Burnham, Graae, Mayes Set For THE BEST IS YET TO COME: THE MUSIC Of CY COLEMAN

Rubicon Theatre Company has announced the cast and creative team for the World Premiere of THE BEST IS YET TO COME: THE MUSIC OF Cy Coleman, which begins previews July 9 at Rubicon's intimate 200-seat home at 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District. The show continues Wednesdays through Sundays through August 2, 2009.

Devised and directed by Tony® Award-winner David Zippel (City of Angels), The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman is produced by Rubicon Theatre Company and MICHAEL JACKOWITZ in association with David Elzer and Barbara Meister. Title sponsors are Barbara Meister - BARBER AUTOMOTIVE and LORETTA AND MIKE MEREWETHER. Musical Direction is by Billy Stritch; orchestrations are by Don Sebesky; and Lorin Latarro serves as Choreographer.

Performances are Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., with matinees on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. Due to strong presale, Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. have been added for the latter part of the run with special pricing for groups of 12 or more. For tickets, go to www.rubicontheatre.org, or call (805) 667-2900 to charge by phone.

In a career spanning seven decades, Cy Coleman created a glittering string of pop standards made famous by the likes of Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. He also wrote literally hundreds of hits for the musical theatre, which were performed in shows including City of Angels, Sweet Charity, Barnum, The Life, Little Me and Will Rogers Follies.

The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman is an elegant evening of songs performed by a stellar cast, including David Burnham (The Light in the Piazza and Wicked on Broadway), Jason Graae (Grand Night for Singing, Falsettos and Forever Plaid on and off Broadway), Sally Mayes (She Loves Me at Roundabout and Urban Cowboy in New York), Julia Murney (Elphaba in Wicked on Broadway), Billy Stritch (42nd Street, Liza Minelli's Musical Director) and Lillias White (The Life, Dreamgirls on Broadway). Both Mayes and White made their Broadway debuts in Coleman shows. These powerhouse vocalists are backed by an onstage eight-piece swing band.

"The structure of the show is similar to that of The World Goes 'Round or Starting Here, Starting Now," says Zippel. The show has no dialogue but has connective staging. It uses the personality of the performers and the sequence of the songs to create a context for each number and continuity."

"For instance," continues Zippel, "the opening number is ‘The Best is Yet to Come' in which each performer enters trying to top the prior one. ‘Come the day you're mine,' refers to the audience. In addition to highlights from Coleman's musicals and pop standards (sung as solos and in various combinations by the performers), the show also includes a few surprises - unpublished Coleman works, and ends with a ‘megamix' medley of Cy songs we just couldn't live without. The show will run approximately 85 minutes without intermission."

The germination for the piece began when Coleman, Larry Gelbart and Zippel were working together on City of Angels. One evening after a rehearsal, Zippel asked Coleman why no revue of his works existed. Coleman quipped, "That's for when I'm gone."

Years later, Zippel approached Coleman's widow Shelby, and Damon Booth at Notable Music (Coleman's publishing company), about the idea. Although they had been approached many times before, they knew that Zippel and Cy Coleman had been close collaborators and had similar sensibilities. Says Shelby Coleman, "David put together a workshop of about 30 minutes of the show which we attended, and we were astonished and delighted by his vision, and by the caliber of artists he assembled.

We knew this would be a marvelous expression of the many facets of Cy's musical personality: his charm and wit, his romantic optimism (and pessimism), his sense of the ironic, his sass, and his sweetness."

Zippel and Rubicon's Director of New Works Michael Jackowitz and Co-Founder/Producing Artistic Director Karyl Lynn Burns met socially and the trio began talking over dream projects. (They were put together at a dinner party given by Reprise! Founder and Executive Producer of the Festival of New American Musicals Marcia Seligson). Jackowitz and Zippel met in New York to continue the conversation. Over two seasons, Zippel attended Rubicon productions of Bus Stop, the World Premiere of John Bucchino's It's Only Life, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, She Loves Me and Fiddler on the Roof.

Says Zippel, "I was continually wowed by the work onstage and knew Rubicon would be the perfect, nurturing home for this premiere. Over the past decade, Rubicon has earned a reputation for developing new works. The company is really the perfect size - it is large enough to be able to properly support the work - yet small enough to be flexible and to move swiftly to make the kind of changes that happen naturally in the process of development. "

Zippel worked his magic to assemble a first-rate cast and design team. Says Rubicon's Burns, "When David told us about the show, he had already contacted Tony Award-winner Lillias White and Jason Graae about the project. We were great admirers of David, of Lillias, and of Jason (who had worked with us on Rubicon's High Button Shoes). We were crazy about Cy's music in general and the song list in specific that David had put together. Needless to say, he had us at ‘hello'."

This week (on June 14), Cy Coleman would have been 80-years-old. His birth and life will be celebrated at a "Rat Pack" style party following the official press opening of The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman on Sunday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m. The event will take placed at the Marriott Ventura Beach Hotel. Honorary Hosts for the evening are Shelby Coleman (Cy's Widow) and Damon Booth, President of Notable Music, Cy's Publishing Company. White dinner jackets and cocktail attire suggested.

"Cy Coleman is a permanent gem in Broadway's musical crown", said Clive Barnes in the New York Post. And as a gem is multi-faceted, so was Cy Coleman, the man. He was one of the most versatile and influential craftsmen in the music industry. His successes span not only numerous Broadway shows, but motion pictures, recordings, television and the concert stage. An extended bio on Coleman and photos are attached. For a comprehensive list of all Coleman credits, go to www.cycoleman.com.

The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman is the 17th World Premiere Rubicon has produced in just eleven seasons. Premieres have included works by Dan Gordo, Randal Myler and Dan Wheetman, Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, Amanda McBroom and Joel Silberman, Scott Schwartz and Stephen Schwartz, Peter Melnick and Pamela Oland, Mark Stein, David Rambo, John Bucchino, Clarinda Ross, and Rubicon Artistic Associate Jenny Sullivan and others. Michael Jackowitz, a former New York producer, joined the company as Director of New Works nearly two years ago and now helms this effort. Of the pieces that have opened at Rubicon, several have gone on to other productions. Gordon's Murder in the First had its Australian premiere (he is currently represented on Broadway with Irina's Vow); Myler and Wheetman's John Denver Holiday has had four subsequent productions in Colorado and in Northern California; McBroom and Silberman's Lady Macbeth Sings the Blues played off-Broadway under the title Will's Women; Stein's Mating Dance of the Werewolf was recently made into an independent film directed by Cate Caplin; and Maltby and Shire's A Time for Love was performed at a LORT theatre in Buffalo.

Through the Ann Deal/Fashion Forms® Plays-in-Progress (PIP) series, the company has offered free public readings of new works and also provided dramaturgical support for playwrights.

Several of the premieres have been developed first through this program (including Rubicon's highly anticipated fall World Premiere event - Daddy Long Legs, a new musical with book by Olivier and Tony® Award-winner John Caird (Les Miserables/Nicholas Nickelby) and lyrics and music by Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre). Fashion Forms® completed a three-year commitment to the program and has recently announced a generous "naming gift" for the newly renovated balcony at the theatre. The Play-in-Progress program for 2009-2010 is currently on hold while new funding sources are sought.

Rubicon also offers an annual Young Playwrights program run by Education and Outreach Director Brian McDonald and Clark Sayre. After several months of training, high school students write one-acts under the mentorship of working playwrights and screenwriters, and see their works directed and performed by adult professionals over Memorial Day weekend at the theatre. This program, underwritten by Marion Witte and the Angel Heart Foundation, has already fostered new voices who have gone on to become finalists in the National Young Playwrights' program in New York.

Says Artistic Director James O'Neil, "Rubicon is deeply committed to the development of new works. We feel privileged to have subscribers who are adventurous and who will come along for the ride," continues O'Neil, "whether we are presenting Shakespearean classics; edgy, contemporary new plays; or new musicals such as The Best is Yet to Come. We are grateful to our community for their support."

Tickets for The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman are $39 to $65 and are available online at www.rubicontheatre.org, or by calling the box office at 805.667.2900. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the theatre at 1006 E. Main Street (Laurel entrance), Ventura.

The Best is Yet to Come: The Music of Cy Coleman is sponsored by Barbara Meister - Barber Automotive Group and Loretta and Mike Merewether. The show is co-sponsored by Elise and Bill Kearney and Sheeler Moving & Storage. Season Sponsors are Barbara Meister - Barber Automotive Group, Sandra and Jordan Laby/San Buenaventura Foundation for the Arts and Marriott Ventura Beach. Ms. White's appearance is underwritten through the generosity of Celine Gillibrand.

To post a comment, you must register and login.