before you go - La Jolla Playhouse

KNOW
BEFORE YOU GO
September 4 - October 5
Co-Sponsors
Margret & Nevins
McBride
Dr. Howard &
Barbara Milstein
ILNER GAY
W
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BY SH
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BEFORE YOU GO
KNOW
We look forward to seeing you at La Jolla Playhouse at your
upcoming performance of Kingdom City. Below is some
additional information about the production and the venue to
enhance your theater-going experience.
Parking
Parking is free for all subscribers. For all others parking is $2 (subject
to change), Mon-Fri. Upon arrival to campus, please purchase your
parking permit from one of the automated pay stations located next
to the information kiosk. Simply park, note your space number, and
pay $2 at the pay station. Pay stations accept Visa, MasterCard,
American Express or cash ($1 and $5), and do not give change. You
will not need to return to your car. Parking is free on the weekends.
Audience Engagement Events
The Playhouse offers unique opportunities for audience members
to delve deeper into the play with these special performance
series options:
Talkback Tuesdays: Participate in a lively discussion with actors
and Playhouse staff members after the performance.
- Tuesday, September 16 following the 7:30 pm performance
- Tuesday, September 23 following the 7:30 pm performance
Discovery Sunday: Explore the themes of the production with
special guest speakers.
- Sunday, September 28 following the 2:00 pm performance
Insider Events: Join Playhouse staff for a special pre-performance
presentation that gives an insider’s view of the play.
- Wednesday, October 1 at 6:45 pm
- Saturday, October 4 at 1:15 pm
Foodie Friday: Buy a ticket to Kingdom City and enjoy
San Diego’s finest food trucks, plus a complimentary microbrew
tasting from Stone Brewing Company.
- Friday, October 3 starting at 6:00 pm
Accessibility
A golf cart is available to assist patrons with accessibility issues to
and from the parking lot. Please notify Patron Services prior to your
performance if you are in need of this service; additionally, you may
pull into the five minute parking in front of the theatre, and a friendly
La Jolla Playhouse greeter will assist you.
ACCESS PERFORMANCES
ACCESS Performance: During this performance, La Jolla Playhouse provides American Sign
Language interpretation and audio description.
- Saturday, September 20 at 2:00 pm
Open Captioned Performance:
- Sunday, September 21 at 2:00 pm
ASL Interpreted Performance:
- Friday, September 26 at 8:00 pm
Dining
La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to announce that James’ Place will be the Theatre District’s new on-site
restaurant, beginning service soon!
Developed by renowned Sushi Master James Holder, the menu will include his signature sushi, as well as
delectable dishes created with Prime and Angus cuts of beef, locally and sustainably harvested seafood,
along with seasonal dishes. A lighter fare menu will also be served at the newly-redesigned sushi/cocktail
bar, featuring craft beer and California wines.
Please contact La Jolla Playhouse Patron Services at (858) 550-1010 for more information.
Until James’ Place opens, we also recommend the following nearby restaurants:
Dolce Pane e Vino
16081 San Dieguito Road
Rancho Santa Fe, CA 92067
dolcepaneevino.com
Pamplemousse Grille
514 Via de la Valle, Suite 100
Solana Beach, CA 92075
pgrille.com
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse
& Wine Bar
8970 University Center Lane
San Diego, CA 92122
flemingssteakhouse.com
Rock Bottom Restaurant
& Brewery
8980 Villa La Jolla Drive
La Jolla, CA 92037
rockbottom.com
Giuseppe Restaurants
& Fine Catering
700 Prospect Street
San Diego, CA 92037
giuseppecatering.com
Roppongi Restaurant
& Sushi Bar
875 Prospect Street
La Jolla, CA 92037
roppongiusa.com
A MESSAGE FROM THE
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Dear Friends,
One afternoon last June, I sat down in a
simple, unassuming room in New York to
listen to a play. In addition to the actors,
director and playwright, there were roughly
two dozen other people – friends and
colleagues, all taking time from their day
to leave their world and enter another,
even if only for a couple hours.
MISSION STATEMENT:
La Jolla Playhouse advances
theatre as an art form and as a
vital social, moral and political
platform by providing unfettered
creative opportunities for the
leading artists of today and
tomorrow. With our youthful
spirit and eclectic, artist-driven
approach, we will continue to
cultivate a local and national
following with an insatiable
appetite for audacious and
diverse work. In the future,
San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse
will be considered singularly
indispensable to the worldwide
theatre landscape, as we become
a permanent safe harbor for the
unsafe and surprising. The day
will come when it will be essential
to enter the La Jolla Playhouse
village in order to get a glimpse
of what is about to happen in
American theatre.
Over the course of those two hours,
we were introduced to an uprooted,
unmoored married couple, living in a town very unlike the one they from which
they had come. We were re-introduced to a modern classic, The Crucible, and
we witnessed a fierce cultural clash that Arthur Miller’s play provoked in a small,
religious Missouri town. We saw that married couple, and the townspeople
with whom they came into contact, forced to grapple with their pre-conceived
notions. Later that day, over dinner, I offered Sheri Wilner a production of her
play, Kingdom City.
Politically speaking, artists tend to be a left-leaning lot. While some plays
congratulate those in the audience who share their liberal views, I’ve always been
interested in plays that also give full and honest expression to conservative ideas,
that ask us to consider alternative viewpoints and the people who hold them in a
different light. Sheri’s play does just that, and with humor and intelligence.
A theatre, like a place of worship, is where people gather together for a shared,
communal experience. Over the course of a performance, as with a sermon,
we are asked to reflect on our lives and our beliefs; we may be challenged to
examine the lens through which we see the world. Both spaces have the power
to transform the everyday into something more powerful.
Appropriately, Robert Brill’s scenic design has reconfigured the Potiker Theatre
into something approaching a congregational feel. We not only witness the play,
we see other people sitting across the divide of the stage. We experience an
event as a community, no matter which community we belong to.
It’s a pleasure to welcome Sheri and Kingdom City’s director, Jackson Gay, to the
Playhouse for the first time. And whether you’re also visiting the Playhouse for
the first time or you’ve been attending for years, I’m grateful that you’re part of
our community tonight.
CHRISTOPHER
ASHLEY
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE presents
Michael S. Rosenberg
Managing Director
Christopher Ashley
Artistic Director
BY
Sheri Wilner
directed BY
Jackson Gay
Featuring
Kate Blumberg*, Cristina Gerla, Ian Littleworth*, Austyn Myers*,
Toby Onwumere‡, Katie Sapper, Todd Weeks*
Scenic Design
Costume Design
Lighting Design
Sound Design
Dramaturg
Voice/Dialect Coach
Fight Director
CASTING
Local Casting Director
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Associate Producer
Project Manager
Associate Project Manager
Robert Brill
David Israel Reynoso
Paul Whitaker
Nicholas Drashner
Gabriel Greene
Debra Hale
George Ye
Telsey + Company, Karyn Casl, csa
Teresa Sapien
Craig Campbell*
Laura Zingle*
Jessica Bird
Michael Francis
Tarin Hurstell
Selections from The Crucible by Arthur Miller are included in the script for Kingdom City with express permission of The Arthur Miller 2004 Literary and Dramatic Property Trust.
“Sanctuary” by Randy Scruggs and John Thompson used by permission of Peermusic III, Ltd.
Kingdom City was developed and first presented through the Launch Pad program at the University of California, Santa Barbara – Department of Theater and Dance, Risa Brainin, Director.
THE CAST
(in alphabetical order)
Kate Blumberg................................................................................................................................Miriam
Cristina Gerla.....................................................................................................................................Katie
Ian Littleworth....................................................................................................................................Luke
Austyn Myers.................................................................................................................................... Matt
Katie Sapper................................................................................................................................... Crystal
Todd Weeks .....................................................................................................................................Daniel
Understudy: Toby Onwumere ‡
Costume Project Manager.............................................. Jan Mah
Assistant Director................................................ Sarah Wansley
Assistant Scenic Designers.......Andrea Healey, Steven Kemp
Production Assistant...................................................Ryan Heath
Dramaturgy Assistant......................................Mackenzie Ward
Stage Management Intern............................... Amanda Marlett
Kingdom City is performed with a 15-minute intermission.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to: Julia Bolus, Michele Crowley, Kenny Finkle, David Friedlander, Seth Glewen, Patrick Herold,
Michael Keck, Patricia Klausner, Pam MacKinnon, Rebecca Miller, Beth Whitaker, Arthur and Bernice Wilner
Also: David Aaron Baker, Eya Benko, Reyna de Courcy, Dashiell Eaves, Jessica Hecht, Merlin Huff, Justin Kruger, Jason Narvy,
Chase O’Donnell, Xochitl Romero, Cory Michael Smith, Alexandra Socha, Samantha Soule, Anne Torsiglieri, Trevor Wade
Ken Tidwell, Tidwell Masonry • Sharp Business Systems
* Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage
Managers in the United States. The theatre operates under an agreement between the
League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association.
This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres
and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, an independent national labor union.
This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres
and United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
La Jolla Playhouse is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) and a
constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization
for the nonprofit professional theatre.
‡ UC San Diego M.F.A Candidate in residence at La Jolla Playhouse.
PATRON SERVICES
PATRON SERVICES is located in the lobby area of each
theatre. A representative is available to answer questions
and hand out assisted listening devices, restaurant guides,
performance schedules and subscription information.
CAMERAS AND RECORDING DEVICES are strictly
prohibited in the theatre. Please check these items with the
House Manager and turn off your camera phone.
PLEASE SILENCE all electronic devices including cellular
phones, watches and pagers before the performance.
DOCTORS AND PARENTS expecting calls during the
performance should leave their names and seat numbers with
the House Manager before the show. Leave the following
number with your service: (858) 550-1030.
BABES IN ARMS – Out of respect for fellow audience
members and the performers, babes in arms are not permitted
in the theatre during performances.
THEATRE TOURS – Tour the stages and production shops of
the Playhouse facilities and learn more about the history of La
Jolla Playhouse and the role that it plays in the community.
Contact (858) 550-1070 x101.
Theater concessions in the lobbies and courtyards will
be provided by La Jolla Playhouse’s new partner James’ Place.
The James’ Place restaurant will open soon and will be located
adjacent to Weiss Forum Theatre behind the glass wall. Bars
and concessions open one hour prior to curtain and during
intermissions. To avoid the rush, intermission beverages can be
ordered before the show. For information and updates, please
visit: LaJollaPlayhouse.org/dining
ACCESSIBILITY
La Jolla Playhouse provides wheelchair-accessible seating
and parking. Wheelchair seat locations are available for
wheelchair users and a companion at all performances; be
sure to advise the reservationist that you require a wheelchair
location. Additionally, a golf cart is available to assist patrons
with accessibility needs to and from the parking lot. Please
notify Patron Services prior to your performance if you are in
need of this service; additionally, you may pull into the five
minute parking in front of the theatre, and a friendly La Jolla
Playhouse greeter will assist you.The Playhouse also provides
assisted listening devices for patrons who are hard of hearing.
Devices are available, free of charge, at the Patron Services
Center prior to performances (subject to availability).
Listening Devices Provided in Part by
PARKING is free for subscribers; $2 for the general public
on weekdays (free on weekends). Upon arrival to campus,
please enter your parking space number and pay the
automated paystations located in the parking lot. Spaces
that are not paid for are subject to ticketing by UC San Diego
Campus Police.
Safety in the Theatre District
La Jolla Playhouse is constantly working with the UC San
Diego Police Department and UC San Diego Transportation
and Parking Services, which operates the parking lot and
security system, to maintain and improve security conditions
for patrons and staff members. Additionally, patrons and staff
are welcome to use UC San Diego Community Service Officers
(CSOs) for an escort to their cars by calling (858) 534-WALK
(9255). Further questions regarding security may be addressed
to UC San Diego Police at (858) 534-HELP (4357).
LATECOMERS or PATRONS WHO LEAVE
THEIR SEAT DURING THE PERFORMANCE
will be admitted to the standing room section of the theatre
at the discretion of the House Manager. They may take their
assigned seats at intermission. La Jolla Playhouse accepts no
responsibility for inconvenience to latecomers.
THE COMPANY
Kate Blumberg, Miriam
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: member of The
Atlantic Theater Company: Bluebird, Farragut North, Birth
and After Birth, Celebration & The Room, A Second Hand
Memory and Writer’s Block by Woody Allen, The Hiding
Place, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, The Hothouse, Wolf
Lullaby, Once in a Lifetime, Dangerous Corner, Blithe Spirit and The
Women. When the Rain Stops Falling (Mitzi Newhouse Theater, LCT);
The Syringa Tree (directed by Larry Moss at Playhouse 91); Other People
(Playwrights Horizons); Two Gentlemen of Verona, Family Life, Mad
Forest, Reckless (Annex Theater Company); Marie and Bruce (Incoact).
Film: Phil Spector, The Deal, Choke, The Cry, Seaside Trilogy, Serendipity,
Picture This and Heartbreak Hospital. Television: Law & Order: SVU
(NBC); CSI (CBS); Louie (FX); Law and Order: Criminal Intent (NBC);
Medium (NBC); Grey’s Anatomy (ABC); Ugly Betty (CBS); Whoopi (NBC);
One Life to Live (ABC); Loving (ABC). Ms. Blumberg recorded books for
the Andrew Heiskell Library for the Blind. Undergraduate degree at Tisch
School of the Arts, New York University.
Cristina Gerla, Katie
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: The Future Perfect
(Pasadena Playhouse); The Grapes of Wrath (A Noise
Within); Ionescopade (Odyssey Theatre); Legally Blonde,
Little Women, Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol
(PCPA Theaterfest). Other Theatre: Rent, The 25th Annual
Putnam County Spelling Bee, Paradise Lost (UCLA); Pericles (RADA).
Love and gratitude to her family and to Mary Jo DuPrey, for their
unwavering support. Ms. Gerla holds a B.A. from The Ray Bolger Musical
Theater Program at UCLA.
Ian Littleworth, Luke
La Jolla Playhouse: A Lonely Boy’s Guide to Survival (and
Werewolves) and the DNA Series reading of Tranquil.
Regional: The Fox (Annenberg Theatre). Los Angeles:
Macbeth, The Grapes of Wrath (Antaeus Theatre Company);
The Lady’s Not for Burning (Fountain Theatre); The Fall to
Earth (Odyssey Theatre); Titanic (Musical Theatre Guild); Modrock (El
Portal Theatre); Glory Days (Lillian Theatre). Education: B.A. in Theatre
from the University of Southern California and training at the British
American Drama Academy. He is a proud member of Los Angeles’
Antaeus Theatre Company.
Austyn Myers, Matt
It is an honor and a blessing to make my La Jolla Playhouse
debut! Broadway: Les Miserables (revival). National Tour:
Les Miserables. Regional: Brighton Beach Memoirs, Lost
in Yonkers, The First Wives Club (The Old Globe); Lost in
Yonkers (McCoy Rigby Entertainment); The Secret Garden
(Lamb’s Players); Spring Awakening, 13 (Fine Arts Network); Master
Harold...and the boys (Living Light Theatre); A Christmas Carol (North
Coast Rep); King John (Intrepid Shakespeare); Roar of the Greasepaint
(Starlight); Big River, Seussical, Ragtime, Spelling Bee, Les Miserables
(CYC Associate Artist Lyceum); Pirates, Titanic, 13, Lil Abner (ART);
Seussical (JCC); Celebrity Sonnets (Shakespeare Society). TV/Film: Meet
Dave, Team Spitz and Moon Rocks and Lighter Fluid. Animated Series:
Bommi and Friends. Thank you Lord for your blessings, guidance and
grace on the journey; all the amazing, supportive family, friends and
mentors on my path; and the opportunities placed within my reach.
Toby Onwumere, Understudy
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Mr. Onwumere is entering his final
year at UC San Diego’s Graduate Acting Program. Regional
Theatre: Raisin in the Sun, Guadalupe, The Tempest
(Chautauqua Theatre Festival); Henry V, The Taming of the
Shrew (Shakespeare Santa Cruz); Fool for Love (Ubuntu
Theatre Project); Two Gentlemen of Verona (Backroom Shakespeare
Project); King Lear, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Great River Shakespeare
Festival). UC San Diego: A Doll House, In the Red and Brown Water,
Little Children Dream of God, Drums in the Night and Tonight We
Improvise. B.F.A.: University of Evansville.
Katie Sapper, Crystal
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional: Ivy in bare: a Pop
Opera (Diversionary). A San Diego native, Ms. Sapper just
graduated with her B.A. in Musical Theatre from Saint Mary’s
University of Minnesota. Favorite roles there include Pegeen
Mike in Playboy of the Western World, Azra in Necessary
Targets, Logainne Swartzy in 25th Annual...Spelling Bee, Percy Taboltt
in The Spitfire Grill and Hope Cladwell in Urinetown. She would like to
thank Jackson, Sheri and the rest of the La Jolla cast and crew for such a
wonderful and thrilling opportunity! Love to family, friends, and my Buddy.
Todd Weeks, Daniel
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Broadway: The Full Monty
(original cast), The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Summer and
Smoke and Our Town. National Tours: Angels in America
and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
Off-Broadway: Member of Atlantic Theater Company,
including premieres of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner,
The Jammer, Bluebird, The Voysey Inheritance, Scarcity, Romance, Sea
of Tranquility, The Cider House Rules and Distant Fires, among others.
Regional: Of Mice and Men (Dallas Theater Center); Copenhagen
(Playmakers Rep); appearances at The Old Globe, Humana Festival,
Williamstown, Hartford Stage, Alliance, George Street and Mark Taper
Forum. TV: Modern Family, Detroit 187, Men of a Certain Age, The
Defenders, Rubicon, Numb3rs, Medium, The Unit, Law & Order and
One Life to Live. Film: Brightest Star, Phil Spector, The Maiden Heist, The
Deal, Mind the Gap and Amos & Andrew.
Sheri Wilner, Playwright
Plays include Father Joy, Hunger, Bake Off, Labor Day, Relative Strangers,
Little Death of a Salesman and Joan of Arkansas, and have been
performed at major regional theatres, including the Guthrie Theater,
Williamstown Theatre Festival, Summer Play Festival, Naked Angels,
Philadelphia Theatre Company, Contemporary American Theater
Festival, New Georges and the O’Neill Playwrights Conference, as well
as by the Old Vic/New Voices program in London. Playwriting awards
include a Howard Foundation Fellowship, Bush Artist Fellowship and two
Playwrights’ Center Jerome Fellowships. In addition, she is a two-time
winner of the Heideman Award/National Ten-Minute Play Contest, granted
by the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Her work has been published in over
a dozen anthologies, and Playscripts.com has published twelve of her
one-acts, which have received over two hundred productions all over the
United States, as well as in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan,
United Kingdom and India. Also an established playwriting teacher, Ms.
Wilner most recently taught at Vanderbilt University where she was the
Fred Coe Visiting Playwright-in-Residence, and Florida State University
where she led the M.F.A. Playwriting Program. She attended Cornell
University and received her M.F.A. in Playwriting from Columbia University.
She currently lives in New York City.
THE COMPANY
Jackson Gay, Director
La Jolla Playhouse: 2006 Performance Outreach Program (POP) Tour
production of West of the 5. Ms. Gay’s credits include These Paper
Bullets! adapted by Rolin Jones from Much Ado About Nothing with
songs by Billie Joe Armstrong (2014 Connecticut Critics Circle Awards,
Best Production and Best Director) at Yale Rep; Lucy Thurber’s Where
We’re Born (2014 Obie Award winning The Hilltown Plays) and 3C by
David Adjmi at Rattlestick; Jon Robin Baitz’s Other Desert Cities, August:
Osage County, Red and Ken Lin’s Intelligence-Slave at the Alley Theatre;
Arlington by Victor Lodato with music by Polly Pen at the Magic Theatre;
As You Like It at Chautauqua Theater Company; Allison Moore’s Collapse
at Women’s Project; Rolin Jones’ The Jammer at the Atlantic, where she
also directed Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow and Lucy
Thurber’s Scarcity; A Little Journey at the Mint (2012 Drama Desk Award
nomination for Outstanding Revival of a Play); ...Jenny Chow at Yale Rep
(Best Production, Connecticut Critics Award). Forthcoming publication in
The Routledge Companion to Dramaturgy edited by Magda Romanska.
Ms. Gay teaches at Columbia University and Primary Stages ESPA. She
earned the University of the Arts Silver Star Distinguished Alumni Award
and holds a B.F.A. in Acting from University of the Arts and an M.F.A. in
Directing from the Yale School of Drama.
Robert Brill, Scenic Designer/La Jolla Playhouse Artist-in-Residence
Mr. Brill’s designs for the Playhouse include Chasing the Song, Sideways,
His Girl Friday, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Jesus Christ Superstar,
The Wiz, Creditors and many others. For Broadway: Cabaret, Jesus Christ
Superstar, Assassins (Tony nom), Guys and Dolls (Tony nom), Design for
Living, Buried Child and others. His credits include Christopher Plummer’s
A Word or Two (Ahmanson/Stratford); Sinatra (Radio City); Faust (Met
Opera/ENO); Moby-Dick (Dallas Opera, San Diego, San Francisco, DC,
Australia and Canada); Doubt (Minnesota Opera); Wozzeck (SD Opera);
White Noise (Chicago); Robin and the Seven Hoods (Old Globe); On the
Record (Disney); American in Paris (Boston Ballet); A Clockwork Orange
(Steppenwolf); The Laramie Project (BAM and others). Upcoming: world
premieres of Cold Mountain (Santa Fe Opera) and The Manchurian
Candidate (Minnesota Opera). A graduate of UC San Diego and a
founding member of Sledgehammer Theatre, he is a recipient of the
Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration and a 2011 La
Jolla Playhouse Honors Award.
David Israel Reynoso, Costume Design
is the Obie Award-winning costume designer for the Off-Broadway hit
Sleep No More (Punchdrunk/Emursive). Most recently, he designed
Liz Lerman’s critically acclaimed Healing Wars at Arena Stage. He is
recognized locally for his costume designs for Time and the Conways,
Water by the Spoonful, Double Indemnity and Be a Good Little Widow,
all at The Old Globe. Other regional scenic and costume design credits
include returning collaborations at the American Repertory Theater,
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, Lyric Stage and Gloucester
Stage, among many others. David is also the recipient of the Elliot
Norton Award in Costume Design and a multiple nominee for the IRNE
and BroadwayWorld awards. Mr. Reynoso’s other work includes designs
for Amanda Palmer’s Down Under tour and Juan Son’s Mermaid Sashimi
tour, as well as a variety of international music videos.
Paul Whitaker, Lighting Designer
La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. New York credits include The Public Theater,
MCC, Playwrights Horizons, Second Stage, Atlantic Theater, The Play
Company, Ma-Yi, The LAByrinth Theatre, INTAR and others. Regional
credits include The Guthrie, South Coast Repertory, Long Wharf Theater,
The Alley, The Huntington Theatre Company, The Children’s Theatre
Company, Centerstage, A.C.T., Hartford Stage, Yale Repertory Theatre,
Dallas Theater Center, George Street Playhouse and others. He has a
B.A. from Macalester College and an M.F.A. from Yale School of Drama.
Mr. Whitaker has taught at Cal Poly Pomona and Amherst College, and is
currently a Lighting Designer/Theatre Consultant for Schuler Shook.
Nicholas Drashner, Sound Designer
is thrilled to be working with La Jolla Playhouse again. Playhouse credits
include: Suzette Who Set to Sea and A Lonely Boy’s Guide to Survival
(and Werewolves). Other regional credits include Beijing Spring (East
West Players); Lifeblood Harmony and Chagall (Malashock Dance); The
Trip’s Macbeth (The Trip); The Amish Project (Mo’olelo); A Man with a
Load of Mischief (North Coast Repertory Theatre); Topdog/Underdog
(Ion Theatre); A Man, His Wife and His Hat (Moxie Theatre). Education:
M.F.A. in Sound Design for Theatre and Dance from UC San Diego.
www.drashner.com
Gabriel Greene, Dramaturg
joined La Jolla Playhouse’s artistic staff in 2007, and currently serves
as their Director of New Play Development. He has dramaturged
over fifteen new plays and musicals for the Playhouse, including
Herbert Siguenza’s El Henry, Ayad Akhtar’s The Who & The What, Des
McAnuff and The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Kirsten
Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar (Off Broadway transfer; Obie Award) and
Joe DiPietro and David Bryan’s Memphis (Broadway transfer; four Tony
Awards). In addition to curating and producing the Playhouse’s annual
DNA New Work Series, he dramaturged the DNA workshop productions
of Michael Benjamin Washington’s Blueprints to Freedom and Aditi
Brennan Kapil’s Brahman/i. Other dramaturgy: UCSD’s Wagner New
Play Festival (seven years), Steppenwolf, Playwrights Horizons, New
York Theatre Workshop, South Coast Rep’s Pacific Playwrights Festival
and TimeLine Theatre, among others. He is a graduate of University of
Michigan and Trinity College, Dublin.
Debra Hale, Voice/Dialect Coach
Previous credits at La Jolla Playhouse: Limelight: The Story of Charlie
Chaplin, The Deception, Zhivago, Paris Commune and The Collected
Works of Billy the Kid. Ms. Hale is a Linklater Designated Voice teacher,
has coached in several regional theatres across the country, and taught
in London, Scotland, Thailand, Greece and Hungary. She is an Associate
Professor at Florida State University.
Telsey + Company, Casting
La Jolla Playhouse: His Girl Friday, Hands on a Hardbody, Blood and Gifts,
Glengarry Glen Ross, A Dram of Drummhicit, Milk Like Sugar, Little Miss
Sunshine, Limelight, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bonnie & Clyde, 33
Variations and Memphis, among others. Broadway/Tours: Motown; Kinky
Boots; Jekyll & Hyde; Annie; Newsies; Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark;
Rock of Ages; Wicked; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Sister Act; Memphis
and Million Dollar Quartet. Off-Broadway: The Last Five Years (2nd Stage),
Atlantic, MCC, Signature. Regional: Paper Mill. Film: The Odd Life of
Timothy Green, Friends with Kids, Joyful Noise, Margin Call, Sex and the
City 1 & 2, I Love You Phillip Morris, Rachel Getting Married, Dan in Real Life
and Across the Universe. TV: Smash and The Big C. www.telseyandco.com
Craig Campbell, Stage Manager
La Jolla Playhouse: The Tallest Tree in the Forest and The Who & The
What (workshop). National Tours: All Shook Up, Dirty Blonde, Some Like
it Hot and Forever Plaid. Off-Broadway: Fame; Othello (with Billy Crudup
and Frances McDormand); The Vagina Monologues; De La Guarda and
I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Television: four seasons with
Clean House (Emmy Award), Over Your Head, The Amandas, ACMA
Awards, Daytime Emmys, SAG Awards. Love to MKD for putting up with
this crazy life of mine.
Laura Zingle, Assistant Stage Manager
La Jolla Playhouse: El Henry, Kamchàtka (WoW Festival), His Girl Friday
and Hands on a Hardbody. Regional: workshop of different words for the
same thing (Center Theatre Group); Detroit (San Diego REP). Other credits:
AFI Film Fest 2013, Spoleto Festival USA, Opera NEO, Palomar College
Dance, Production Manager & Stage Manager of San Diego Gay Men’s
Chorus. She holds an M.F.A. in Stage Management from UC San Diego.
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE LEADERSHIP
Christopher Ashley, Artistic Director
has served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since
October, 2007. During his tenure, he has helmed the
Playhouse’s productions of Chasing the Song, His Girl Friday,
Glengarry Glen Ross, A Dram of Drummhicit, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Restoration and the acclaimed musicals
Xanadu and Memphis, which won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best
Musical. He also spearheaded the Playhouse’s Without Walls (WoW)
series, the DNA New Work Series and the Resident Theatre program.
Prior to joining the Playhouse, he directed the Broadway productions of
Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror
Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations),
as well as the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions
of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along. Other New York credits
include: Blown Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie
Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, Regrets Only,
Wonder of the World, Communicating Doors, Bunny Bunny, The Night
Hank Williams Died, Fires in the Mirror (Lucille Lortel Award), among
others. Mr. Ashley also directed the feature film Jeffrey and the American
Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. Mr.
Ashley is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League
Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.
Debby Buchholz, General Manager
has served as general manager of La Jolla Playhouse since
2002. She is a member of the Executive Committee and
of the League of Resident Theaters (LORT). In 2009, she
received a San Diego Women Who Mean Business Award
from The San Diego Business Journal. Previously she served
as Counsel to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and
the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C. She was a faculty
member of the Smithsonian Institution’s program on Legal Problems
of Museum Administration. Prior to the Kennedy Center, she served as
a corporate attorney in New York City and Washington, DC. She is a
graduate of UC San Diego and Harvard Law School. Ms. Buchholz and
her husband, noted author and White House economic policy advisor
Todd Buchholz, live in Solana Beach and are the proud parents of
Victoria, Katherine and Alexia.
Michael S. Rosenberg, Managing Director
has served as Managing Director of La Jolla Playhouse since
April, 2009. During his five years at the Playhouse, he has
worked in partnership with Artistic Director Christopher
Ashley to produce 16 world premieres, 10 Playhouse
commissions and the hit musicals Yoshimi Battles the
Pink Robots, Hands on a Hardbody and Little Miss Sunshine. He was
also instrumental in bringing the Page To Stage workshop of John
Leguizamo’s Diary of a Madman to the Playhouse, which transferred
to Broadway. Additionally, he fostered the growth of the Playhouse’s
award-winning Performance Outreach Program (POP) tour, achieving the
most performances at local schools in Playhouse history. Previously, Mr.
Rosenberg was Co-Founder and Executive Director of Drama Dept., a
New York non-profit theatre company, where he produced new works
by the likes of Douglas Carter Beane, Warren Leight, Isaac Mizrahi,
Paul Rudnick and David and Amy Sedaris. He has been a part of the
producing teams for the Broadway productions of Grey Gardens and
American Buffalo and the national tour of Little House on the Prairie. He
serves on the boards of La Jolla Country Day School and the Theatre
Communications Group.
Des McAnuff, Director Emeritus
served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director from 1983
through 1994, and from 2001 through April, 2007. Under
his leadership, the Playhouse garnered more than 300
awards, including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional
Theatre. Playhouse to Broadway credits: Jersey Boys (four
Tony Awards); Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Tony Award); How to Succeed
in Business Without Really Trying (five Tony nominations); director and
co-author with Pete Townshend on The Who’s Tommy (Tony and Olivier
Awards for Best Director) and Big River (seven Tony Awards), among
others. Film credits: Quills, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, The
Iron Giant (9 Animation Society awards) and Cousin Bette. Recipient of the
Drama League’s 2006 Julia Hansen Award, Mr. McAnuff served as Artistic
Director at Canada’s Stratford Festival from 2007 through 2012. He recently
directed the hit productions of Sideways, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
and Jesus Christ Superstar at the Playhouse.
La Jolla Playhouse Board of Trustees
Lynelle Lynch
Chair
Margret McBride
First Vice-Chair
Kay Gurtin, Gurtin Fixed Income
Second Vice-Chair
Michael Yeatts, U.S. Bank
Treasurer
Tim Scott
Secretary
TRUSTEES
Weston Anson
Michael Bartell
Dave Bialis, Cox Communications
Paula Marie Black
Ralph Bryan*
Robert Caplan, Seltzer Caplan
McMahon Vitek
Lisa S. Casey
P9 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Edward A. Dennis, Ph.D.
David Dolgen*
Brian Dovey, Domain Associates
Tina Dyer
Daniel Einhorn
Mick Farrell
Suzanne Figi
LaVonnya Fisher
Gregory Frost
William Georgis
Noel Gillespie, Procopio
Wendy Gillespie
Hanna Gleiberman
Jeffrey Goldman
John Ippolito, Northern Trust
Debby Jacobs
Joan Jacobs
Sheri Jamieson
Pradeep K. Khosla, Ph.D.
Kay Matherly, Wells Fargo
Mark J. Muñoz, Dowling & Yahnke, LLC
Lucille Neeley
Elise Kim Prosser, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Ressler*
Don Rosenberg
Gad Shaanan
David Smotrich
Amy Spielman
Steven M. Strauss*
Arthur Wagner, Ph.D.
Mary Walshok, Ph.D.
Hanaa Zahran, Bank of America
Barbara ZoBell
HONORARY TRUSTEES
Richard Atkinson, Ph.D.
Ivan Gayler
John Goodman
Ewart W. Goodwin, Jr.*
Joel Holliday*
Julie Potiker
Geri Ann Warnke*
Gary Wollberg*
Robert Wright, Esq.
EMERITUS TRUSTEES
Rita Bronowski (1917-2010)
David Copley (1952-2012)
Ted Cranston (1940-2012)
Milton Fredman (1920-2005)
Marian Jones Longstreth
(1906-1997)
Hughes Potiker (1925-2005)
Sheila Potiker (1930-2011)
Ellen Revelle (1910-2009)
Roger Revelle (1909-1991)
Willard P. VanderLaan, M.D.* (1917-2012)
Mandell Weiss (1891-1993)
1947 FOUNDERS
Mel Ferrer
Dorothy McGuire
Gregory Peck
*Past Chair of the Board