Jon Rua in Hands on a Hardbody; photo by Kevin Berne.
The cast of Come From Away; photo by Kevin Berne.
April 5 – 17
Photo: ©Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
A PAGE-TO-STAGE WORKSHOP PRODUCTION Weiss Theatre
Guaranteed Laughs Class is in session with John Leguizamo’s new oneman show, Latin History for Dummies. John delivers rapid-fire laughs in his biting and comic take on 500 years of Latin History, spanning the Aztec and Incan Empires to World War II. Tackling the contributions of Latin people left out of the history books, John is the most uproariously real teacher you’ve ever had. Returning to the Playhouse with this new workshop, John shares his hilarious and satirical version of an often overlooked part of history.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo’s career spans film, theatre, television, literature and beyond. He created the award-winning one-man show Ghetto Klown, which was developed at the Playhouse in 2010 and went on to a successful Broadway run. Director Tony Taccone is Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Repertory Theatre which has presented more than 70 premieres and sent 23 shows to New York.
5 e n u J – 0 May 1
WORLD-PREMIERE PLAY Weiss Theatre
Noir Whodunnit In 1922, a famed Hollywood director is found murdered in his home. The celebrity suspects mount as the headlines explode with lurid reports of love triangles, hush money and deception. But the new man in town is determined to silence the scandal and purify this increasingly corrupt city. Based on the true story of William Desmond Taylor’s unsolved murder, Hollywood is a noir thriller set in the Golden Age of movies by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Joe DiPietro and Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley have enjoyed a long history of collaboration on such acclaimed productions as Memphis (La Jolla Playhouse, Broadway, London) and Chasing the Song.
June 28 – July 24
WORLD-PREMIERE PLAY Forum Theatre
Gripping Drama It’s the final night of Kanaval in Haiti, and a group of abandoned children spend it trading fantastic folktales until the line between reality and fiction blurs. At daybreak, the oldest plans to leave for a new life, but discovers the story of his future and past are in the hands of someone else. Set in a world that is utterly real and remarkably imaginative, this unforgettable new play from Jeff Augustin weaves Haitian lore into a contemporary narrative of survival and betrayal. Co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Jeff Augustin is an award-winning playwright whose work has been produced at the Humana Festival of New American Plays, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and others. A 2015 Princess Grace Award winner, Joshua Kahan Brody is co-founder of the San Diego sitebased theater group THE TRIP. Both UC San Diego M.F.A. graduates, the two presented The Last Tiger in Haiti in last year’s DNA New Work Series.
July 26 – August 21
WORLD-PREMIERE PLAY Weiss Theatre
Fast-paced Thriller The Deal. The Board Room. The Takeover. This is the battleground where titanic egos collide, where modern-day kings are made and unmade. It’s a world where debt is an asset and assets are excuses for more debt. How did we get here? Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ayad Akhtar takes us back to the hotbed of the ‘80s and offers us an origin story for the world that finance has given us, a sexy and epic thriller about an upstart genius hell-bent on changing all the rules.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Ayad Akhtar wrote the Playhouse’s world-premiere production of The Who & The What. He is the author of the play Disgraced, which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Doug Hughes is a Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award-winning director, whose numerous Broadway credits include Outside Mullingar, The Royal Family and Doubt.
September 6 – October 2
NEW COMEDY Potiker Theatre
Cheeky Humor Star students and squabbling siblings Albert and Jennifer Chen used to represent the pinnacle of adolescent achievement. But when it comes to adulthood, they’re epic failures. Albert’s just been passed up for promotion and Jennifer’s been dumped by her loser boyfriend. So they do what any reasonable egghead brother and sister would do and go on an Asian Freedom Tour! Travelling from California to China, Tiger Style! embraces the inner slacker and the outer tiger parent in all of us.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM La Jolla native Mike Lew’s plays include Bike America, microcrisis, Stockton and People’s Park. He is also co-director of the Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab, the largest collective of Asian-American playwrights in the country. Playhouse Associate Artistic Director Jaime Castañeda directs, following his unforgettable Playhouse debut with Guards at the Taj.
October 25 – November 27
WORLD-PREMIERE MUSICAL La Jolla Playhouse Commission Weiss Theatre
Vibrant New Musical When a whip-smart, deeply imaginative teenager agrees to take a road trip with her free-spirited Latina mother, neither can imagine where it will take them. Chance encounters with a medley of characters along the way brings them closer to understanding what sets them apart — and what connects them forever. Featuring compelling original songs that are every bit as diverse and eclectic as America, Miss You Like Hell is a new musical that exudes the joy, love and frustration of being a family in a changing country.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Renowned musician and activist Erin McKeown joins director Lear deBessonet (Public Theatre’s The Winter’s Tale) and Pulitzer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes (Water by the Spoonful, In the Heights) in launching this new American musical at the Playhouse.
January 28 – March 5
NEW MUSICAL Weiss Theatre
Buoyant Musical Comedy When an overworked mother and her teenage daughter magically swap bodies, they have just one day to put things right again before mom’s big wedding. Freaky Friday is a new musical comedy based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and the hit Disney films. In this hilarious, contemporary update of an American classic, a mother and daughter really see what it is to be a family, and experience firsthand each other’s lives, if only for a day.
ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winners Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey are the composer and lyricist behind the hit Broadway shows Next to Normal and If/ Then. Librettist Bridget Carpenter is an awardwinning writer for television’s acclaimed Parenthood and Friday Night Lights. Directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, following last season’s smash new musical Come From Away.