# La Jolla Playhouse

La Jolla Playhouse is a nonprofit professional theater on the campus of the University of California, San Diego.

## History

La Jolla Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer. In 1983, it was revived under the leadership of Des McAnuff. Since then, the Playhouse's repertoire has included 108 world premieres, thirty-two West Coast premieres, and eight American premieres, and has won more than three hundred honors, including the 1993 Tony Award as America's Outstanding Regional Theatre. It is supported, in part, by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the California Arts Council, the City of San Diego, and the County of San Diego. It was announced on April 10, 2007, that Christopher Ashley would succeed McAnuff as artistic director.
Among the 36 productions that originated at the Playhouse before finding success on Broadway are The Who's Tommy, Come from Away, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Outsiders, Big River, Matthew Broderick's revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Freaky Friday, Bonnie and Clyde, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, 700 Sundays, Jersey Boys, Memphis, Peter and the Starcatcher, SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical, and Redwood with Idina Menzel which is set to open on Broadway in 2025.

## Programs

La Jolla Playhouse provides a number of Learning & Engagement opportunities for children, teens, and adults interested in theatre arts, both as performers and behind-the-scenes. In addition, the Performance Outreach Program (POP Tour) annually brings a professional, world-premiere production to schools, libraries, and community centers throughout San Diego. There are additional summer theater opportunities through the La Jolla Playhouse Conservatory, student matinees, teen council, and many other in-school workshops and classes.

### Page to Stage

La Jolla Playhouse began the "Page to Stage Play Development Program" in 2001 to facilitate the development of new plays and musicals, offering audiences the rare opportunity to experience the "birth" of a play and take part in its evolution. As a Page to Stage workshop, a production will feature minimal sets and costumes, and will be revised throughout its entire process, including performances. After the performance, audience feedback sessions will provide insight and suggestion for both the creative team and the actors. In the 22 years since the program began, two Page to Stage Productions have gone on to win Tony Awards. Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Leading Actor in a Play (Jefferson Mays); and Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, a 2004 Page to Stage Production, won the 2005 Tony Award for Special Theatrical Event.

## Management
### Managing directors

* 1981–1991: Alan Levey
* 1992–2004: Terry Dwyer
* 2005–2008: Steven Libman
* 2009–2018: Michael S. Rosenberg
* 2018–current: Debby Buchholz

## Artists
### Artistic directors

* 1947–1959: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Mel Ferrer (founders)
* 1983–1994: Des McAnuff
* 1995–1999: Michael Greif
* 1999–2000: Anne Hamburger
* 2000–2007: Des McAnuff
* 2007– : Christopher Ashley

### Notable actors

* Amy Aquino
* Tallulah Bankhead
* Heidi Blickenstaff
* Stephen Bogardus
* Christian Borle
* Matthew Broderick
* Danny Burstein
* Phoebe Cates
* Kim Cattrall
* Anna Chlumsky
* James Coburn
* Billy Crystal
* Ariana DeBose
* Dana Delaney
* Dann Florek
* Hunter Foster
* Sutton Foster
* Beth Gallagher
* John Goodman
* David Marshall Grant
* Ann Harada
* Neil Patrick Harris
* Linda Hunt
* Holly Hunter
* Laura Innes
* Bill Irwin
* Laura Linney
* Jon Lovitz
* Groucho Marx
* James Maslow
* James Mason
* Jefferson Mays
* Marin Mazzie
* Idina Menzel
* Cynthia Nixon
* Peter Paige
* Jennifer Paredes
* Jim Parsons
* Amanda Plummer
* Alice Ripley
* Wynn Harmon
* George Salazar
* Campbell Scott
* Helen Shaver
* Gary Sinise
* Alexandra Slade
* Nancy Travis
* Vivian Vance
* Daphne Rubin-Vega
* Sherie Rene Scott
* Malcolm-Jamal Warner
* Ron Richardson
* BD Wong

## Productions
### La Jolla Playhouse to Broadway

| Production | La Jolla Playhouse | Broadway | Tony Awards |
| Big River | 1984 | 1985 | Best Musical Best Book of a Musical Best Original Score Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Best Direction of a Musical Best Scenic Design Best Lighting Design |
| A Walk in the Woods | 1987 | 1988 | |
| Dangerous Games | 1989 | 1989 | |
| The Grapes of Wrath | 1989 | 1991 | Best Play |
| The Who's Tommy | 1992 | 1993 | Best Direction of a Musical Best Choreography Best Original Score Best Scenic Design Best Lighting Design |
| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | 1994 | 1995 (revival) | Best Actor in a Musical |
| An Almost Holy Picture | 1995 | 2002 | |
| The Green Bird | 1996 | 2000 | |
| Harmony | 1997 | 2023 | |
| Jane Eyre | 1999 | 2000 | |
| Thoroughly Modern Millie | 2000 | 2002 | Best Musical Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical Best Choreography Best Orchestrations Best Costume Design |
| Dracula, the Musical | 2001 | 2004 | |
| I Am My Own Wife | 2001 | 2004 | Best Play Best Actor in a Play |
| 700 Sundays | 2004 | 2004 | |
| Jersey Boys | 2004 | 2005 | Best Musical Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical Best Lighting Design of a Musical |
| Doctor Zhivago (premiered as Zhivago) | 2006 | 2015 | |
| The Farnsworth Invention | 2007 | 2007 | |
| Cry Baby | 2007 | 2008 | |
| 33 Variations | 2008 | 2009 | Best Scenic Design of a Play |
| Memphis | 2008 | 2009 | Best Musical Best Book of a Musical Best Original Score Best Orchestrations |
| Bonnie and Clyde | 2009 | 2011 | |
| Peter and the Starcatcher | 2009 | 2012 | Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play Best Sound Design of a Play Best Lighting Design of a Play Best Costume Design of a Play Best Scenic Design of a Play |
| Ghetto Klown (premiered as John Leguizamo: Diary of a Madman) | 2010 | 2011 | |
| Chaplin | 2010 | 2012 | |
| Jesus Christ Superstar | 2011 | 2012 (revival) | |
| Hands on a Hardbody | 2012 | 2013 | |
| Side Show | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Indecent | 2015 | 2017 | Best Direction of a Play Best Lighting Design of a Play |
| Come from Away | 2015 | 2017 | Best Direction of a Musical |
| John Leguizamo: Latin History for Morons | 2016 | 2017 | Special Tony Award |
| Junk: The Golden Age of Debt | 2016 | 2017 | |
| SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Escape to Margaritaville | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Diana | 2019 | 2020 | |
| Lempicka | 2022 | 2024 | |
| The Outsiders | 2023 | 2024 | Best Musical Best Direction of a Musical Best Lighting Design of a Musical Best Sound Design in a Musical |
| Redwood | 2024 | 2025 | |