KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
Lead Production Sponsors: Laurents / Hatcher Foundation The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Americ an Plays
Award
FEBRUARY 11 – March 9
BEFORE YOU GO
KNOW
We look forward to seeing you at La Jolla Playhouse at your upcoming performance of The Who & The What. 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: Playwright Book Signing: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and author Ayad Akhtar discusses The Who & The What and signs his novel American Dervish at Warwick’s Bookstore, La Jolla. - Monday, February 10 at 7:30 pm Playwright Q&A: Dramaturg Gabriel Greene moderates a Q&A with playwright Ayad Akhtar at the Educator’s Performance. - Sunday, February 16 following the 2:00 pm performance Talkback Tuesdays: Participate in a lively discussion with actors and Playhouse staff members after the performance. - Tuesday, February 18 following the 7:30 pm performance - Tuesday, February 25 following the 7:30 pm performance Foodie Fridays: Buy a ticket to The Who & The What and enjoy a complimentary microbrew tasting from Stone Brewing Company. Plus, enjoy San Diego’s finest food trucks. - Friday, February 21 starting at 6:00 pm - Friday, February 28 starting at 6:00 pm Insider Events: Join Playhouse staff for a special pre-performance presentation that gives an insider’s view of the play. - Saturday, March 1 at 1:15 pm - Wednesday, March 5 at 6:30 pm Discovery Sunday: Explore the themes of the production with special guest speakers. - Sunday, March 9 following the 2:00 pm performance
ACCESS PERFORMANCES ACCESS Performance: During this performance, La Jolla Playhouse provides American Sign Language interpretation and audio description. - Saturday, February 22 at 2:00 pm Additional ASL Interpreted Performance: - Friday, February 28 at 8:00 pm. Foodie Friday starts at 6:00pm! Open Captioned Performance:This performance has added open captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. - Saturday, December 7 at 2:00 pm Accessibility A golf cart is available to assist patrons with accessibility issues to and from the parking lot. Please notify the Box Office 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. Pardon Our Dust – Theatre District Landscape Improvement Project Landscape improvements will include new walkways, exterior plazas, enhanced signage and lighting, as well as permanent seating areas. Additionally, eucalyptus grove restoration will reinforce the unique character of the Theatre District and its connection to the greater UC San Diego campus. La Jolla Playhouse productions will continue without interruption, but please look for signs and ushers to be your guide around the fenced-in work areas. For more information please contact Patron Services. Dining The La Jolla Playhouse Restaurant is closed until further notice. If you have any questions, please contact La Jolla Playhouse Patron Services at (858) 550-1010. We 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 Last February, we started a new initiative at La Jolla Playhouse: the DNA New Work Series. As our long-time patrons and supporters know, developing new plays and musicals is a core value of the Playhouse. The DNA Series was designed as a way to bring our audiences into the process of workshops and readings – to connect them with exciting new works at an earlier stage in their evolution.
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
One of the plays in that inaugural DNA Series was The Who & The What by Ayad Akhtar. The script was as new as they come, a very first draft that Ayad had never even heard read aloud in his living room, let alone in front of an audience. But during that first reading, it was evident that this play spoke urgently to a wide range of people. The discussion with the audience that night was riveting: sometimes charged, often warm, never less than fully engaged and passionate. I had already fallen in love with what Ayad’s play was asking; the conversation it engendered sealed the deal. Soon after, I offered Ayad and Kimberly Senior, his director, the final production slot in our 2013/14 season. At its best, theatre opens up a dialogue that continues long after the curtain has come down. With humor, open-heartedness and fierce intelligence, Ayad’s play grapples with a number of ideas that continue to resonate with me each time I reconnect with it. Specifically, the ways in which our culture helps construct our opinions and experiences of love between romantic partners, between parents and children, between siblings, between people and their faith. All of this culminating in ways in which we’re challenged when we’re bold enough to question our own ideas of faith and love.
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.
Since that first reading in the DNA Series, through development here in La Jolla and elsewhere, Ayad and Kimberly have only deepened the questions this play asks of us all. The result is a funny, provocative and moving show. Thank you for joining us, and enjoy The Who & The What.
CHRISTOPHER ASHLEY ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE presents Michael S. Rosenberg Managing Director
Christopher Ashley Artistic Director
BY
Ayad Akhtar directed BY
Kimberly Senior Featuring
Monika Jolly *, Meera Rohit Kumbhani *, Kai Lennox *, Bernard White * Scenic Design Costume Design Lighting Design Sound Design Dramaturg CASTING Stage Manager Assistant Stage Manager Producing Director Production Manager
Jack Magaw Elisa Benzoni Jaymi Lee Smith Jill BC Du Boff Gabriel Greene sharon bialy, csa; sherry thomas, csa; Gohar Gazazyan, csa Dana DePaul* Kendra Stockton* Dana I. Harrel Marc Stubblefield
Lead Production Sponsors: Laurents / Hatcher Foundation and The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award
THE CAST (in alphabetical order)
Monika Jolly................................................................................................................................................... Zarina Meera Rohit Kumbhani............................................................................................................................ Mahwish Kai Lennox..............................................................................................................................................................Eli Bernard White.................................................................................................................................................. Afzal Assistant Director............................................................Joshua Kahan Brody Assistant Lighting Designer..................................................Sherrice M. Kelly Production Assistant......................................................Samantha De La Riva Stage Management Intern.........................................................Jessica Broutt
Acknowledgements Restaurant painting provided by artist Nils Folke Anderson Sharp Business Systems
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.
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. This theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association.
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. BARS AND CONCESSIONS are open one hour prior to curtain and during intermissions. To avoid the rush, intermission beverages can be ordered before the show. CAMERAS AND RECORDING DEVICES are strictly
in the theatre. Please check these items with the P6 prohibited PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe House Manager and turn off your camera phone.
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. 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. 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 the Box Office 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
PLEASE SILENCE all electronic devices including cellular phones, watches and pagers before the performance. 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). 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. 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 Monika Jolly, Zarina La Jolla Playhouse: 2013 DNA New Work Series and last November’s reading of The Who & The What. Ms. Jolly last appeared on stage as “Scheherezade/Dahna” in the West Coast premiere of 1001 at The Theatre@Boston Court. She has also appeared off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theater and Target Margin Theatre, as well as regionally at the Stella Adler and 24th Street Theatre in L.A. Her film projects include: M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth with Will Smith and Jaden Smith; HBO’s Cinema Verite with Diane Lane, Tim Robbins and James Gandolfini; The Scenesters with Sherilyn Fenn; Two:Thirteen with Teri Polo, Mark Pellegrino and Kevin Pollack; Soccer Mom with Dan Cortese and Missi Pyle. TV credits include: Entourage, Arrested Development, The O.C., Hannah Montana and Standoff, as well as recurring roles on The Bold and the Beautiful and Lincoln Heights. Ms. Jolly received her B.A. in acting from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television; and a postgraduate degree at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Mahwish is an NYC-based actor thrilled to be making her La Jolla Playhouse debut. Off-Broadway: New York premiere of Jesus in India (Ma-Yi Theater Company); world premiere of Holy Crab! (Ensemble Studio Theater); Richard II (Pearl Theatre); As You Like It and Twelfth Night (Classic Stage Company). Regional: Around the World in 80 Days (Pittsburgh Public); workshops at Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop and Ensemble Studio Theater. Film/TV: The Black Box, NYC 22, The Late Show and Offliners. Education: B.A. in Neurobiology, Theatre Arts at UC Berkeley; M.F.A. in Acting at Columbia University. Kai Lennox, Eli La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional credits include The Dadaists and Alfie (The Met Theatre). Mr. Lennox is starring in the new AMC pilot Line of Sight and was a regular on the ABC series The Unusuals. Other television credits include Justified, House of Lies, Vegas, NCIS and House. Mr. Lennox has played in such films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Hitchcock, Ruby Sparks, Beginners, Yes Man and Boogie Nights, as well as Nightmoves, which will be released in the Spring of 2014. Mr. Lennox is an L.A. native and L.A.C.H.S.A. alumnus. Bernard White, Afzal La Jolla Playhouse: Dogeaters and The Seven. Off-Broadway: Blood and Gifts (Lincoln Center); Landscape of the Body (Signature); Sakharam Binder (Play Company); The Death of Garcia Lorca (Public). Regional: Troilus and Cressida and Henry V (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Art (East/West Players); Wings of Desire (American Repertory/Toneelgroep Amsterdam); Blithe Spirit and Lucy and the Conquest (Williamstown). Film: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Vino Veritas, Miss India America, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Quarantine, The World Unseen, American Dreamz, Land of Plenty, Raising Helen, The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, Scorpion King, Pay It Forward and City of Angels. Selected TV: Silicon Valley, Grey’s Anatomy, Touch, Castle, The Good Wife and NCIS, among others.
Ayad Akhtar, Playwright La Jolla Playhouse: 2013 DNA New Work Series. Mr. Akhtar was born in New York City and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He is the author of American Dervish, published in 25 languages worldwide and named a 2012 Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, Toronto’s Globe and Mail, Shelf-Awareness and O (Oprah) Magazine. He is also a screenwriter. His stage play, Disgraced, played at Lincoln Center Theatre in 2012 and at London’s Bush Theater in 2013, and won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Disgraced also won the Jeff Equity Award for Best New Play in 2012. As a screenwriter, Mr. Akhtar was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay for The War Within. He has received commissions from Lincoln Center and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is a graduate of Brown and Columbia Universities, with degrees in Theater and Film Directing. Kimberly Senior, Director La Jolla Playhouse: 2013 DNA New Work Series. She is a Chicago-based freelance director and the director of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winning play Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar. She is also a 2013 Finalist for the SDCF Joe A. Callaway Award and the Zelda Fichandler Award. Chicago credits: Hedda Gabler, The Letters (Writers Theatre); 4000 Miles, The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre); Want, The North Plan (Steppenwolf); After the Revolution, Madagascar, The Overwhelming and The Busy World is Hushed (Next); Waiting for Lefty (American Blues); Old Times, The Conquest of the South Pole, Uncle Vanya, Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, Fuddy Meers, and Knives in Hens (Strawdog); Cripple of Inishmaan, Bug and The Pillowman (Redtwist Theatre); Thieves Like Us (The House Theatre); All My Sons and Dolly West’s Kitchen (TimeLine Theatre); among others. Regional: Disgraced (Lincoln Center Theatre 3); Little Gem (City Theatre); Murder on the Nile, A Few Good Men (Peninsula Players); Mauritius (Theatre Squared, Fayetteville, AR). Ms. Senior is an Artistic Associate at Northlight Theatre, Next Theatre, Strawdog Theatre, and Chicago Dramatists. Her work has received multiple Joseph Jefferson nominations. She lives in Evanston with her husband, scenic designer, Jack Magaw, and her children, Noah and Delaney. Kimberly is a proud member of SDC. www.kimberlysenior.net Jack Magaw, Scenic Design La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional theatre design credits include Hedda Gabler and The Letters (Writers’ Theatre); Giovanna d’Arco (Chicago Opera Theatre); Romeo and Juliet and The Foreigner (Kansas City Repertory); Clybourne Park and Beneatha’s Place (Centerstage); A Raisin in the Sun (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre); Disgraced (American Theatre Company); Superior Donuts (Geva Theatre); Gee’s Bend (Cincinnati Playhouse); 4000 Miles and Detroit ‘67 (Northlight Theatre). His eight Joseph Jefferson Award nominations include his designs for The Caretaker and Bus Stop (Writers’ Theatre) and The Whipping Man (Northlight Theatre). Upcoming projects include The Who & The What (Lincoln Center Theatre-LCT3) and Awake and Sing (Olney Theatre). Jack lives in Evanston, IL with his wife, director Kimberly Senior, and teaches design at The Theatre School, DePaul University. www.jackmagaw.com Elisa Benzoni, Costume Design is thrilled to be working again with La Jolla Playhouse. Recent credits include: Our Town, Tall Girls, Brahaman/i and Sam Bendrix at the Bon Soir (La Jolla Playhouse); Much Ado About Nothing and Measure for Measure (Old Globe/USD); Much Ado About Nothing (New Village Arts); Chagall and A Man Found Wanting (Malashock Dance); The Storm, The Threepenny Opera and A Man, His Wife, and His Hat (UCSD). Assistant costume credits: Paradise Found (Menier Chocolate Factory, London); Milk Like Sugar (La Jolla Playhouse); As You Like It and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (The Old Globe). She holds an M.F.A. in costume design from UCSD. www.elisabenzoni.com
THE COMPANY Jaymi Lee Smith, Lighting Design La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: A Moon for the Misbegotten (Pearl Theater). National Tour: Once Upon a Midnight. Regional theaters include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Alliance Theater, San Jose Repertory, Milwaukee Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Hartford Stage, The Court Theatreand the Clarence Brown Theater, among others. Awards have included the 2003 Michael Merritt Emerging Designer Award and a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award. Ms. Smith is currently the Head of Design and an Associate Professor of Lighting Design at the University of California, Irvine.
sharon bialy, csa; sherry thomas, csa; Gohar Gazazyan, csa Casting Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas are thrilled to be back at the Playhouse with Gohar Gazazyan joining the team. Broadway: The Anarchist, Race, The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys and A Walk in the Woods. Regional: La Jolla Playhouse (1985-2004), Geffen, Goodman, Lincoln Center, New Mexico Rep, Guthrie, Globe, SCR. Television: The Walking Dead, Breaking Bad, Phil Spector, Detroit 187, Lie to Me, Jericho, Crash, The Unit, Picket Fences and the upcoming Halt & Catch Fire for AMC. Film: Redbelt, Reign O’er Me, Rudy, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Point Break and the upcoming Stretch, Incarnate and Black & White.
Jill BC Du Boff Sound Design La Jolla Playhouse: Mother Courage and Creditors. Broadway: Picnic, Wit, Other Desert Cities, Good People, The Constant Wife, The Good Body and Bill Maher: Victory.... Off-Broadway: Lincoln Center, MTC, Atlantic, Vineyard, MCC, Playwrights Horizons, The Public, Second Stage, NYTW, WP, New Georges, Flea, Cherry Lane, Signature, Clubbed Thumb (Affiliate Artist) and Penguin Rep. Regional: Bay Street, Cincinnati Playhouse, Westport Playhouse, Berkeley Rep, Portland Stage, Long Wharf, The Alley, NYS&F, Humana, Williamstown and ATF. Radio: Studio 360, Naked Radio and RadioLab. Award nominations: Drama Desk and Henry Hewes. Awards: Ruth Morley Design Award, Obie for Sustained Excellence and Lilly Award. Adjunct Professor at Sarah Lawrence College. Love to Adam.
Dana DePaul, Stage Manager La Jolla Playhouse: Milk Like Sugar, DNA Series 2013, When Grace Comes In. Ms. DePaul’s other regional SM credits include Lorenzaccio, Macbeth and Cyrano de Bergerac (The Shakespeare Theatre Co, DC); Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Theatre/Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford); Deaf West’s productions of Big River, Shenandoah, Leading Ladies and A Christmas Carol (Ford’s Theatre, DC). In addition to her theatre credits, Ms. DePaul has worked as a location producer on several reality programs for the TLC Network and most recently served as tour producer for the USO, producing celebrity entertainment tours and then traveling with them to military installations all over the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Tour highlights include Toby Keith’s Big Dog Daddy Tour and Operation Iraqi Stephen (5 episodes of The Colbert Report produced and taped in Baghdad). She received her M.F.A. in Stage Management from UC San Diego in 2002, where she recently has served as a guest lecturer and supervisor, and is also a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association.
Gabriel Greene, Dramaturg joined La Jolla Playhouse’s artistic staff in 2007; since then he has dramaturged more than a dozen new plays and musicals, including Des McAnuff and The Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Kirsten Greenidge’s Milk Like Sugar (Off Broadway transfer; Obie Award), Joe DiPietro and David Bryan’s Memphis (Broadway transfer; four Tony Awards), Claudia Shear’s Restoration (Off Broadway transfer) and Rick Elice’s Peter and the Starcatchers (Broadway transfer; five Tony Awards). He is also the curator and producer of the Playhouse’s DNA New Work Series and served as the dramaturg for Chasing the Song and Brahman/i in its inaugural year. Other dramaturgy: UC San Diego’s Wagner New Play Festival (six years), Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, South Coast Rep and TimeLine Theatre (Chicago). He is a graduate of University of Michigan and Trinity College, Dublin.
P8 PERFORMANCES MAGAZINe
Kendra Stockton, Assistant Stage Manager After working on multiple shows at La Jolla Playhouse as a Production Assistant, including Sideways, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Memphis, Ms. Stockton is proud to be making the jump to Assistant Stage Manager. Additional Production Assistant credits include: The Few, 2013 Shakespeare Festival (The Old Globe); Godspell and Memphis (Broadway). She also stage managed San Diego Musical Theatre’s 2013 production of White Christmas.
PErFORMANCEs MAGAZINE P8 Photography by Daniel Norwood
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 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 Theater 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 and 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. Working in partnership with Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, he has produced 16 world premieres, 10 Playhouse commissions, 11 co-productions with theatres across the country and countless shows and education programs in and around San Diego. Together with the Board of Trustees, they have grown the Playhouse’s endowment and cash reserves to foster dynamic artistic risk-taking. He serves on the boards of the Theatre Communications Group, La Jolla Country Day School and the NBC-San Diego Community Advisory Board. Previously he was a co-founder and Executive Director of Drama Dept., a New York not-for-profit theatre company that was the home to artists like Christopher Ashley, Douglas Carter Beane, Cynthia Nixon, Paul Rudnick and David & Amy Sedaris. He was also a part of the producing teams for the Broadway productions of Grey Gardens and American Buffalo. 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 JEFFREY RESSLER Chair LYNELLE LYNCH First Vice-Chair Margret McBride Second Vice-Chair Michael bartell Treasurer Tim Scott Secretary TRUSTEES Gayle Allen Weston Anson Dave Bialis Paula Marie Black Barbara Bloom Ralph Bryan* Robert Caplan Lisa S. Casey Linda L. Chester Flossie Cohen
Doug Dawson Edward A. Dennis, Ph.D. David Dolgen* Brian Dovey Tina Dyer Daniel Einhorn Mick Farrell Victor M. Felix Suzanne Figi Gregory Frost Wendy Gillespie Hanna Gleiberman Jeffrey Goldman Kay Gurtin Clark Guy Debby Jacobs Joan Jacobs Sheri Jamieson Jeanne Jones Pradeep K. Khosla, Ph.D. Kay Matherly Mark J. Muñoz Lucille Neeley
Julie Potiker Elise Kim Prosser, Ph.D. Steve Relyea Don Rosenberg Ivor Royston Gad Shaanan Judith C. Smith David Smotrich Amy Spielman Steven M. Strauss* Arthur Wagner, Ph.D. Mary Walshok, Ph.D. Michael Yeatts Barbara ZoBell
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)
HONORARY TRUSTEES Richard Atkinson, Ph.D. Ivan Gayler John Goodman Ewart W. Goodwin, Jr.* Joel Holliday* Geri Ann Warnke* Gary Wollberg* Robert Wright, Esq.
1947 FOUNDERS Mel Ferrer Dorothy McGuire Gregory Peck
*Past Chair of the Board