FOR BOOKING INFORMATION: RubiconTheatreCompany Karyl Lynn Burns • 805.667.2912 x224 • [email protected] Michael Jackowitz • 917.701.3303 • [email protected]
CHECK OUT WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING!“COMPLETELY WINNING” “LIFE AFFIRMING” “LETTER PERFECT”
“ONE OF THE MOST ENTHRALLING, ENTERTAINING AND MOVING LOVE STORIES ON THE AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATRE STAGE!” “A GEM”
“YOU’LL LOVE THIS WORLD PREMIERE!”
“A WHOLESOME TUNER IN TUNE WITH THE TIMES, bolstered by WINSOME MELODIES from Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre) ... McGinnis proves MAGICAL in this star-making role ... CHARMING material. SPIRITED SCORE ... Jerusha’s insights of a century ago remain KEEN AND WINNING. AN IMPRESSIVE LIBRARY UNIT SET and lived-in costumes by David Farley.”
“AN EXQUISITE GEM OF A MUSICAL. It’s hard to think of another musical so ABSOLUTELY RIGHT FOR AGES EIGHT TO EIGHTY. In the INSPIRED hands of composer-lyricist Paul Gordon and writer- director John Caird, Rubicon Theatre’s production of Daddy Long Legs proves to be one of the most ENTHRALLING, ENTERTAINING and MOVING LOVE STORIES I’ve seen on the American musical theatre stage. The Tony®-nominated composer of Broadway’s Jane Eyre creates melodies that are TUNEFUL without being saccharine and COMPLEX without being inaccessible. His lyrics are CHARMING, CLEVER and TOUCHING … ONE OF THE BEST NEW SCORES OF THE YEAR. It’s also one that audiences are likely to leave the theatre humming. Rubicon hits a double bull’s-eye, a World Premiere musical sure to have a long life ahead of it. I have fallen in love with Daddy Long Legs. Trust me. You will too.” Megan McGinnis photo by Jeanne Tanner “Daddy Long Legs, currently receiving its world premiere at Ventura’s Rubicon Theatre, is refreshingly devoid of razzle-dazzle. The two creators, both Broadway veterans, have faith that audiences will be drawn into a quiet story about a feisty young orphan and the anonymous benefactor who puts her through college. They win their bet thanks to SKILLFUL STORYTELLING, ENTICING SONGS and SUPERB PERFORMANCES. The letters—roughly half of which are spoken, and half sung—describe Jerusha’s coming of age and development as a writer. The life lessons she learns are timeless: women deserve full equality; success is as much a matter of perseverance as talent; life is to be lived in the moment. It’s good material—WITTY, ELOQUENT and EMOTIONALLY RESONANT—but the miracle is the way Caird keeps it from becoming theatrically static. Often, Jerusha will begin reciting a letter as she writes it, then Jervis (her benefactor) will pick up the narration, his inflections and body language reflecting his state of mind as he reads it. This back- and-forth makes their exchanges feel surprisingly intimate. Gordon’s MUSIC SUCCEEDS in setting a mood and conveying subtle emotional shifts. The two performers, Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock, create VIVID, EASILY RELATABLE CHARACTERS … this Daddy could have legs.”
“I found myself on the verge of crying less than ten minutes into the world premiere of the new musical version of Daddy Long Legs at Rubicon Theatre in Ventura last weekend, and my eyes continued to well up with tears until they spilled over for the third or fourth time just before the lights faded for the final time. John Caird (who won a Tony® for directing Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby) has written a GORGEOUS, REMARKABLY FLUID adaptation. Teaming with composer/lyricist Paul Gordon ® Megan McGinnis and (his partner on the Tony -nominated musical Jane Eyre), the pair Robert Adelman Hancock have created a work that is UNABASHEDLY SENSITIVE and SWEET, photo by Jeanne Tanner evoking a KINDER AND GENTLER bygone era without sentimentality. Gordon’s WONDERFULLY MELODIC SONGS CUT STRAIGHT TO THE HEART … Jerusha’s passionate determination to grow as a person makes the story COMPELLING. In one of the great achievements of the creators, there is no dialogue at all between the characters until the very end, yet it feels like they are communicating with each other through the entire course of the show. Daddy Long Legs is PERFECT FARE FOR GIRLS OF ALL AGES. The opening night audience literally jumped to their feet at the conclusion of the show, Daddy Long Legs is a TRUE TREASURE, AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS for RTC, and a show that EVERYBODY SHOULD SEE before it closes.”
“DADDY LONG LEGS IS LETTER PERFECT! Rubicon’s World-Premiere Musical GLOWS with LIFE- AFFIRMING SPIRIT. The new musical Daddy Long Legs is A WINNER. The STARS ARE ALIGNED for the success of the world- premiere musical Daddy Long Legs. McGinnis, who moves GRACEFULLY from song to conversation and back again with ample ENERGY and WIT, is an ENDEARING Jerusha. Adelman brings a FINE, WELL-MODULATED SINGING VOICE and JUST-RIGHT acting skills to the part. Everything about Daddy Long Legs exudes EXPERIENCE and CLASS. There is grit in the girl, and ultimately a deeper understanding and broadening perspective in the man.” “This is MY KIND OF MUSICAL! I love BEAUTIFUL MUSIC, CHARACTERS THAT TAKE ME ALONG with them on their journey of discovery, and a STORY THAT TUGS AT MY HEART. This ENCHANTING WORLD PREMIERE musical at Rubicon Theatre contains all of that, and much more. Paul Gordon (music & lyrics) and John Caird (book) have transformed Jean Webster’s novel “Daddy Long Legs” into a HEARTWARMING AND POIGNANT musical. This is a girl you can’t help but fall in love with, especially when brought to life by Megan McGinnis. She has a VOICE LIKE A NIGHTINGALE and in this VIVACIOUS STAR-TURN-OF-A- PERFORMANCE, she is MAGNIFICENT. Her honest portrayal of the intelligent, self-determined young woman is INSPIRING and filled with layers of EMOTIONAL DEPTH. Hancock’s DASHING GOOD LOOKS and WARM LYRIC BARITONE make him A PERFECT COMPLEMENT to McGinnis’ spirited presence onstage. Musical Director Laura Bergquist leads a six-piece orchestra in Paul Gordon’s score full of BEAUTIFUL MELODIES. Gordon was nominated for a Tony® Award for Jane Eyre, directed by John Caird. Caird is best known for his London and Broadway creations of Les Misérables and Nicholas Nickleby, which won Tony® and Olivier Awards. You’ll find yourself thinking about your own life in a way you may not have before. Don’t miss this CHARMING musical, SURE TO BECOME A CLASSIC FAVORITE.” Musicals in LA
“TOP LEVEL … another EXCELLENTLY STAGED show just opened at the Rubicon. YOU’LL LOVE THIS WORLD PREMIERE SHOW! The girls in the audience will love Rubicon’s Daddy Long Legs. They’ll laugh and they’ll cry, and so will some of the boys, and the SINGING IS MARVELOUS.” VIDA
“…made for Caird and Gordon to bring to the stage, and they do it IMPECCABLY. Paul Gordon’s lyrics here are EVERYTHING LYRICS OUGHT TO BE: poetic, expositional, and revelatory of character. The Robert Adelman Hancock music itself, played by a six-person band, mirrors the emotions, often photo by Jeanne Tanner feeling WARM, OPTIMISTIC and COMFORTING. Megan McGinnis has A LOVELY CLEAR VOICE, which she partners with a crooked smile that LIGHTS UP THE ROOM, creating a SPIRITED young woman. Caird’s direction deftly handles a two-person musical in which the characters seldom interact … With its SPARKLING female protagonist, its MYSTERIOUS wealthy gentleman, and its LOVE STORY based on intellectual attraction, and its emotional betrayal, Daddy Long Legs is a great big “chick musical” softball just hanging there over the plate—and Gordon and Caird hit it right out of the park.”
“Daddy Long Legs is a SWEET SOUNDING chamber piece, a LOVE STORY and WISH FULFILLMENT OPUS that throws in strategic dashes of female empowerment. In ever hopeful and dewy eyed Megan McGinnis, Caird and Gordon have found AN IDEAL ACTRESS. Possessed of a lovely high alto voice, McGinnis CHARMS the britches off not just her Daddy Long Legs but anyone within earshot. Fortunate indeed are those who are on the receiving end of our heroine’s words. As any Cinderella will tell you, there’s always room for a fairy tale.” “Daddy Long Legs, the new chamber musical by John Caird and Paul Gordon, has two things going for it: A COMPLETELY WINNING PERFORMANCE by Megan McGinnis and the kind of rags-to-riches Cinderella saga that never fails to draw in the matinee crowd … I found myself UTTERLY ABSORBED in the situation of this BRIGHT and FORLORN CHARMER, who’s granted an unexpected opportunity for personal advancement. A budding writer, she dives into her education with all the dedication of a down-and-out boy in Dickens similarly blessed with a second shot. Caird, a Tony®-winning director best known for his productions of Les Misérables and The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, knows how to assist the storytelling through his staging … Hancock brings a ROMANTIC DAPPERNESS to Jervis. Just as good are Farley’s period costumes and Paul Toben’s dusky lighting.”
If would-be season subscribers waving checkbooks in the faces of TheatreWorks volunteers at intermission is any indication, the Peninsula’s FINEST THEATRE COMPANY has ANOTHER HIT MUSICAL on its hands with Daddy Long Legs. It has a SUPERNOVA OF A STAR in Megan McGinnis. In the aforementioned lobby, people were RAVING about her. A lovely, smiling face surrounded by curls, with the singing voice of a VERY ACCOMPLISHED ANGEL —what’s not to love? Robert Adelman Hancock is EXCELLENT, and like McGinnis, has POWERFUL VOCAL CHOPS. A key to this CHARMING MUSICAL is that Jerusha may be an orphan, but she has PLENTY OF COURAGE AND GRIT. Part of the fun of the play— and a bit of BRILLIANCE it is, from Caird and Gordon—is that Jerusha and Jervis are both on stage for most of the show, but unaware of each other. This is, of course, a love story, and it is full of nutritious sweetness—no empty calories here. It is a story with characters arcs and development, and it leads the audience to a delicious precipice.
Shuffling toward the exit after Theatreworks’ opening night performance of Daddy Long Legs, I saw the man next to me turn to his wife and simply say, “THEIR BEST EVER.” Curious, I asked them how long they’ve been going to TheatreWorks productions. Twenty years. This may be TheatreWorks’ Megan McGinnis and MASTERPIECE. A MUSICAL THAT REDEFINES MUSICALS, a Robert Adelman Hancock period piece that is relentlessly forward-looking in its staging photo by Jeanne Tanner and orchestration, this is a revolutionary piece of theatre, both in content and form. What Gordon and Caird have done with the novel is take the more complex themes hidden in Webster’s archetypal plot and fleshed them out for a modern audience that is far likelier to grasp the emotional and political subtexts of the story. Their story vibrates at a higher frequency, if you will, resonating at so many levels. They take A DEEPER LOOK, not only at Jerusha’s innocence and budding emotions, but also at her insatiable curiosity and growing independence. Of particular note are the INCREDIBLE MUSIC AND LYRICS by Gordon. These songs are not like anything I’ve heard before in a musical. Catchy and intricate, they have a contemporary acoustic feel, as if one singer/songwriter’s indie-rock sound has been combined with the spacious, storytelling sound of a Broadway musical. Both leads are EXCELLENT. A new musical adaptation of an old-fashioned Cinderella story. John Caird and Paul Gordon create a bygone era filled with love letters, sighs and petticoats—aSENTIMENTAL MUSICAL VALENTINE. McGinnis SPARKLES so brightly as the spunky turn-of-the-century heroine that this period romance almost sweeps you off your feet through herSHEER CHARISMA alone. The actress, who played Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Miserables, has a DULCET VOICE and a disarming personality. Her MAGNETISM gives the first act its EFFERVESCENCE. McGinnis STEALS OUR HEARTS FROM THE FIRST BLUSHING BALLAD TO THE LAST TEARFUL ANTHEM. Daddy Long Legs may be destined to waltz straight into the hearts of many theatregoers with elan.
Megan McGinnis perfectly embodies the SPUNKY WIT of Webster’s orphan heroine. It’s the FEEL- GOOD STORY of a young woman’s growth into independent adulthood, its romance qualities balanced by suffragist and socialist awakenings. Musical director Laura Bergquist’s six-piece orchestra performs FLAWLESSLY. Caird keeps the action flowing gently on Farley’s open-shelf library of a set. The heart of Daddy, though, is the resourceful, inquisitive Jerusha. Infusing her lyrics with emotional shadings, McGinnis, brings ANGELIC TONES and a GENEROUS SPIRIT to the role, making us want to follow her growth and believe she gets her man on her own terms.
A WINNING SCORE. Bookwriter John Caird (and production director) provides WELL-DRAWN CHARACTERS with STRONG EMOTIONAL ARCS, WELL-PLACED HUMOR, a NICELY RESTRAINED ROMANTIC SENSIBILITY, and an EXCEEDINGLY CHARMING CONCEIT. The score by Paul Gordon will lead many to rush to buy the CD in the lobby after the show. Mr. Gordon’s witty lyrics are efficient, often unexpected, and along with Mr. Caird’s dialogue, they convey the beauty of the English language. Megan McGinnis delightfully embodies the fun protagonist with EXCITEMENT, SPUNK, AUTHENTICITY and WARMTH—the attributes that endear her to Jervis (and to the audience). She also sings with an ENCHANTING VOICE, strong in power yet gentle in tone. Robert Adelman Hancock gets lots of LAUGHS. David Farley provides a HANDSOME UNIT SET with trunks and books scattered about, as well as ATTRACTIVE, period-appropriate costumes.
Regional (Cincinnati)
Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock This LILTING NEW CHAMBER MUSICAL has landed on the photo by Jeanne Tanner Park’s Marx stage with Megan McGinnis CHARMING audiences as a PERFECT YOUNG HEROINE—BRIGHT, WITTY, SPIRITED, EXPRESSIVE, ADORABLE. And she sings! What makes Long Legs especially appealing for anyone who loves literature and writing is that this isn’t merely a romance of the ‘girl-meets-boy’ sort, it’s also A ROMANCE OF WORDS AND IDEAS.
(Cincinnati) Nearly a century has elapsed since Jean Webster’s 1912 novel “Daddy Long Legs” was published. Now her story of a talented, forthright foundling named Jerusha and her mysterious reclusive mentor returns, this time on stage in an expressive IMPRESSIVE world premiere musical at the Cincinnati Playhouse. Caird and Gordon have turned Webster’s evergreen tale into a two- performer evening of GRACE AND DELICACY that’s TUNEFUL, TRUE TO THE ORIGINAL and ALTOGETHER SATISFYING. It’s a sweet story—the sort of thing adolescent girls once buzzed about and daydreamed over. Neat trick No. 1 is how Caird and Gordon keep characters and story SIMPLE, CLEAR and INTELLIGENT, even TRENCHANT in the telling. Songs and dialogue interweave without effort. Sung and spoken, the words display sentiment without dipping into sentimentality. Net trick No.2 is the WELL-MATCHED CASTING of McGinnis and Hancock, both of whom come with extensive credits. McGinnis exhibits Jerusha’s character development neatly from girl-child to woman, from tentative student to accomplished author. Hancock slowly peels away Jervis’ chilly reserve and reveals the lover inside. Sets and costumes, lighting and sound design are WINNERS ALL. Daddy Long Legs is all LIGHT AND LILT.
The ACCLAIM AWARDS recognize Megan McGinnis for her performance as Jerusha Abbott in Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park’s World Premiere of Daddy Long Legs.
Megan McGinnis photo by Jeanne Tanner
Megan McGinnis received an INDY AWARD for her portrayal of Jerusha at Rubicon Theatre. The Award is presented by Independent Theatre Critics, and judges included columnist Barney Brantingham, Philip Brandes of the Los Angeles Times, Tom Jacobs of Backstage and Miller- McCune Publications, Charles Donelan of The Independent, and Starshine Roshell of The Independent and Westways.