Mel Ferrer News

La Jolla Playhouse announces updates to its 2009/2010 season. Alfred Hitchcock?s The 39 Steps, based on the beloved Alfred Hitchcock thriller, adapted for the stage by Patrick Barlow, directed by Maria Aitken, will replace the previously-announced Page-to-Stage production of The Hudsucker Proxy. The 39 Steps will run August 11 ? September 13 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse welcomes back Rick Elice, co-writer of the Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys, as the playwright of Peter and the Starcatchers. Alex Timbers and Roger Rees are set to direct with choreography by Kelly Devine and music by Wayne Barker. Peter and the Starcatchers will be playing at the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse February 13 -March 8, 2009. Based on the best-selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatchers dares to tell the real story of precisely how a desperate orphan in Victorian England became The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. It's a tale that travels halfway round the world and straight up to the stars. It's a comedy that takes aim at social injustice. It's a romance of young heroes who risk everything for the sake of doing right. It's an expos? of extravagant villains possessed of a single-minded ferocity from which no good shall ever spring. In short, it's an awfully big adventure. La Jolla Playhouse will present Peter and the Starcatchers, a new play, as a part of its Page To Stage program, by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions. Adam Green has been cast in the role of Peter. He has appeared in Off-Broadway productions such as Election Day, All This Intimacy and None of the Above. Molly will be played by Celia Keenan-Bolger who most recently appeared on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. She also appeared in Saved. Lost boy Prentiss will be played by Carson Elrod, who appeared in the La Jolla Playhouse production of Our Town. Elrod has also appeared on Broadway in Reckless and Noises Off. David Rossmer is cast as the ever - peckish lost boy Teddy. His Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof and Titanic. Christian Borle, who will be playing the ravenous Black Stache, received acclaim for his roles in Spamalot. He also received a 2007 Tony Award nomination for his role in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde. Andrew McGinn is set to play Slank. His New York credits include Coast of Utopia and The Invention of Love. Playing Lord Aster is John G. Preston, who recently appeared as Cameron Parker in the Off-Broadway production of Taboos. Greg Hildreth, playing the good hearted Alf, recently appeared in Dance Dance Revolution and Gentlemen of Verona. Teddy Bergman will be playing Fighting Prawn. His New York theater credits include Dance Dance Revolution and Nobody Likes the Mormons.

La Jolla Playhouse extends its warmest welcome to Michael Benjamin Washington, who appeared in Playhouse productions of The Wiz and Memphis.In his one-man show, Washington portrays five different characters as they explore the new America with a newly-elected president. An invite-only reading of Letters to Barack: A New American Play is taking place on Monday, February 9, 2009 at 7:30 pm in the Seuss 1 rehearsal room at La Jolla Playhouse.

La Jolla Playhouse's Artistic Director Christopher Ashley is proud to announce the six productions in the 2009/2010 season. 'So much of the joy of running a theatre comes from the ability to invite world-class artists into your home - and allowing them to make it their home as well,' says Ashley. 'At La Jolla Playhouse, our goal is to serve as an artistic home where the most exciting theatre artists in the country are given the resources to create works that drive them, and our 2009/2010 season welcomes some of the best to San Diego.'

La Jolla Playhouse welcomes back Rick Elice, co-writer of the Tony Award-winning Jersey Boys, as the playwright of Peter and the Starcatchers. Alex Timbers and Roger Rees are set to direct with choreography by Kelly Devine and music by Wayne Barker. Peter and the Starcatchers will be playing at the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse February 13 -March 8, 2009. Based on the best-selling novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatchers dares to tell the real story of precisely how a desperate orphan in Victorian England became The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up. It's a tale that travels halfway round the world and straight up to the stars. It's a comedy that takes aim at social injustice. It's a romance of young heroes who risk everything for the sake of doing right. It's an expos? of extravagant villains possessed of a single-minded ferocity from which no good shall ever spring. In short, it's an awfully big adventure. La Jolla Playhouse will present Peter and the Starcatchers, a new play, as a part of its Page To Stage program, by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions. Adam Green has been cast in the role of Peter. He has appeared in Off-Broadway productions such as Election Day, All This Intimacy and None of the Above. Molly will be played by Celia Keenan-Bolger who most recently appeared on Broadway in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination. She also appeared in Saved. Lost boy Prentiss will be played by Carson Elrod, who appeared in the La Jolla Playhouse production of Our Town. Elrod has also appeared on Broadway in Reckless and Noises Off. David Rossmer is cast as the ever - peckish lost boy Teddy. His Broadway credits include Fiddler on the Roof and Titanic. Christian Borle, who will be playing the ravenous Black Stache, received acclaim for his roles in Spamalot. He also received a 2007 Tony Award nomination for his role in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde. Andrew McGinn is set to play Slank. His New York credits include Coast of Utopia and The Invention of Love. Playing Lord Aster is John G. Preston, who recently appeared as Cameron Parker in the Off-Broadway production of Taboos. Greg Hildreth, playing the good hearted Alf, recently appeared in Dance Dance Revolution and Gentlemen of Verona. Teddy Bergman will be playing Fighting Prawn. His New York theater credits include Dance Dance Revolution and Nobody Likes the Mormons.

On a unusually cloudy day in Southern California, Chris and Shane made their way down I-5 to the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, CA for the West Coast premiere of XANADU, the musical. The Upright Boys caught up with Broadway alums Elizabeth Stanley and Max von Essen as they prepared to step into the roles of Kira and Sonny.

It's XanaDU Year's Eve! La Jolla Playhouse hosts a special New Year's Eve event to celebrate the run of its musical comedy Xanadu and the beginning of a new year on December 31, 2008. Roll into 2009 with this performance and dance party from 9:00pm to 1:00am in the Mandell Weiss Theatre and the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

Rehearsals began last week for XANADU at La Jolla Playhouse in anticipation of its West Coast debut on November 23, 2008 directed by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. Xanadu's cast joins the creative team of the surprise hit Broadway musical at the Playhouse before embarking on a national tour. Xanadu will have its first performance November 11, 2008 and run through December 31 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to announce the Performance Outreach Program (POP) Tour 2009, Miss Electricity, written by Kathryn Walat and directed by Melissa Kievman.

Rehearsals began last week for XANADU at La Jolla Playhouse in anticipation of its West Coast debut on November 23, 2008 directed by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. Xanadu's cast joins the creative team of the surprise hit Broadway musical at the Playhouse before embarking on a national tour. Xanadu will have its first performance November 11, 2008 and run through December 31 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse Board Chair Ralph Bryan announced today that BHK Arts Consultants, Inc. has been contracted to conduct a nationwide search for a new Managing Director. La Jolla Playhouse plans to make its decision in early 2009 and have the Managing Director start shortly thereafter.

The cast and creative team have been assembled for the gritty, provocative 1930s drama Tobacco Road, which ran on Broadway from December 4, 1933 to May 31,1941, the longest Broadway run ever at the time. Today, 75 years since it opened, it remains the second-longest running drama in Broadway history, second only to Life with Father. It plays September 30 through October 26, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Forum at La Jolla Playhouse.

On Friday, October 24, 2008 La Jolla Playhouse hosts Moon over Morocco, a gala benefit featuring the Tony-nominated star of Xanadu on Broadway, Kerry Butler. The annual gala will take place in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

Rehearsals began last week for XANADU at La Jolla Playhouse in anticipation of its West Coast debut on November 23, 2008 directed by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley. Xanadu's cast joins the creative team of the surprise hit Broadway musical at the Playhouse before embarking on a national tour. Xanadu will have its first performance November 11, 2008 and run through December 31 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.

La Jolla Playhouse is offering Pay What You Can rates for three performances of the currently running comedy, The Third Story. Patrons may purchase tickets for any amount they can afford, starting at a minimum of one dollar for the matinees on Saturday, October 18 and Sunday, October 19 and for the evening of Sunday, October 19.

The cast and creative team have been assembled for the gritty, provocative 1930s drama Tobacco Road, which ran on Broadway from December 4, 1933 to May 31,1941, the longest Broadway run ever at the time. Today, 75 years since it opened, it remains the second-longest running drama in Broadway history, second only to Life with Father. It plays September 30 through October 26, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Forum at La Jolla Playhouse.

On Friday, October 24, 2008 La Jolla Playhouse hosts Moon over Morocco, a gala benefit featuring the Tony-nominated star of Xanadu on Broadway, Kerry Butler. The annual gala will take place in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

La Jolla Playhouse Board Chair Ralph Bryan announced today that Steven Libman, Managing Director, is stepping down to pursue an expanding consulting practice. Mr. Libman was appointed Managing Director in June 2005.The organization will initiate a nationwide search for Mr. Libman's successor immediately. Joan Cumming, Director of Communications, will serve as Interim Managing Director. Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley will continue with his current responsibilities.

La Jolla Playhouse Board Chair Ralph Bryan announced today that Steven Libman, Managing Director, is stepping down to pursue an expanding consulting practice.

La Jolla Playhouse announced today the initial lineup of cast and creatives for the upcoming musical 'Memphis - The Birth of Rock 'n' Roll' slated for August 19th through September 28th in the Mandell Weiss Theatre.