CHRISTINA BURKE, PRODUCTION MANAGER
Before joining Rubicon, Christina was Production Manager and a stage manager at the Odyssey Theatre in L.A. Favorite productions at the Odyssey include Far Away, Tartuffe, Stand-Up Shakespeare, Richard II, Diva on the Verge starring Julia Migenes, and The Cherry Orchard starring Alfred Molina and Stephanie Zimbalist. Rubicon credits as Stage Manager include A Time for Love, Man of La Mancha, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Turn of the Screw, Mating Dance of the Werewolf; and Footfalls, Rockaby and Happy Days, all part of BeckettFest. Other credits include The Awful Grace of God: A Portrait of Robert F. Kennedy (directed by Jenny Sullivan) at the Court Playhouse, 'Night, Mother at Interact, As You Like It with Circus Theatricals, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune at the Tamarind, and Spit Like a Big Girl at The Met. She has also stage-managed numerous readings for Classic and Contemporary American Plays (CCAP) with Bonnie Franklin. Christina has also produced numerous plays for both the Odyssey Theatre and Circus Theatricals.

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KARYL LYNN BURNS, PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Karyl Lynn co-founded Rubicon Theatre Company with husband James O'Neil in 1998. Karyl Lynn has overseen nearly sixty productions for the company, as well as festivals (such as the first West Coast BeckettFest), new play development initiatives (including Plays-in-Progress), special events and educational offerings. For more than a decade prior to starting Rubicon, Karyl Lynn was CEO of State of the Arts, an arts management and marketing firm. Clients included Ventura Chamber Music Festival, New West Symphony, Ensemble Theatre Company, PCPA Theaterfest, Theatre League, Broadway Producer Normand Kurtz, and Tony Award-winning playwright Dale Wasserman. An active arts advocate, Karyl Lynn co-founded ArtCom (now the Santa Barbara Performing Arts League). She serves on the Conceptual Oversight Group of Working Artists Ventura (WAV), and has served on the Downtown Cultural District Committee for the City of Ventura, and the Events & Festivals and Arts Advisory Committees for the City of Santa Barbara. She is a past President of the Board of Access Theatre, the company that pioneered the term "accessible theatre" and integrated the talents of artists who were disabled and hard-of-hearing with those of actors who were non-disabled. Karyl Lynn worked with students from Oak Meadow School who received the United Nations "Global 500" Award for their work on environmental issues. For The Dream Foundation, she produced a PSA directed by Mimi Leder and starring Jeff Bridges. As an event planner, Karyl Lynn and her staff coordinated the 10th Annual "Cool Comedy, Hot Cuisine" in Santa Monica with Robin Williams, Howie Mandel and Bob Saget, emceed by Bob Costas. She managed and promoted a charity concert for Scleroderma Research with singer Sheryl Crow at the Santa Barbara County Bowl. Her company also coordinated several charity film premieres, including "Evita," "Casper" and "Wild America." For Capps for Congress, she managed a luncheon with First Lady Hillary Clinton as keynote speaker. In addition to her producing work for Rubicon, Karyl Lynn is also an award-winning actress and sound designer.

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MYCHELE DEE, DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS DIRECTOR
Mychele came to Rubicon after her three year stint as Executive Director of the Clark Center for the Performing Arts in Arroyo Grande, overseeing the new 600-seat theatre and booking over 100 presenting acts like the Peking Acrobats, the Guinness Book Award Winning illusionists, The Pendragons, and popular favorite The Glenn Miller Orchestra. Before moving to California, she had an extensive run in her home town of Phoenix, Arizona, where she was the General Manager of the Southwest Shakespeare Company, Producer of the Silent Sundays silent film series and Director of Marketing and Communications at the historic Orpheum Theatre. She began her career at the Herberger Theatre Center as a Technical Administrative Assistant after graduating from Arizona State University with a BA in theatre. Over the course of 10 years, she served as Stage Manager, House Manager, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator, and finally Operations and Marketing Coordinator before taking a professional sabbatical to start her own freelance writing and web design business. She is also an accomplished playwright and performance poet, serving on the Phoenix Poetry Slam Team that went on to the Nationals in 1995 and 1996.

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LOIS FISCHMAN, BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS MANAGER
A native of Chicago and self-described theatre addict, Lois brings to Rubicon an extensive background in bookkeeping, personnel and marketing. A mother of two and grandmother of six, she started at Rubicon as a volunteer in the box office before joining the staff in 2002.

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KENNY HOBBS, INTERIM TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
Kenny Hobbs has been a part of the Rubicon Technical family since November 2000. He has done everything from running crew, to assisting sound to serving as Technical Director for three years before going back to crew and going to school. He is also a Sound Designer and programmer. Some of his credits include All In The Timing, Forever Plaid, Side By Side By Sondheim, Little Women, Our Town, and Fools for which he was nominated for an Ovation Award. He is pleased to be Interim Technical Director.

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MICHAEL JACKOWITZ, DIRECTOR OF NEW WORKS
Michael is currently executive producing the World Premiere Opera Séance on a Wet Afternoon by award-winning composer, Stephen Schwartz (Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, Pocahontas, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince of Egypt) with Opera Santa Barbara for October 2009, as well as a host of other theater projects as Rubicon Theatre Company's Director of New Works, including Homefront (working title) by Tony-Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown, It's Only Life by John Bucchino directed by Daisy Prince, Daddy Long Legs by John Caird and Paul Gordon, My Antonia adapted by Scott Schwartz and Annie Get Your Gun and Buffalo Bills Wild West Arena Show starring Betty Buckley. He recently produced the West Coast Premiere of Jonathan Larson's tick, tick.BOOM!, directed by Scott Schwartz, at the Coronet Theatre in Los Angeles following its successful run at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA. In New York, he produced Nicky Silver's Food Chain at the Westside Theater directed by Robert Falls and starring Hope Davis and Phyllis Newman; Bill Davis (Mass Appeal)' AVOW at the Century Theater directed by Jack Hofsiss and starring Jane Powell and Chris Sieber; I, Do, I Do at Queens Theater in the Park with Donna McKechnie and regionally: the musical Abyssinia at the Lyric Stage in Dallas, TX.

In addition to his theater and opera projects, Michael has film, animation and television projects in development. Michael is also on the board of the directors of The Directors Company (TDC) in NYC, a non-profit company that develops new projects and highlights new directors. He joined TDC in 1992 and became their musical theater liaison for the Harold Prince Musical Theater Program. During that time he was involved with the development of dozens of new projects including Children of Eden by Stephen Schwartz, Three, Splendora, Eliot Ness in Cleveland, Johnnie Pie and the Foolkiller, Camilla, Ballad of Little Jo, The Molly Maguires and Nightmare Alley. Other TDC projects include: BATBOY and Goodbye My Friduchita with Pricilla Lopez. Michael is a graduate of the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Seminar in New York, class of 1996.

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LISA JACKSON, EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT/CASTING
Lisa was born and educated in England where she attained a degree in Drama & Sociology from the University of Surrey. In 1993, she joined E & B Productions, one of the top five production houses in London's West End. She served as 'right-hand' person to impresario Paul Elliott, assisting on such shows as the internationally successful Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story and the Olivier Award-winning production Jolson, both in England and Toronto. She worked her way through the ranks, becoming Associate Producer in 1999, where she was responsible for the artistic co-ordination and implementation of 33 simultaneous pantomime productions presented in Great Britain's premiere theatres. After moving to California in 2001, she went to work for Santa Barbara's Speaking of Stories, where she spent two and a half years as Assistant Director. The prodigious Granada Restoration Project beckoned next, and Lisa joined the administration team in their ramp up to the theatre's grand reopening. In October 2006, Lisa was lucky enough to become a part of the Rubicon family and is delighted to be using her skills in a place that once again feels like home.

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WILLIAM KEELER, DRAMATURGE
William holds a Ph.D. in Dramatic Literature from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a Woodrow Wilson Fellow to Ireland. He taught at the University of Kansas and other campuses. Bill trained professionally with the American Conservatory Theatre (Bill Ball, Alan Fletcher) and with Michael Howard in New York. He has his own career as an actor and director in film, television, radio and stage, both in New York and regionally. Bill has been the dramaturge and literary advisor on a dozen Rubicon Theatre productions, including Hamlet, The Rainmaker, The Glass Menagerie, Dancing at Lughnasa, All My Sons, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Man of La Mancha. He also works with The Julliard School of Drama, The Manitoba Theatre Centre (Canada) and Circle in the Square (New York).

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AMBER LANDIS, DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE
A native of Ventura, Amber earned her bachelor's degree in Dramatic Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She worked for the Museum of Ventura County for five years before joining Rubicon in 2005. A travel enthusiast, she spent three months studying Italian in Sienna, Italy.

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SUSAN MARSHALL, GRAPHIC ARTIST/DESIGNER
The winner of numerous County and State awards for her striking designs, Susan came to Rubicon after a 22 year-stint working as both a graphic designer and tennis instructor for the City of Ventura. A Ventura resident since 1960, she earned her B.A. degree in Studio Art from Cal State University San Jose.

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BRIAN MCDONALD, EDUCATION OUTREACH DIRECTOR
Brian is a B.F.A. graduate of the Boston Conservatory of Music, Dance and Theatre. For Rubicon, he directed Forever Plaid on the mainstage and will direct Bus Stop. He manages Rubicon's education programs and has taught after-school, weekend and summer classes for the past five years. Brian is Founding Director of Rubicon's Jack Oakie Summer Musical Theatre Camp and Summer Acting Intensive, and in that capacity helmed productions of Once on this Island, Bye, Bye Birdie, Our Town, Schoolhouse Rock, Jr. and others. As an actor, he has appeared in Rubicon's productions of Man of La Mancha and The Importance of Being Earnest. Other appearances include MTG's Saturday Night, Edward II directed by Michael Michetti (LA Weekly Award for Best Supporting Actor), Sideman at Ensemble Theatre, National Tours of Miss Saigon and Forever Plaid, and work with Denver Center, Theatre Virginia, Lyric Stage, La Mirada Performing Arts Center and the Ahmanson.

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ALEXIS T. MILES, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
Alexis has been involved in various aspects of theatre for more than half of her life. She has worked as a production stage manager at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland and many theatres throughout Los Angeles, including the Fountain, the Odyssey, the Ford, the Hudson and the Los Angeles Theatre Center. She is also a playwright and director.

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KELSEY MOE, BOX OFFICE MANAGER
Before being persuaded into working at Rubicon by her long time pal, Alyson, Kelsey traveled the globe (Beijing to Peru and lots in between) sampling fine wines and chocolates. Before the gaiety of travel, she spent four years being educated in International Business, Marketing, Management and German Language and Culture at the Jesuit University of San Francisco... a highlight of which was riding the public transportation system. She loves Ventura and her sausage German Shorthair Pointer puppy.

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ZACK NEELEY, PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
Zack made his Rubicon stage debut in You Can't Take It With You as a G-Man. When not on stage, Zack works as a Production Assistant at Rubicon, and previously worked as a Prop Assistant and Merchandising Associate on the National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar.

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JAMES O'NEIL, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Jim co-founded Rubicon Theatre Company in 1998 with his wife Karyl Lynn Burns. Rubicon directing credits include A Delicate Balance with Susan Clark, Amanda McBroom, Granville van Dusen and Bonnie Franklin, The Diary of Anne Frank with Bruce Weitz, Man of La Mancha with George Ball, Jennifer Shelton and Jamie Torcellini, The Night of the Iguana with Stephanie Zimbalist and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., A Streetcar Named Desire with Linda Purl (Indy Award), Driving Miss Daisy with Michael Learned (NAACP Award for Direction), All My Sons with George Ball and Robin Pearson Rose (2004 Ovation Award for Best Play), Sylvia with Kristi Lynes and Joe Spano, The Glass Menagerie with Susan Clark and Joseph Fuqua, Jesus Christ Superstar with Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson, Love Letters with numerous casts, and Romeo and Juliet at the Bella Maggiore Inn and in area schools. Prior to starting Rubicon, Jim worked for more than 25 years in the theatre as a producer, director and actor. He received his B.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts. While on staff at Landmark Entertainment Group, Jim directed a multi-million dollar animatronic/special effects show in Japan, supervising all aspects of production and creative direction for themed attractions in Sanrio's Harmonyland. As Associate Producer/Artistic Associate for Santa Barbara Repertory Theatre, Jim helmed a new works program. Regional directing credits include The Lion in Winter, The Petrified Forest, Inherit the Wind and area premieres of John Ford Noonan's A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking and Rupert Holmes' Drood!. As an actor, Jim received rave reviews in the role of Pontius Pilate in the National Tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. Other favorite roles include Dr. Prospero in the American regional premiere of Return to the Forbidden Planet at Hallmark's Heartland Theatre in Kansas City, John Adams in 1776, John in Oleanna, John in Lips Together, Teeth Apart, The Duke/Dr. Carrasco in Man of La Mancha, and Adam in th e first reading of Dale Wasserman's Western Star. Jim is the recipient of an "Outstanding Contribution to the Theatre" REP Award and a "Friend of Education" Award from the California State Board of Education (for Rubicon's outreach programs).

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LINDA PURL, FESTIVAL DIRECTOR, RUBICON INTERNATIONAL THEATRE FESTIVAL
Linda Purl was born in Connecticut and raised in Japan. She received training at the Tokyo Toho Geino Academy, LAMDA and Lee Strasberg Institute. Partial Stage credits include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Getting and Spending on Broadway, and The Baby Dance and Hallelujah, Hallelujah off-Broadway. Regional credits include the original production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner With Friends in the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville; The Road To Mecca (with Julie Harris) at Long Wharf; Nora (with Michael York), All the Way Home (with Kim Hunter), The Three Penny Opera (with Betty Buckley), and others in six seasons with Williamstown Theatre Festival; The Real Thing and Hedda Gabler at the Mark Taper Forum Rep; and numerous other roles with theatres including South Coast Rep, L.A. Public Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Berkeley Rep, Santa Fe Opera and the Getty Villa (which she inaugurated as a part of the cast of Hippolytos). Television credits range from Happy Days as Ashley Pfister (Fonzie's fiancée) to Charlene Matlock on Matlock. Linda has over 40 television movie credits. Recorded broadcasts include Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane and Nora with the late David Dukes for National Public Radio, as well as Milford Haven for BBC II. She has performed her cabaret act across the US and abroad. Her recordings include Alone Together and Out of This World Live. Linda is an Associate Artist of American National Theatre. She is Co-Founder of and served as Founding Executive Director for the Colorado Festival of World Theatre. She has been working on the development of the Rubicon International Theatre Festival since 2005, and has traveled to more than 15 countries to attend festivals throughout the world and experience first-hand the work of indigenous theatre artists. Linda has received six Drama-Logue Best Actress Awards and two Drama-Logue Awards as Best Producer. She has received two Robby Awards for Best Actress, is a three time nominee of the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Award for Best Actress, and received an Ovation Award nomination. She is the recipient of the Connecticut Critics' Award for Outstanding Performance in a Play.

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M. EDGAR ROSENBLUM, FESTIVAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Edgar is presently the Administrative Producer at Berkshire Theatre Festival. He is former Executive Director of Theatre for a New Audience in New York. Edgar served as Executive Director of the Long Wharf Theatre from 1970 to 1996, during which time he brought the company to a position of international prominence. He was involved in every aspect of theatre operations, including day-to-day production, fiscal planning, development and marketing. Many Long Wharf productions transferred internationally, to Broadway, Off-Broadway and television. In 1991, Edgar led a delegation to the People's Republic of China to forge an alliance between Long Wharf and The Shanghai People's Art Theatre. Long Wharf Theatre, under Edgar's leadership, was the recipient of many awards, including: The Jujamcyn Theatres Award for development of creative talent in the theatre, 1986; Obie Award for Ensemble Performance, 1983; Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre 1978; Tony awards for Long Wharf productions that moved to New York, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1987; Tony Award nominations, 1973, 1975-1978, 1983, 1987, 1994; the Pulitzer Prize for Drama to productions of The Shadow Box and The Gin Game. Other recent positions include: Executive Producer, Stanley by Pam Gems (three Tony nominations, two Outer Critics Circle Awards), 1997; and Consultant, Theatrevision Project, Old Globe Theatre. Other productions include the Tony Award-winning production of All My Sons by Arthur Miller, David Mamet's American Buffalo (London, New York, Washington DC and San Francisco), Simon Gray's Quartermain's Terms, The Gin Game, Sizwe Bansi is Dead, David Storey's The Changing Room, Peter Nichols' The National Health, David Rabe's Streamers and Eugene O'Neill's Hughie (Al Pacino). Edgar served two terms on the Board of Trustees of the American Arts Alliance, as Chairman; was Founding President of the Board of Directors of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce; and was former President of LORT (League of Resident Theatres). He consulted for the Abbey Theatre (The National Theatre of Ireland), the Arts Councils of Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Rhode Island and Alaska. He has been a consultant for FEDAPT, NEA and other arts institutions throughout the United States. He has taught graduate classes in Theatre Administration at the Yale School of Drama.

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ALYSON SCHUSTER, MARKETING/PUBLICITY ASSOCIATE
Alyson is a native Venturan and graduated from Buena High School, where she was editor in chief of the school newspaper and is in the school's Hall of Fame. She performed on various Ventura County stages as a youngster, including the Elite Theatre Company, Thousand Oaks Young Artists' Ensemble and Ventura College Opera Workshop. She enrolled at UCLA with the intention of studying Neuroscience or Psychobiology, but after two quarters she found herself missing the stage and reapplied to the university's School of Theatre, Film and Television. She was one of 18 accepted into the Musical Theatre program and graduated in 2006 with a Theatre major and English minor, focusing on Shakespeare. She continues to pursue a career on stage and screen and recently played the lead in "Buttercup," a short film for ArcLine Entertainment, set to premiere in 2008.

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LANE STALBIRD, BOX OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR
Lane makes her return to Rubicon after a three-year absence. Her credits include a long career as a data systems consultant, designer and manager. Recent roles include those of technical writer and training manual designer. Lane also serves as Box Office Administrator for the Ventura Music Festival.

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TAMMY TAYLOR, ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
Tammy joined Rubicon's staff after a six-year hiatus from theatre, much of it spent working as a pastry chef at the 5-star Aurora, Maison de Cuisine in Dallas. Tammy recently stage managed Hamlet at Rubicon, directed by Jenny Sullivan. As a stage manager, her Broadway credits include Spoils of War, Eastern Standard and Macbeth. Off-Broadway credits include The Baby Dance with Jenny Sullivan, Stephanie Zimbalist, Linda Purl and John Bennett Perry; Old Times with Anthony Hopkins, Jane Alexander and Marsha Mason; and The Film Society starring Nathan Lane. Tammy toured domestically and internationally with Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane & Company and the Lucinda Childs Dance Company. She has also worked extensively at regional theatres including Long Wharf Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse and Williamstown Theatre Festival. Tammy co-produced BJ Ward's Stand-Up Opera in L.A. as well as Ad Wars, again with Jenny Sullivan. As a production manager, Tammy worked at Santa Fe Stages, Lobero Stage Company in Santa Barbara and the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. Film and television credits include "Speed," "The River Wild" and the HBO series "Arli$$," where she was an associate producer. Tammy earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts from Texas A&M University and graduated with high honors from the Cordon Bleu Program at The California School of Culinary Arts.

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