Kirby Ward

Kirby Ward

Award winning actor, director, writer, choreographer, and filmmaker

Return To The Forbidden Planet

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What The Critics Said

“It OVERFLOWS WITH FUN.” – Los Angeles Times

“DELICIOUSLY KITSCHY…” – Broadway World

“a WINNER.” – Ventura County Star

“WOW!…Director-choreographer Kirby Ward coaxes one TERRIFIC PERFORMANCE after another from the all-around groovy cast.” – Stage Scene

About The Production

In 2016, with the help of the very creative design team of Jonathan Burke, Tom Giamario, Teresa Scarano and Pamela Shaw, Rubicon Theatre was turned into a spaceship,. There were pneumatic transport tubes, an irising airlock, a multi-tentacled monster that attacked the ship and it’s crew, go-go-dancing flight attendants, and a light-pulsing Klystron Generator to make it all fly.

This multi-media rock & roll show got it’s start in London where it is remembered fondly as something of a theatre treasure. It actually won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical two years in a row – in 1989 and again in 1990!

Written by Bob Carlton who borrowed liberally from all of Shakespeare’s plays, it was conceived as a musical send-up of the classic 1960s film of the same name. Both the film and this musical are loosely based on  The Tempest. When it was first presented, it was billed as “Shakespeare’s forgotten rock ‘n roll masterpiece.” If you like Shakespeare, and your musical tastes reach all the way back to the fifties and sixties, you need to see this show. It features a galaxy of old favorites like “Wipe Out,” “Good Vibrations,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Monster Mash,” and “We Gotta Get Out of this Place.”

The first production was so successful, it was brought back for the 2018 season.

An Interview with the Director

A Taste of What It Was Like

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