Two World Premiere Musicals & More Set for La Jolla Playhouse 2024/2025 Season

La Jolla Playhouse has unveiled its 2024/2025 season, featuring two world-premiere musicals: The Ballad of Johnny and June, book by Robert Cary and Tony Award winner and La Jolla Playhouse Director Emeritus Des McAnuff (Jersey Boys), music and lyrics by Johnny Cash, June Carterand others, directed by Des McAnuff; and 3 Summers of Lincoln, book by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis, Babbitt), music by Crystal Monee Hall, lyrics by Daniel J. Watts and Joe DiPietro, directed by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse (Come From Away).

 

The season will also include three world-premiere plays: Derecho, by Noelle Viñas, directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (Playhouse’s The Garden, Hoopla!), developed during the Playhouse’s 2022 DNA New Work Series; Sasha Velour: A Drag Spectacular, by Sasha Velour and Moisés Kaufman(Playhouse’s Here There Are Blueberries), directed by Moisés Kaufman, in a co-production with Tectonic Theater Project; and Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again, by Anna Ouyang Moench, directed by Les Waters (Playhouse’s Wintertime, Nora), plus the West Coast premiere of Primary Trust, by Eboni Booth, directed by Knud Adams.

 

“Each of us can point to moments in our lives that have caused seismic changes. Moments that crack us open and shift our mindset, both individually and societally. Moments that have a ripple effect beyond the everyday and influence how we move forward. The six premieres in our 2024/25 Season address these monumental moments through stories that explore the vital things we hold dear, the things that bring us joy and that pierce our daily lives to capture our attention, our hearts and our minds, deepening our understanding of ourselves and our world,” noted Ashley.

 

Prior to the start of the subscription season, the Playhouse will mount its acclaimed Without Walls (WOW) Festival, presented in partnership with UC San Diego, taking place April 4 – 7, 2024 on the UC San Diego campus. Like previous WOW Festivals, the 2024 event will feature four action-packed days of theatre, dance, music, puppetry, spectacle events and more, with multiple performances by renowned local, national and International Artists occurring throughout the weekend. A complete roster of artists and projects will be announced at a later date.

 

For more information on La Jolla Playhouse’s 2024/2025 season, please visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.

 

 

About the 2024/2025 Season

The Ballad of Johnny and June

Book by Robert Cary and Des McAnuff

Music and Lyrics by Johnny Cash, June Carter and Others

Directed by Des McAnuff

World-Premiere Musical

May/June 2024

 

Country music royalty Johnny Cash and June Carter remain to this day one of the most famous couples of the 20th century. Created with the support of the family and told through the eyes of their son John Carter Cash, this new musical covers it all: their childhoods, their 1956 meeting at the Grand Ole Opry, the storied on-stage proposal in 1968, and the soaring highs and whiplash lows of fame, life on the road, addiction, arrests, controversies, marriage, family and devotion. This is a wholehearted and clear-eyed telling of one of the most iconic love stories in music history, complete with a soundtrack of beloved hits, including I Walk the Line, Ring of Fire, I’ve Been Everywhere and many more. Tony Award winner Des McAnuff has exhilarated audiences exploring the tumultuous journeys of legendary musicians in shows like Jersey Boys and SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical. In his long-awaited return to the Playhouse, this world-premiere musical is sure to be another smash hit. 

 

Derecho

By Noelle Viñas

Directed by Delicia Turner Sonnenberg

World Premiere

July/August 2024

 

A series of intense storms — a “derecho” — is bearing down on an affluent Virginia neighborhood near D.C., where Eugenia Silva is preparing for a crucial meeting. Eugenia is a politician hoping to join the wave of women of color elected to public office. Her sister Mercedes is a struggling musician fighting to find her way on her own terms. As winds rise and thunder cracks — and tensions between the sisters reach a boiling point — Eugenia’s political ambitions crash into Mercedes’s need to reconnect her sister with their roots. Propulsive and whip-smart, Derecho confronts how traditional Latino values conflict with an ever-changing American definition of success. Will the storm wipe out their relationship and derail Eugenia's campaign, or will the rains provide a fresh start? This engrossing drama from Uruguayan-American writer Noelle Viñas harnesses the danger of colliding the personal and political to reach your goals. Director Delicia Turner Sonnenberg (The Garden) leads the production to bring the poetic language and powerful imagery to life. Derecho is the 11th show to have its premiere at La Jolla Playhouse after development as part of our DNA New Work Series.

 

Sasha Velour: A Drag Spectacular

By Sasha Velour and Moisés Kaufman

Starring Sasha Velour

Directed by Moisés Kaufman

A Co-Production with Tectonic Theater Project

World Premiere

August/September 2024

A groundbreaking new theatrical experience about the rise and rise of a superstar. Sasha Velour is “a glossy, living piece of art” (Interview Magazine) and a true polymath - a gender-fluid drag queen, author, activist, artist and winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race who has performed her fantastical shows around the world to sold-out audiences. Moises Kaufman has created some of the most powerful theatre works of recent times (The Laramie Project, Here There Are Blueberries). Their iconic collaboration is part memoir, part manifesto, and a modern coming‑of‑age tale inspired by Sasha’s own origin story and the history of Drag. Expect dramatic reveals, high camp, sumptuous couture, an irresistible soundtrack, and a visually magical pop-art universe.

 

Primary Trust

By Eboni Booth

Directed by Knud Adams

West Coast Premiere

September/October 2024

 

When Primary Trust by Eboni Booth premiered in New York in 2023, The Observer said, “it will restore your faith in theatre’s elemental storytelling powers.”The Daily Beast said it’s “pretty darn near to perfect.” Don’t miss the West Coast premiere of this award-winning New York Times Critic’s Pick play that will surprise you and fill you with hope. Kenneth, a 36-year-old bookstore worker in a small upstate New York town, spends his evenings sipping mai tais at the local tiki bar with his best friend Bert. When he’s suddenly laid off, Kenneth faces challenges he has long avoided—with transformative and heart-warming results. Primary Trust is a touching story of new beginnings, old (and new) friends, and finding the courage to see the world for the first time. 

 

Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again

By Anna Ouyang Moench

Directed by Les Waters

World Premiere

November/December 2024

Gather ‘round for a very Playhouse take on a beloved holiday tradition — laugh-out-loud funny, heartfelt and for grown-ups only. Eddie is a young actor, fresh out of Juilliard and ready to make his mark on the American Theatre. His dreams are within reach... sort of. First he’s just going to do this regional production of A Christmas Carol. As the years pass, Eddie finds himself back at the same local theatre, over and over and over again. Much remains the same: the play, the stage manager, the green room — though Eddie finds himself in different costumes as he ages through the male roles over the course of his career. Anna Ouyang Moench’s comedic and moving new play is a love letter to actors, artists and dreamers of all professions who make sacrifices large and small in service of their work…and ultimately wonder whether it was worth it. A delight for theatre lovers and holiday enthusiasts alike. 

3 Summers of Lincoln

Book by Joe DiPietro

Lyrics by Daniel J. Watts and Joe DiPietro

Music by Crystal Monee Hall

Directed by Christopher Ashley

World-Premiere Musical

February/March 2025

Summer, 1862. The bloody conflict that was supposed to last only 90 days has now been raging for more than a year. President Abraham Lincoln must find a way to end the Civil War. Enter powerful abolitionist Frederick Douglass. If he can meet Lincoln face to face, he can help the president cement a vision of the future that ends slavery along with the war, all while preserving the Union. Just three meetings took place between the two men—pivotal conversations between two fierce and equally brilliant leaders that shaped the course of history. This gripping new musical marks the sixth Playhouse collaboration between Joe DiPietro and Christopher Ashley (including the hit shows Babbitt, Diana and Memphis,) and they're thrilled to be joined by composer Crystal Monee Hall and lyricist Daniel J. Watts. Their epic score blends gospel, R&B, powerhouse anthems and Broadway to tell the inspirational story of one of the most important friendships in our nation’s history, and that of a brutally divided country coming together. 

 

La Jolla Playhouse is a place where artists and audiences come together to create what’s new and next in the American theatre, from Tony Award-winning productions, to imaginative programs for young audiences, to interactive experiences outside our theatre walls. Founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, the Playhouse is currently led by Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and Managing Director Debby Buchholz. The Playhouse is internationally renowned for the development of new plays and musicals, including mounting 110 world premieres, commissioning 60 new works, and sending 34 productions to Broadway – including the hit musical Come From Away – garnering a total of 38 Tony Awards, as well as the 1993 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

 

 

Artist Biographies

Knud Adams

(Director: Primary Trust) is an Obie Award-winning director of artful new plays, based in NYC. Recent credits include Paris (Eboni Booth, Atlantic); Notes on My Mother's Decline (Andy Bragen, PlayCo); Tin Cat Shoes (Trish Harnetiaux, Clubbed Thumb); Marie and Bruce (Wallace Shawn, JACK); Nylon (Sophia Alvarez, Theaterlab); Aloha, Aloha, or When I Was Queen (Eliza Bent, Abrons); The Workshop (Torrey Townsend, Soft Focus); Asshole (Justin Kuritzkes, JACK); Every Angel Is Brutal (Julia Jarcho, Clubbed Thumb); Tom & Eliza (Celine Song, JACK); and Snore (Max Posner, Juilliard). Alumnus of the Drama League Next Stage Residency and Directing Fellowship, the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the Playwrights Horizons Directing Residency and Kenyon College. www.knudadams.com.

 

Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley

(Director: 3 Summers of Lincoln) has served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since 2007. During his tenure, he directed the world premieres of Come From Away, The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, Diana, Memphis, Escape to Margaritaville, The Squirrels, A Dram of Drummhicit, Restoration and Chasing the Song, as well as As You Like It, His Girl Friday, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Freaky Friday and Xanadu. He also spearheaded the Without Walls (WOW) initiative, the DNA New Work Series and the Theatre-in-Residence program. Ashley recently directed Come From Away for AppleTV+ and Diana: The Musical for Netflix. Other screen credits include the feature films Jeffrey and Lucky Stiff, and the American Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. Broadway credits include Come From Away (Tony and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Diana: The Musical, Escape to Margaritaville, Memphis (Tony nomination), Xanadu, Leap of Faith (Drama Desk Award nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle Award nominations). He also helmed productions of Come From Away in London (Olivier Award nomination), Toronto, Australia and on national tour. Other national tours include Escape to Margaritaville, Memphis, Xanadu, All Shook Up and Seussical: The Musical. Additional New York stage credits include Blown Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla (Lucille Lortel Award nomination), 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 is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.

Eboni Booth

(Playwright: Primary Trust) is a writer and actor from New York City. Her plays include Primary Trust (Roundabout Theatre) and Paris (Atlantic Theater). For television, she has written for HBO Max’s Julia. As an actor, Eboni has appeared in productions at Playwrights Horizons, LCT3, Manhattan Theater Club, Ars Nova, WP Theater, Page 73, Soho Rep., Clubbed Thumb, and more. Eboni is a resident playwright at New Dramatists and the recipient of a Steinberg Playwright Award, a Helen Merrill Award for Playwriting, and a John Gassner Award. She is a graduate of Juilliard’s playwriting program and the University of Vermont.

Robert Cary

(Book, The Ballad of Johnny and June) is the co-writer of Grease Live (dir. Thomas Kail) and A Christmas Story Live for Fox Television, the co-author of the book for SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, and contributed book revisions for the 2015 Broadway revival of On The Town. He is also the co-writer and co-lyricist of Flashdance (West End, US National Tour, international productions) and the lyricist and co-writer of Palm Beach (La Jolla Playhouse, Des McAnuff, dir). With partner Jonathan Tolins, he wrote Get Happy: A Judy Garland Tribute at Carnegie Hall. He is the director of the feature films Ira and Abby (Los Angeles Film Festival Audience Favorite Award), Save Me and Anything But Love.

 

Joe DiPietro

(Book and Lyrics: 3 Summers of Lincoln) has won two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. He is thrilled to return to La Jolla Playhouse. His newest musical, Sinatra, recently premiered at Birmingham Rep to critical acclaim. Some of his other shows includeMemphis (2010 Tony Award for Best Musical); Nice Work If You Can Get It (which starred Matthew Broderick and received 10 Tony nominations); The Toxic Avenger (OCC Award - Best Off-Broadway Musical); Ernest Shackleton Loves Me (Off-Broadway Alliance Award - Best Musical); I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (longest-running musical revue in off-Broadway history); as well as the much-produced comedies Clever Little Lies and Over the River and Through the Woods, among others. His last LJP premiere, the musical Diana, can be seen on Netflix and will make its UK premiere in a special concert presentation this December in the West End.

 

Crystal Monee Hall

(s/h/h; Composer: 3 Summers of Lincoln) is a singer/songwriter, composer/lyricist and vocal director/arranger/producer based in NYC. Recent credits include Goddess (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), ALLSWELL the Movie (Dir. Ben Snyder), Choir Boy (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Darius de Haas’ You Send Me: The Songs and Soul of Sam Cooke (92Y Lyrics and Lyricists), Where We Dwell (New York City Center), Ayodele Casel’s Chasing Magic (American Repertory Theater), Walker (CW network), “A Beautiful Noise” (Gospel Arrangement, Biden/Harris Campaign), Ben Platt: Live From Radio City Music Hall (Netflix), PBS Kids (Donkey Hodie, Nature Cat, Alma’s Way), Sesame Street, Black Ink Crew (VH1), HBO’s High Maintenance, Kristin Chenoweth’s For the Girls (Nederlander Theater), Stars on Stage: Brandon Victor Dixon (Westport Playhouse Theater/PBS), Cynthia Erivo: Live From Lincoln Center (PBS), Mickey Hart (The Grateful Dead), RENT (Nederlander Theater), Thomas Rhett, Renee Elise Goldsberry, John Legend, Patti Austin, Oleta Adams, Mariah Carey, Elton John, Ke$ha and Roy Ayers. She is the recipient of The Lilly Awards’ 2021 “Go Write a Musical” Award, and the Black Theatre Coalition’s inaugural Composer Fellowship Award in 2022. www.crystalmoneehall.com; @crystalmonee

 

Moisés Kaufman

(Playwright/Director: Sasha Velour: A Drag Spectacular) Broadway credits include Paradise Square (10 Tony Award nominations), the revival of Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song, Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo with Robin Williams, the revival of The Heiress starring Jessica Chastain, 33 Variations starring Jane Fonda (Tony Award nomination for Best Play), and Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife (Obie Award; Tony and Drama Desk Awards; Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations). West End: Gross Indecency, I Am My Own Wife, This Is How It  Goes. Off-Broadway/Regional: Here There Are Blueberries (Tectonic Theater Project/La Jolla Playhouse, Shakespeare Theatre Company), Seven Deadly Sins (Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, Tectonic Theater Project/Madison Wells Live), One Arm by Tennessee Williams (Tectonic Theater Project/The New Group); The Laramie Project (writer/director; Theater in the Square, Drama Desk nomination); The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later (writer/director; Alice Tully Hall); Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde (writer/director; Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play and Joe A. Callaway Award for Direction); Macbeth with Liev Schreiber (Delacorte Theater); Master Class with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Opera: El Gato Con Botas (New Victory Theater). Film/TV: The Laramie Project (HBO; Emmy noms for writing and directing, Opening Night Selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, National Board of Review Award, Humanitas Prize); The L Word. His newest play, Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard, will make its world premiere at Miami New Drama in October. Kaufman is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project, a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting, and an Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award winner. In 2015, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama, which he accepted in a ceremony at the White House.

Des McAnuff

(Book/Director: The Ballad of Johnny and June) is a two-time Tony Award-winning director and served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director from 1983 through 1994, and from 2001 through April 2007 where he staged over 30 productions of classics, new plays and musicals. Under his leadership, the Playhouse garnered the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. He is also the former Artistic Director of Canada’s Stratford Festival and co-founder of Broadway’s Dodgers. Broadway: Ain’t Too Proud, Summer, Doctor Zhivago, Jesus Christ Superstar, Guys and Dolls, Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention, Jersey Boys (Tony and Olivier Awards: Best Musical), Billy Crystal’s 700 Sundays (Tony Award: Best Special Theatrical Event), Dracula the Musical, How to Succeed..., The Who’s Tommy (Tony and Olivier Awards: Best Director), A Walk in the Woods, Big River (Tony Awards: Best Director, Best Musical). Selected New York: Fetch Clay, Make Man (NYTW); multiple productions at The Public and BAM. Stratford highlights: A Word or Two, Caesar and Cleopatra, The Tempest (all with Christopher Plummer), Twelfth Night (with Brian Dennehy). Opera: Faust (The Met, ENO). TV: 700 Sundays(HBO). Film: Cousin Bette (director, with Jessica Lange), The Iron Giant (producer, BAFTA Award) and Quills (executive producer). He has an honorary doctorate from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), and in 2012, he was awarded Canada’s Governor Generals National Arts Center Award and the Order of Canada. His new version of The Who’s Tommy will be on Broadway in 2024.

 

Anna Ouyang Moench

(Playwright: Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include Man of God, Birds of North America, Mothers and Sin Eaters. Anna’s work has been produced at Williamstown Theatre Festival, Geffen Playhouse, East West Players, Playwrights Realm, NAATCO at The Public Theater, Mosaic Theater Company, InterAct, Theater Mu, and many others. She is a former Jerome Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center, Van Lier Fellow at the Lark, and Page One Fellow at the Playwrights Realm. She is the recipient of two 2023 WGA Awards for her work on Severance (Apple TV+), the 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award, the Gerbode Special Award in the Arts, the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, and the NYFA Award in Playwriting/Screenwriting. Anna received her MFA in Playwriting from UC San Diego and now lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Tectonic Theater Project

Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company’s trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations, and the Drama Desk Award-winning Seven Deadly Sins. Tectonic Theater Project’s newest world-premiere play, Here There Are Blueberries, launched at La Jolla Playhouse and is set to play New York Theatre Workshop this spring.

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg’s (Director: Derecho) Playhouse credits include The Garden, 2022 POP Tour HOOPLA!,  2018 POP Tour #SuperShinySara,WOW Festival’s The Car Plays SD and Counterweight. Regional Credits: The Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Rep, San Diego Rep, Round House Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Other Credits: Theatre Calgary, Center Rep, Theatre Squared, Island City Stage, Diversionary Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, New Village Arts, Playwrights Project, Mo`olelo Performing Arts, and productions at The Old Globe/University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, San Diego State University,  UC San Diego, Sonoma State, and Rutgers University among others. Delicia is a founder and the former Artistic Director of MOXIE Theatre which she helmed for 12 acclaimed seasons, receiving the Des McAnuff New Visions Award for “Risk Taking Leadership and Body of Work” and “2015 Director of the Year” from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She is currently a Resident Artist at The Old Globe Theatre and serves proudly on the Board for La Jolla Playhouse. Delicia was twice a recipient of the Van Lier Directing Fellowship through Second Stage Theater in New York, and is an alumna of the New York Drama League’s Directors Program, as well as TCG’s New Generations Program. She has received NAACP Theatre Awards, KPBS “Patte” Awards, a Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, as well as many Craig Noel Awards from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle.

 

Sasha Velour

(Playwright/Performer: Sasha Velour: A Drag Spectacular) is a gender-fluid drag queen known for her performance artistry, fierce activism, and boundary-breaking scholarship. Sasha is the founder and director of the acclaimed New York City drag revue NightGowns. Her first one-queen show, Smoke & Mirrors, toured to 90 theaters around the world from 2019-2022, including the Folies Bergere and the London Palladium. Her best-selling book The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifest of Drag outlined the untold history of drag alongside her own life (Harper, 2023). She is currently on tour with a stage show of the same name. In 2017, she won the 9th  season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, the year the show won its first Emmy. In 2020, she executive produced and starred in a docuseries adaptation of her show NightGowns, which won a RealScreen Award. In 2023, she joined the cast of HBO’s We’re Here, and produced drag events in Tennessee and Oklahoma (Season 4 Coming Soon). As an illustrator and designer, she has produced several comic books, including a series about the Stonewall uprising (2012-2019) and an anthology of drag called Velour (2013-2018). She created the Google Doodle for Marlene Dietrich in 2018, and drew a self-portrait for the cover of The New Yorker Magazine in 2023. Sasha lives in Brooklyn with her partner Johnny Velour and their dog, Vanya.

 

Noelle Viñas

(Playwright: Derecho; she/her/ella) is a playwright, TV writer and educator from Springfield, Virginia and Montevideo, Uruguay. Viñas was a recipient of the 2020 John Gassner Award and the 2021 Jeffry Melnick New Playwright Award at Primary Stages. During the pandemic, her plays were produced by Shotgun Players, Colt Coeur, Imagination Stage and Westtown School. Her work has been developed or in residence as a member of the 2022 Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, New York Stage and Film, Tofte Lake Center, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Djerassi Resident Artists Program and The Civilians R&D Group. Viñas resides between Brooklyn and LA, where she was most recently a staff writer on Mrs. Davis. B.A.: Emerson College; M.F.A.: Brooklyn College.

 

Les Waters

(Director, Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again) is an Obie Award-winning and Tony-nominated director. His productions have been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Signature Theatre Company, The Public Theater, Second Stage Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, National Asian American Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb, Soho Rep, and Brooklyn Academy of Music, and regionally at La Jolla Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, and Yale Rep. From 1995-2003, he was head of the MFA directing program at UC San Diego; 2003-2012 Associate Artistic Director Berkeley Rep; and 2012-18 Artistic Director Actors Theatre of Louisville. He is both the subject and co-author of The Theatre of Les Waters: More Like the Weather, edited by Scott T. Cummings, published by Routledge 2022. This will mark his sixth Playhouse production.

 

Daniel J. Watts

(Lyrics: 3 Summers of Lincoln) is a Tony and Emmy Award-nominated multidisciplinary artist. He has performed in 10 Broadway shows including: Tina (Ike Turner, Tony nominee), Freestyle Love Supreme, Hamilton, After Midnight, Motown, Ghost, In the Heights, Memphis, The Little Mermaid, The Color Purple. Off-Broadway: The Refuge Plays (Roundabout), Richard III (Delacort), The Last of the Love Letters (Atlantic), The Death of the Last Back Man in the Whole Entire World (Signature), Whorl Inside a Loop (2ST). TV: Werewolf By Night (Disney+), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), The Last OG (TBS), Vinyl (HBO), The Deuce (HBO), Boardwalk Empire (HBO), Blindspot (CBS), Blue Bloods (CBS), Broad City (Comedy Central). Original Work: Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child 2020 Public Theatre Under The Radar Festival and has also streamed as part of the Signature Theater (DC) 2020/21 season. TED talk “To Accomplish Great Things, You Need to Let Paint Dry” appears at go.Ted.com/danieljwatts. Artist in residence at ASU Gammage, contributing artist for Armstrong Now with The Louis Armstrong House, and NYU Tisch New Studio adjunct professor.

www.wattswords.com  IG/Twitter: @dwattswords

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