom of the Opera, The Lion King, Miss Saigon and RENT, along with a chorus of talented young singers. The production continues Wednesdays through Sundays through December 8.

The fun continues with late-night presentations of THE SANTALAND DIARIES, a comic satire by NPR humorist and best-selling author David Sedaris about his experience working as an elf at Macy's during the holidays. Performed by BrIan McDonald under the direction of Ovation Award-winning director Stephanie Coltrin in a cabaret setting downstairs, the production takes place at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, December 6 and Saturday, December 7.

LUCKY IN LOVE, a one-night-only event based on the lives and love story of Micheline and Albert Sakharoff, takes place on Friday, December 13 at 7:00 p.m. The production is adapted by Karyl Lynn Burns and Jenny Sullivan and directed by Sullivan. And the final production of HOLIDAY CENTRAL is LITTLE MISS SCROOGE, a sparkling new musical which sets the love story from "Great Expectations" and the ghost story from "A Christmas Carol" against the backdrop of the small town, recession-hit Pickwick, Ohio. Created by Paul Gordon, Sam Caird and John Caird, Little Miss Scrooge opens Wednesday, December 18 and continues through Monday, December 23, featuring a cast of 15, including Rebecca Ann Johnson (Pippin at Center Theatre Group and Zanna Don't at West Coast Ensemble) and Andrew Samonsky (South Pacific and The Mystery of Edwin Drood on Broadway).

To purchase show tickets, please call (805) 667-2900 or go to www.rubicontheatre.org.

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