Monthly Archives: November 2019

Rubicon is a Local Pearl

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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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” …

 

Holiday Sports Ball Drive Tips Off

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive

Tips Off Honoring Cowan

            Some things can be counted on like clockwork: Flowers and birdsong arriving in spring, sunburns coming in summertime, colors changing and leaves falling in autumn.

And, in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, Jim Cowan being the first person to donate to my annual Holiday Sports Ball Drive. Always, he donated ten basketballs because the sport was especially dear to him. He played on an undefeated CIF championship team at Ventura High under legendary coach Bob Tuttle in 1949; on two state championship teams at Ventura College; at Whittier College; and while serving in the military he played on the Far East Army All-Star Team.

Always, also, Cowan dedicated his gift basketballs in honor of coaches and teachers and other individuals who had played an important role in his life.

A few of the hundreds of balls from last year’s drive.

This year, sadly, birds have fallen silent and leaves seem gray. The first ten basketballs will not be contributed by James F. Cowan because the longtime former Ventura County Superintendent of Schools died this past March at age 87.

However, the first ten basketballs to tip off this year’s Ball Drive still have Cowan’s fingerprints on them: I am making the donation in his honor. Perhaps there is a special person or role model, loved one or friend, deceased or still living, you wish to honor with a donation of a sports ball?

The Ball Drive also has the fingerprints of another former Ventura College basketball player, Cedric Ceballos. About 20 years ago, I was at a local youth basketball clinic when the NBA All-Star presented autographed basketballs to a handful of lucky attendees.

Leaving the gym afterward, I happened upon a 10-year-old boy who won one of the prized keepsakes – which he was dribbling on the rough blacktop outdoor court, and shooting baskets with, while perhaps imagining himself to be Ceballos.

Meanwhile, the real Ceballos’ Sharpie signature was wearing off.

Curious why the boy had not carefully carried the trophy basketball home and put it safely on a bookshelf, I interrupted his playing to ask.

“I’ve never had my own basketball,” he answered matter-of-factly between shots.

That Christmastime, thinking of that boy – and other boys and girls who do not have their own basketball to shoot, soccer ball to kick, football to throw – Woody’s Holiday Ball Drive was born.

Once again, I am encouraging you dear readers to join in by dropping off a new sports ball – or balls – at any local Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, youth club or church and they will find a worthy young recipient.

Or drop balls off (weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 20) at Jensen Design & Survey at 1672 Donlon St. near Target on Telephone Road in Ventura, or have online orders shipped to the same address, and I will take it from there. Among those who will receive a ball and a smile thanks to your generosity will be Ventura County Foster Kids at their annual holiday party.

Clubs and groups can also make it a collective endeavor. For example, once again the Camarillo/Somis Pleasant Valley Lions Club has pledged to donate 33 footballs, 33 soccer balls and 34 basketballs.

Also, please email me about your gift at woodywriter@gmail.com so I can add your generosity to this year’s tally.

With his donation last year, Jim Cowan noted his deep belief in “the Golden Rule” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” concluding: “I am 87 now and these principles have guided me and my family over all of these years.”

These worthy principles also apply to everyone who donates to this year’s Ball Drive.

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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” …

By The Way, “I Like Your Hat.”

by Woody

FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM: @woodywoodburn

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By The Way,

“I Like Your Hat.”

            My late mentor and longtime steward of this space, Chuck Thomas, believed in taking the day off now and again and filling his column with words borrowed from others. In this spirit, here are three stories I read recently that I hope will lift your spirits as they did mine.

Christine Turel, who works at an independent bookstore, shared this encounter:

“Middle of the day this little old lady comes up. Then this college kid comes up in line behind her. She turns around to him and, out of nowhere, demands that he put his textbooks on the counter. He’s confused, but she explains she’s going to buy his textbooks.

“He goes sheetrock white. He refuses and adamantly insists she can’t do that. It’s like, $400 worth of textbooks. She, this tiny old woman, boldly takes them out of his hands, throws them on the counter and turns to me with an intense stare and tells me to put them on her bill. The kid at this point is practically in tears. He’s confused and shocked and grateful. Then she says ‘you need chocolate.’ She starts grabbing handfuls of chocolates and puts them in her pile.

“He keeps asking her, ‘Why are you doing this?’ She responds, ‘Do you like Harry Potter?’ and throws a copy of the new Cursed Child on the pile, too.

“Finally she’s done and I ring her up for a crazy amount of money. While I’m bagging up her merchandise, the kid hugs her.

“She turns to both of us and says probably one of the most profound, unscripted things I’ve ever had someone say: ‘It’s important to be kind. You can’t know all the times that you’ve hurt people in tiny, significant ways. It’s easy to be cruel without meaning to be. There’s nothing you can do about that. But you can choose to be kind.’ ”

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This came from a Facebook post by “The ‘Pay It Forward’ Effect”:

“As I was pulling into work, I was following this car. The sign in the back window says, ‘Learning stick sorry for any delay.’

“Knowing this information, I was very patient with their slow shifting. Then I asked myself a tough question: Would I have been just as patient if the sign hadn’t been there? I can almost definitely say no.

“We don’t know what someone is going through. We don’t wear signs that illustrate our personal struggles. We don’t see signs taped to people’s shirts that say, ‘Going through a divorce’ or ‘Lost a child’ or ‘Feeling depressed’ or ‘Diagnosed with cancer.’

“But we shouldn’t have to see signs and have reasons to treat strangers with kindness. We should do it anyway, whether we know what is going on or not.”

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A brief essay by Danusha Lameris titled “Small Kindness” echoes the wisdom above:

“I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs to let you by. Of how strangers still say ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes, a leftover from the Bubonic plague. ‘Don’t die,” we are saying. And sometimes, when you spill lemons from your grocery bag, someone else will help you pick them up.

“We have so little of each other, now. So far from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange. What if they are the true dwelling of holy, these fleeting temples we make together when we say, ‘Here, have my seat,” “Go ahead – you first,” “I like your hat.”

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By the way, dear reader, I like your hat.

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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” …