Drama Group to Purchase Laurel Theatre

Five years after moving into the Laurel Theatre in downtown Ventura, the Rubicon Theatre Company is about to make the arrangement permanent.

The 6-year-old Rubicon, which is purchasing the former church, entered a 60-day escrow period April 1, said Managing Director Norbert Tan.

“It’s going to allow us to really control our destiny,” Tan said.

Rubicon, the county’s only professional theater troupe, is buying the Laurel from local businessmen Doug Halter and Joe Murray for $1.3 million.

First, though, the company must come up with a $250,000 down payment.

“If everyone who attends ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ contributes $50, we’re there,” Tan said.

The Rubicon production of the play, which began last week, runs through May 9.

Tan said the purchase would allow the theater company to expand its artistic and educational programs.

“We’ve been the anchor tenants at the theater, but we sometimes didn’t have room to do all our education programs,” Tan said Wednesday.

The company will also have room for a proposed jazz or cabaret series, he said.

Current owners Halter and Murray did $400,000 worth of work on the nearly 100-year-old church at 1006 E. Main St. after they bought it in 1999. But Tan wants to do more.

On his wish list: wheelchair-accessible restrooms and proper theater seats to replace the wooden pews.

He hopes to increase seating from 210 to about 270, in part by enlarging the balcony.

The troupe, founded in 1998 by Karyl Lynn Burns and James O’Neil, puts on five to seven plays a season, and has played to more than 150,000 audience members overall. About half the seats currently are held by season-ticket holders, and the plays usually are 85% sold out, Tan said.

Over the years, the company has featured well-known actors in its productions, including Jack Lemmon, John Ritter, Jayne Meadows, Steve Allen, Larry Hagman and Stephanie Zimbalist. Emmy Award winner Michael Learned stars in the current production.

“Actors love coming up here,” Tan said. “Our geography’s perfect. It’s like a vacation for them.”

Even though the company hopes to enlarge the theater building, the Rubicon will ensure that the intimate charm of the theater will remain, Tan said.

“You can spend millions of dollars .... But you may not get that feeling once you’re done,” he said. “We’re all about transformation and connection, telling stories.”

Halter, who owns Villa Tasca, a downtown gift store, said Wednesday that he was excited about the sale. He plans to use the proceeds to buy about 35 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains in order to keep the property in his family.

“It’s a great financial move for them, and a great move for me and my family,” Halter said.

Meanwhile, he said he has enjoyed his role with Rubicon. “They have amazed me over the last five years,” Halter said. “I’ve been in awe of what they’ve been able to create.”