Ashland’s popular company, thriving after 10 years under Rick Robinson and Val Rachelle’s leadership, honors its origins as it prepares for its 41st season

By Jim Flint

When Rick Robinson first imagined dinner theater, his mind leapt to a moment from the 1991 film comedy “Soapdish” — an audience member interrupting the action to ask actor Kevin Kline’s character to pass the salt mid-scene.

“It felt like a decaying business model,” Robinson recalled. Yet a decade after he and his wife, director Valerie (Val) Rachelle, stepped into ownership of Ashland’s Oregon Cabaret Theatre, the pair has transformed the intimate playhouse into one of Southern Oregon’s most vibrant cultural hubs.

Val had been hired to direct the Cabaret’s “Winter Wonderettes” in 2012.

Love at first sight

“I immediately fell in love with the place and the town,” she said. “I was ready to leap in when I was approached to potentially take over.”

Rick, not convinced at first, was urged by his wife to take a trip up to Ashland from their home in Los Angeles, meet with Cabaret founder Jim Giancarlo and get a sense of the place.

” I loved it,” he said. “The Cabaret was so vibrant and unique. On the car ride home, I immediately called Val and said we had to do it

The couple inherited both opportunity and upheaval. They had been in talks with Giancarlo in 2014 when tragedy struck. Giancarlo died suddenly before the final papers could be signed. Less than 24 hours later, his brother asked how soon they could come. Two weeks later, they closed the deal.

“Our first priority was to keep the Cabaret’s existing audience, improve the physical space and sound system, and learn — with Jim’s guidance — how the theater operated,” Val said. “When Jim passed, we were suddenly on our own in season selection and casting, and a lot of those early days just felt like being thrown into the deep end and fighting to stay afloat.”

A legacy preserved — and expanded

Giancarlo’s impact is still felt inside the brick walls of the Cabaret, a former Baptist church painstakingly restored by Craig Hudson in the early 1980s. Val and Rick honor that history daily.

“Jim’s legacy is cemented as the leader of this theater, who brought joy to so many people over nearly 30 years,” Val said. Rick added, “The legacy of this being a special place for first dates and anniversaries and a perfect complement to the offerings of OSF, was something we wanted to preserve. What we wanted to see evolve was the diversity of the offerings.”

That evolution began quickly. On the advice of the theater’s co-founder, Craig Hudson, they took a leap with their very first season: an immersive nine-person production of “Cabaret.”

“It was he who convinced me to take that risk and do a dream project right away, so the audience would learn about me as an artist,” Val said.

The show sold out and set a new bar for what could be done in the cozy 136-seat venue.

Each year since, productions have grown more ambitious.

“Last year, our “Legally Blonde” was 15 people strong,” Rick noted.

Investing in experience

Changes came offstage, too. New chairs and an upgraded sound system answered longtime customer complaints.

Rick worked with chefs to tailor menus to each production’s setting and theme. Val moved the stage manager’s booth from stage right to upstairs behind the audience to preserve theatrical magic.

“I felt strongly that their work should be behind the scenes,” she said. It ruins the magic a bit to have them right on top of the action.”

But some traditions remain sacred. Chief among them: the decadent Dick Hay pie, a dessert first conceived under Giancarlo’s tenure.

“We’ve had people call us and say, ‘We don’t care what’s playing, as long as you have Dick Hay pie,’” Rick said. “I think there would be a riot if we didn’t serve it.”

Dinner’s optional

The Cabaret approaches the dining side of the business in a way unique to the industry: The meals are optional.

“Most places require their audiences to eat dinner or brunch with them,” Val said. “It’s part of the ticket price, so they find a way to make the food as low-budget as possible in order to make the most out of that ticket sale. For our kitchen — the size of a dime — to create fine dining for a room full of patrons in less than two hours is an amazing feat.”

The restaurant side of the business has been a journey for the couple. Both came from the theater side, without much restaurant experience.

“But we run a full-fledged restaurant that serves more than a 100 people a fine dining meal nearly every night,” Rick said. “Which means, in addition to actors, we employ cooks, servers, bartenders, hosts and dishwashers. It’s a challenge I’ve come to enjoy.”

Because patrons aren’t forced to dine at the Cabaret, “we have to earn your business, and I think our restaurant is the better for that,” Rick said.

Programming with balance

Audience engagement shapes each season.

“Every January or February we do a season survey where we give our patrons 15 shows and ask them to choose their top five,” Val explained. “This way, everyone gets to be heard — from our staff and creative teams to our patrons.”

Risk-taking has paid off. “Once” and “Waitress” — shows Rick wasn’t sure would connect — became runaway hits.

“’Once’ was a show we really wanted to create because we loved it,” he said. “Turns out the audience loved it too. Ditto for ‘Waitress.’”

“Once” sold out for nearly every performance. “Waitress” sold out every show. For once, being wrong never felt so good.

Rick has debuted several of his own plays at the Cabaret.

“There was a time when I wrote darker, more dramatic work, as a Los Angeles-based playwright writing shows for fringe festivals,” he said. “At the Cabaret, I’m looking to write crowd pleasers from Sherlock Holmes yarns, Agatha Christie mysteries and heartwarming classics for the holidays.”

The risk, he says, is producing an unproven, unwritten show. So he avoids compounding the risk by writing something he thinks audiences won’t like. “It’s terrifying every time,” he admitted.

Casting and company culture

The Cabaret casts talent from New York, the local area and elsewhere. Maintaining a strong company culture with such a diverse and changing cast of performers can be a challenge.

“I think having a backbone of local actors is an important facet in establishing a positive company culture,” Val said, “as is bringing back professionals who are not only talented, but positive tone setters and collaborators.”

When hiring someone new, checking references is an important part of the process, she said. Theater is a small world and she’ll usually know someone an actor has worked with before.

“A phone call to get a sense of what the actor is like to work with is critical,” she said. “Company culture is important to us, so much so that someone more talented may lose out to someone I feel is going to be great to work with and a positive force in the dressing room.

Community and resilience

Ashland’s theater scene is famously crowded, yet the Cabaret has carved out its own niche.

“Our business model is unique,” Rick said. “We provide a comfortable dining experience along with a show, and no one else is doing that. We are a fully professional producing company, something that only OSF and Rogue Theater Company can say among the local companies.”

The pandemic tested that resilience. With the Cabaret’s house reduced to 40 seats, Rick buried himself in PPP loans and grants while Val adapted productions to the new reality of frequent understudy coverage.

“Knock on wood,” she said. “We haven’t had to cancel a Cabaret performance in two years.”

Whereas Oregon Shakespeare Festival customers are primarily non-local, the Cabaret’s audiences skew local. It can fluctuate, however, depending on the season.

“In the winter, we’re 80% Rogue Valley residents, but in the summer tourist season, it’s closer to 60%,” Rick said.

 Knowing that there is an influx of out-of-town theater-savvy folks in town for OSF during its season, the Cabaret strives to counterprogram what the festival is offering during those months.

“Marketing to out-of-towners is tough, as those Bay Area and Seattle marketing dollars can feel like throwing pennies in the ocean,” Rick said. “I like to get in front of them with targeted ads when they’re here, bubbling up as another potential point of interest to out-of-town guests.  

Looking ahead

Now in its 40th season and 1lth year under Rick and Val, the Cabaret is a sold-out success. Their daughter, Ella, grew up backstage and now heads to college, while her parents look ahead to dream projects.

The 2026 lineup alone promises a swashbuckling Robin Hood, Rick’s new Miss Marple mystery, a revival of “Chicago,” a quick-change comedy take on “Dracula” and a new “Anne of Green Gables” musical for the holidays.

Val summed up their mission simply: “My hope for the Cabaret is to continue to provide the best theatrical experience in that lovely building that we can. To continue to raise the bar is a challenge when you are selling out almost every seat to every show. But Rick and I are up for the challenge.”

Rick put it more bluntly: “When people ask me how I’ve increased our audience numbers post-COVID, I tell them it’s because I’m selling filet. I’m pitching an incredible product that Val has built over the years. That makes my job easier.”

From a once-derelict church to a dining-and-theater experience unlike any other in the country, the Oregon Cabaret Theatre continues to dazzle. After a decade at the helm, Rick and Val have ensured Giancarlo’s legacy endures — even as they boldly script its next chapter.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit oregoncabaret.com.

This story originally appeared in Oregon ArtsWatch.

Freelance writer Jim Flint is a retired newspaper publisher and editor. Email him at [email protected].