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Pearl Shines Brightly
Under Stage Lights
From the Ventura Pier up to Two Trees and back down to the San Buenaventura Mission, we have more local treasures than could be strung on a necklace. One of these pearls, I was reminded last Saturday night, is The Rubicon Theatre Company.
“World-class artistry, small-town hospitality” is more than a slogan, it is true. At the Rubicon’s Will Call, no ID is required. In the intimate 185 seats, or the long lines at intermission for the two small restrooms, you are likely to see a friend, neighbor or co-worker.
As for big-time artistry, consider David Aron Damane, who recently played Jim in the musical “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” His resume is nearly as long as the mighty Mississippi.
(While “Big River” has now run its course at the Rubicon, “Forever Plaid: Plaid Tidings” followed by “Forever Motown” are next up.)
A take-a-deep-breath summary of Damane’s credits features a handful of Broadway plays, including “The Book of Mormon” and “Riverdance; national tours of “The Color Purple” and “The Who’s Tommy” among many others; performing in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”; and guest-starring on enough hit TV shows to fill up a DVR’s memory.
Exceptional as Damane is, his performing experience is not the exception for the professional talent the Rubicon regularly attracts. Importantly, the Rubicon also nurtures emerging local talent. For example, Cheyenne Green, who played a slave (and was also understudy for Alice and Alice’s daughter) in her Rubicon debut in “Big River”, was raised in Simi Valley.
Furthermore, as a community pearl, the Rubicon further nurtures the performing arts with after-school, weekend and summer programs for kids as young as age 5. Too, it offers opportunities for students to experience everything from playwriting and acting to directing and design.
Among the big-time artistry the Rubicon has offered in its 21 years to date, I have been fortunate to see more than a dozen of its plays. These memorably include “Our Town” by Thornton Wilder, “The Diary of Anne Frank” and Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons.” I dare say “Big River” is my favorite. More accurately, it affected me the most, and isn’t that the highest calling of art?
Written 136 years ago, the themes of “Big River” – prejudice, injustice, cruelty, heartbreak – remain timeless and relevant, now perhaps as greatly as ever. Critically, the decision was made by the Rubicon to keep in the ugliest language from Twain’s masterpiece. These dark words and moments were powerfully enlightening.
As I mentioned, Damane’s performance was masterful. The handful of times I have read “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” my mind’s eye saw Jim as slim and rawboned. On my next future rereading, however, I will envision the runaway slave in the mold of a football linebacker because Damane appears to have stepped onstage straight from an NFL field. Indeed, Twain’s Jim, the Rubicon’s Jim, is now my Jim.
To see Jim under a stage spotlight, so near and so real, shackled in iron chains made my heart figuratively weep as reading the novel never has. Moreover, my eyes literally began to well up during the play’s scene where Jim shares with Huck the time his young daughter, Lizabeth, ignored his order to close an open door.
When Lizabeth disobeyed the repeated command, Jim slapped her hard in reprimand. Suddenly, a gust of wind slammed the door shut directly behind Lizabeth – yet she did not even flinch. Jim painfully realized that scarlet fever has left his daughter deaf.
As Jim wept with self-torment in the retelling, my tears flowed like a Big River.
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Woody Woodburn writes a weekly column for The Ventura County Star and can be contacted at WoodyWriter@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @woodywoodburn. His books are available at www.WoodyWoodburn.com.
Check out my memoir WOODEN & ME: Life Lessons from My Two-Decade Friendship with the Legendary Coach and Humanitarian to Help “Make Each Day Your Masterpiece” and my essay collection “Strawberries in Wintertime: Essays on Life, Love, and Laughter” …
- Personalized signed copies are available at WoodyWoodburn.com