The 7 PM evenings will feature excerpts from Patter for the Floating Lady, A Bad Spell and The Last Smoker in America. Sheryl Kaller will direct a cast that includes Alice Ripley, David McDonald, Julie Dixon Jackson and Nick Cearley.

Patter for the Floating Lady, according to production notes, is based on a Steve Martin one-act in which a "magician levitates his assistant as they re-examine their affair which has recently ended." In A Bad Spell, based on Virginia Mariconi's short story, a "newly divorced father tries to bridge a communication gap with his 15-year-old son in boarding school in Switzerland." The Last Smoker in America concerns a "highly dysfunctional family in the near future dealing with addiction, betrayal and a gun."

Alice Ripley, who recently completed an acclaimed run in the Paper Mill production of The Baker's Wife, has appeared on Broadway in Side Show,The Rocky Horror Show, James Joyce's The Dead, Sunset Boulevard, The Who's Tommy, Les Misérables and in the City Center Encores! production of Li'l Abner. She has also been seen in Tell Me On a Sunday, Company, Shakespeare in Hollywood, The Fabulous Invalid and Five Flights. Ripley's non-show recordings include two discs with Side Show co-star Emily Skinner — "Duets" and "Unsuspecting Hearts" — and a recording of her own compositions, "Everything's Fine." The singer actress also heads her own rock band, RIPLEY.

Bill Russell, who wrote the book and lyrics for Side Show, also penned the book and lyrics for Off-Broadway's Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens and Pageant. His other book/lyric credits include Lucky Duck, Kept, Fourtune, The Texas Chainsaw Musical and Family Style.

The Rubicon Theatre Company is located at 1006 E. Main Street in Ventura, CA. For reservations for the free event, call (805) 667-2900.