La Jolla Playhouse
For many travelers, San Diego means beaches, the Zoo, and Sea World, but as I said in “Debunking Myths About La Jolla,” our significant cultural advantages are less known.
This was underscored Sunday night when “Memphis” won the Tony Award for “Best Musical.” The show’s director Christopher Ashley is also the Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and “Memphis” was part of the 2008 La Jolla Playhouse season before opening on Broadway in 2009.
This isn’t the first time La Jolla Playhouse has produced a show that went on to win a coveted Tony Award. “Jersey Boys” got its start here, as did “I Am My Own Wife,” “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “The Who’s Tommy,” and “Big River.”
Today, “Surf Report” opens at La Jolla Playhouse. This new play from an award winning San Diego playwright takes place in a costal Southern Californian town. Is this world premiere headed for Broadway? I have no idea.
What I do know is that I can’t think of anything more fun than seeing a play by a local playwright right here in my very own Southern California community.
La Jolla Playhouse will continue its 2010-2011 season with the World Premiere of Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin , September 7 – October 17. Based on the true story of one of the world’s best-loved and most famous entertainers, Limelight goes behind the camera to show how a comic genius found soaring success in motion pictures and later fell from grace among scandals and controversy.
Later in the season, the Playhouse will present Ruined, November 16 – December 19, an award-winning off-Broadway hit that takes place during the civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and tells the courageous survival story of women who work in a lively brothel commonly visited by disturbed war soldiers.
Caption: Linda Gehringer as “Judith” and Gregory Harrison as “Bruce” in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere production of SURF REPORT, by Annie Weisman, directed by Lisa Peterson, playing June 15 – July 11; photo by Craig Schwartz.