La Jolla Playhouse production history

The La Jolla Playhouse is an American nonprofit, professional theater-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. It was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, and Mel Ferrer.

The following is a chronological list of the productions that have been staged since its inception.

1947

• Angel Street by Patrick Hamilton
• The Shining Hour by Keith Winter
• Tonight at 8.30 ... The Astonished Heart, Fumed Oak, Still Life by Noël Coward
• Biography by S. N. Behrman
• The Guardsman by Ferenc Molnár
• The Hasty Heart by John Patrick
• Dear Ruth by Norman Krasna
• Night Must Fall by Emlyn Williams

1948

• The Male Animal by James Thurber and Elliott Nugent
• Rope by Patrick Hamilton
• Serena Blandish (The Difficulty of Getting Married) by S. N. Behrman
• Ultra-Marine by Peter Blackmore
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams
• For Love or Money by F. Hugh Herbert
• The First Mrs. Fraser by St. John Ervine
• The Road to Rome by Robert E. Sherwood
• Kind Lady by Edward Chodorov

1949

• Petticoat Fever by Mark Reed
• Command Decision by William Wister Haines
• Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
• Art and Mrs. Bottle by Benn Levy
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
• Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart
• Arrangement for Strings by Michael Clayton Hutton and Samuel Rosen
• Here Today by George Oppenheimer
• Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward

1950

• Goodbye Again by Allan Scott and George Haight
• Clutterbuck by Benn Levy
• The Silver Whistle by Robert E. McEnroe
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder
• The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur
• Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring
• Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams
• Claudia by Rose Franken
• Born Yesterday by Garson Kanin

1951

• On Borrowed Time by Paul Osborn
• The Petrified Forest by Robert E. Sherwood
• Room Service by John Murray and Allen Boretz
• Come Back, Little Sheba by William Inge
• The Voice of the Turtle by John Van Druten
• Susan and God by Rachel Crothers
• Second Threshold by Philip Barry
• Ring Round the Moon by Jean Anouilh, translation by Christopher Fry

1952

• The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry
• Strike a Match by Robert Smith
• The Corn Is Green by Emlyn Williams
• The Happy Time by Samuel A. Taylor
• Affairs of State by Louis Verneuil
• Season in the Sun by Wolcott Gibbs
• Time for Elizabeth by Groucho Marx and Norman Krasna
• Remains to be Seen by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse
• The Moon Is Blue by F. Hugh Herbert

1953

• Don Juan In Hell by George Bernard Shaw
• Dial M for Murder by Frederick Knott
• You Never Can Tell by George Bernard Shaw
• Stalag 17 by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski
• The Dazzling Hour by Anna Bonacci
• My Three Angels by Sam and Bella Spewack
• Jane by S. N. Behrman, based on an original story by W. Somerset Maugham
• I Am a Camera by John Van Druten

1954

• The Vacant Lot by Paul Streger and Berrilla Kerr
• The Seven Year Itch by George Axelrod
• Sabrina Fair by Samuel A. Taylor
• Anniversary Waltz by Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields
• The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan

1955

• Oh, Men! Oh, Women! by Edward Chodorov
• The Time of the Cuckoo by Arthur Laurents
• Native Uprising by D. N. Roman
• The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash

1956

• The Little Hut by André Roussin
• Pal Joey by John O'Hara, music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart
• Miss Julie & The Stronger by August Strindberg
• King of Hearts by Jean Kerr and Eleanor Brooke
• Bus Stop by William Inge

1957

• Androcles and the Lion / The Proposal by George Bernard Shaw / Anton Chekhov
• Career by James Lee
• The Potting Shed by Graham Greene
• Paul and Constantine by Dario Bellini
• The Reluctant Debutante by William Douglas-Home

1958

• Visit to a Small Planet by Gore Vidal
• A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
• Bell, Book and Candle by John Van Druten

1959

• Too Many Husbands by W. Somerset Maugham
• Once More, with Feeling! by Harry Kurnitz
• Two for the Seesaw by William Gibson
• Who Was That Lady I Saw You With? by Norman Krasna
• Look Homeward, Angel by Ketti Frings, based on the novel by Thomas Wolfe

1983

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
• A Mad World, My Masters by Barrie Keeffe
• The Visions of Simone Machard by Bertolt Brecht

1984

• As You Like It by William Shakespeare
• War Babies by Robert C. Coe
• Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong by Randy Newman
• Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by William Hauptman, music and lyrics by Roger Miller

1985

• The Seagull by Anton Chekhov
• Ghost on Fire by Michael Weller
• A Man's a Man by Bertolt Brecht
• Merrily We Roll Along by George Furth, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

1986

• Ajax by Sophocles, adapted by Robert Auletta
• Gillette by William Hauptman
• Figaro Gets a Divorce by Ödön von Horváth
• The Three Cuckolds by Leon Katz
• Shout Up a Morning by Paul Avila Mayer and George W. George, music by Julian Adderley and Nathaniel Adderley, lyrics by Diane Charlotte Lampert

1987

• Silent Edward by Des McAnuff
• The Tempest by William Shakespeare
• The School for Wives by Molière, translation by Richard Wilbur
• A Walk in the Woods by Lee Blessing
• Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen
• The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder

1988

• 80 Days by Snoo Wilson, music and lyrics by Ray Davies
• The Fool Show by Geoff Hoyle
• Lulu by Frank Wedekind
• Two Rooms by Lee Blessing
• Once in a Lifetime by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman

1989

• The Man Who Had No Story by Oana-Marie Hock
• Macbeth by William Shakespeare
• The Misanthrope by Molière
• Down the Road by Lee Blessing
• Dangerous Games - Two Tango Pieces by Jim Lewis and Graciela Daniele, lyrics by William Finn, music by Astor Piazzolla
• Nebraska by Keith Reddin
• The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

1990

• Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
• My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard
• Don Quixote De La Jolla by Eric Overmyer
• A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
• Life During Wartime by Keith Reddin
• The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov

1991

• Elmer Gantry by John Bishop, music by Mel Marvin, lyrics by Bob Satuloff
• A Lesson from Aloes by Athol Fugard
• The Heliotrope Bouquet by Eric Overmyer
• The Regard of Flight and The Clown Bagatelles by Bill Irwin
• Fortinbras by Lee Blessing
• Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov

1992

• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
• The Swan by Elizabeth Egloff
• Marisol by José Rivera
• Playland by Athol Fugard
• What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton
• The Who's Tommy by Pete Townshend
• Le Petomane - A Comedy of Airs by Paul Magid
• The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams

1993

• Sweet & Hot: The Songs of Harold Arlen, music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by Harold Arlen, Truman Capote, Ira Gershwin, Yip Harburg, Ted Koehler, Johnny Mercer, Leo Robin, Billy Rose and Jack Yellen
• The Mission by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas, and Herbert Siguenza
• Luck, Pluck & Virtue by James Lapine
• The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill
• Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
• Children of Paradise: Shooting a Dream by Steven Epp, Felicity Jones, Dominique Serrand and Paul Walsh

1994

• How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, music and lyrics by Frank Loesser
• Mump and Smoot in Ferno by Michael Kennard and John Turner
• The Good Person of Setzuan by Bertolt Brecht
• Thérèse Raquin by Neal Bell
• The Triumph of Love by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux
• Harvey by Mary Chase

1995

• Randy Newman's Faust , book, music, lyrics by Randy Newman
• An Almost Holy Picture by Heather McDonald
• Slavs! Thinking about the Longstanding Problems of Virtue and Happiness by Tony Kushner
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
• Cloud Tectonics by José Rivera
• The Invisible Circus/Le Cirque Invisible by Victoria Chaplin

1996

• Valley Song by Athol Fugard
• Boy by Diana Son
• The Green Bird by Carlo Gozzi
• Happy Days by Samuel Beckett
• Yanks & Frogs by Theatre de la Jeune Lune
• 2.5 Minute Ride by Lisa Krion

1997

• Harmony: A New Musical by Bruce Sussman, music by Barry Manilow
• Having Our Say by Emily Mann
• The Model Apartment by Donald Margulies
• Rent by Jonathan Larson
• The School for Wives by Molière
• The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde

1998

• Maricela De La Luz Lights the World by José Rivera
• Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
• Light Up the Sky by Moss Hart
• Improbable Theatre's 70 Hill Lane by Phelim McDermott
• The Captain's Tiger: A Memoir for the Stage by Athol Fugard
• Guitar Lessons: The Springhill Singing Disaster by Karen Trott
• Nora by Henrik Ibsen, adapted by Ingmar Bergman

1999

• The Flimflam Man by Melanie Marnich
• Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams
• Wonderland by Chay Yew
• Pretty Fire by Charlayne Woodard
• Jane Eyre by John Caird and Paul Gordon
• Loot by Joe Orton
• Oo-Bla-Dee by Regina Taylor

2000

• Alice's Wild Ride by Karen Hartman
• Thoroughly Modern Millie by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan, music by Jeanine Tesori
• Going to St. Ives by Lee Blessing
• The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union by David Greig
• Sheridan, or Schooled In Scandal by David Grimm
• Lifegame by Keith Johnstone
• Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca, translation by David Johnston

2001

• The Origin of Corn / El Origen De Maiz by Ralph Lee
• Dracula, The Musical by Christopher Hampton and Don Black, music by Frank Wildhorn
• Diva by Howard Gould
• The Laramie Project by Moisés Kaufman and Leigh Fondakowski
• Be Aggressive by Annie Weisman
• I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright
• The Collected Works of Billy The Kid by Michael Ondaatje
• Our Town by Thornton Wilder

2002

• Ladybird: The Life and Time of a Roller Derby Queen by Luis Alfaro
• Mabou Mines' Peter and Wendy by J. M. Barrie
• Adoration of the Old Woman by José Rivera
• I Think I Like Girls by Leigh Fondakowski
• Wintertime by Charles L. Mee
• When Grace Comes In by Heather McDonald
• A Feast of Fools by Geoff Hoyle, music by Gina Leishman
• Tartuffe by Molière, translation by Richard Wilbur

2003

• The Breeze, the Gust, the Gale, and the Wind by Hilly Hicks
• The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare
• Beauty by Tina Landau
• Eden Lane by Tom Donaghy
• The Country by Martin Crimp
• The Burning Deck by Sarah Schulman
• Fräulein Else by Arthur Schnitzler
• Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov

2004

• Guitar by Julia Jordan
• Private Fittings by Georges Feydeau, adapted by Mark O'Donnell
• Jersey Boys by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, music by Bob Gaudio, lyrics by Bob Crewe
• The Love of Three Oranges by Carlo Gozzi, adaptation by James Magruder
• Paris Commune by Steve Cosson and Michael Friedman
• Suitcase by Melissa James Gibson
• Continental Divide: Mothers Against and Daughters of the Revolution by David Edgar
• 700 Sundays / Billy Crystal / A Life In Progress by Billy Crystal

2005

• Pop Tour: Bay and the Spectacles of Doom by Julia Cho
• Palm Beach, The Screwball Musical by Robert Cary and Benjamin Feldman, music by David Gursky
• Zhivago by Michael Weller, music by Lucy Simon, lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers
• Current Nobody by Melissa James Gibson
• I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright
• The Scottish Play by Lee Blessing
• The Miser by Molière
• Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
• Pop Tour: West of the 5 by Sunil Kuruvilla

2006

• Zhivago by Michael Weller, music by Lucy Simon, lyrics by Michael Korie and Amy Powers
• Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht
• All Wear Bowlers by Geoff Sobelle and Trey Lyford
• Culture Clash's Zorro in Hell by Richard Montoya, Ric Salinas and Herbert Sigüenza
• The Wiz by William F. Brown, music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls
• The Farnsworth Invention by Aaron Sorkin, music by Andrew Lippa

2007/08

• Carmen by Sarah Miles, music by John Ewbank
• The Deception, adapted from La Fausse Suivante by Pierre Marivaux
• After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
• The Adding Machine by Elmer Rice
• Cry-Baby by John Waters
• The Seven by Will Power, music by Will Power, Will Hammond, Justin Ellington
• Most Wanted by Jessica Hagedorn, music by Mark Bennett

2008/09

• 33 Variations by Moisés Kaufman
• The Night Watcher by Charlayne Woodard
• Memphis (musical) by Joe DiPietro
• The Third Story by Charles Busch
• Tobacco Road by Erskine Caldwell
• Xanadu by Douglas Carter Beane
• The Edge Series

2009/10

• Unusual Acts of Devotion by Terrence McNally
• Creditors , adapted and directed by Doug Wright
• Restoration
• Herringbone
• The 39 Steps
• Bonnie & Clyde by Frank Wildhorn, Don Black and Ivan Menchel
• Aurélia's Oratorio by Aurélia Thierrée Chaplin
• The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later, directed by Darko Tresnjak
• The Edge Series: Dogugaeshi and HOOVER COMES ALIVE!

2010/11

• Surf Report by Annie Weisman
• A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
• Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin by Christopher Curtis and Thomas Meehan
• Notes from Underground , adapted by Bill Camp and Robert Woodruff from the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
• Ruined by Lynn Nottage
• Little Miss Sunshine , music and lyrics by William Finn; Book and Direction by James Lapine

2011/12

• A Dram of Drummhicit by Arthur Kopit and Anton Dudley
• Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen and adapted by David Schweitzer
• Sleeping Beauty Wakes , music and lyrics by Brendan Milburn and Valerie Vigoda Book by Rachel Sheinken
• Milk Like Sugar by Kirsten Greenidge
• Jesus Christ Superstar , music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice
• American Night: The Ballad of Juan José by Richard Montoya

2012/13

• Hands on a Hardbody , music by Trey Anastasio and Amanda Green, lyrics by Amanda Green, book by Doug Wright
• Blood and Gifts by J. T. Rogers
• The Nightingale , music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater, book by Steven Sater
• An Iliad by Homer, adapted by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson
• Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet
• Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots by Wayne Coyne and Des McAnuff

2013/14

• His Girl Friday by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, adapted by John Guare
• Tribes by Nina Raine
• Sideways , book by Rex Pickett
• The Tallest Tree in the Forest by Daniel Beaty
• Side Show , music by Henry Krieger, book and lyrics by Bill Russell
• The Who & The What by Ayad Akhtar

2014/15

• Chasing the Song, book by Joe DiPietro, music by David Bryan, lyrics by Joe DiPietro and David Bryan
• The Orphan of Zhao , adapted by James Fenton
• Ether Dome by Elizabeth Egloff
• Kingdom City by Sheri Wilner
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Peter Parnell, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, novel by Victor Hugo

2015/16

• Come from Away , book, music, and lyrics by Irene Sankoff and David Hein
• Up Here, book, music, and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez
• Blueprints to Freedom by Michael Benjamin Washington
• Healing Wars by Liz Lerman
• Indecent by Paula Vogel
• Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph

2016/17

• Latin History for Dummies, created and performed by John Leguizamo
• Hollywood by Joe DiPietro
• The Last Tiger in Haiti by Jeff Augustin
• Junk: The Golden Age of Debt by Ayad Akhtar
• Tiger Style! by Mike Lew
• Miss You Like Hell , book by Quiara Alegría Hudes, music by Erin McKeown, lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Erin McKeown
• Freaky Friday , book by Bridget Carpenter, music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, based on the novel by Mary Rodgers

2017/18

• Escape to Margaritaville – book by Greg Garcia and Mike O'Malley, music and lyrics by Jimmy Buffett
• At the Old Place – by Rachel Bonds
• Kill Local – by Mat Smart
• Wild Goose Dreams – by Hansol Jung
• SUMMER: The Donna Summer Musical – book by Colman Domingo, Robert Cary, and Des McAnuff
• Mike Birbiglia: The New One – by Mike Birbiglia
• The Cake – by Bekah Brunstetter
• Home of the Brave – by Lee Cataluna

2018/19

• The Squirrels by Robert Askins
• Queens by Martyna Majok
• Seize the King by Will Power
• Hundred Days by The Bengsons and Sarah Gancher
• The Year to Come by Lindsay Ferrentino
• Diana by Joe DiPietro, music and lyrics by David Bryan

2019/20

• Put Your House in Order by Ike Holter
• The Luckiest by Melissa Ross
• The Coast Starlight by Keith Bunin
• Kiss My Aztec! by John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone, music by Benjamin Velez, lyrics by David Kamp, Benjamin Velez, and John Leguizamo
• Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee
• FLY by Rajiv Joseph, music by Bill Sherman, lyrics by Kirsten Childs and Rajiv Joseph, based on the book Peter and Wendy by J.M. Barrie

2021/22

• The Garden by Charlayne Woodard
• To The Yellow House by Kimber Lee
• Bhangin' It: A Bangin' New Musical by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza, music and lyrics by Sam Willmott

2022/23

• Lempicka by Carson Kreitzer and Matt Gould
• Here There Are Blueberries by Moises Kaufman and Amanda Gronich
• Fandango for Butterflies (And Coyotes) by Andrea Thome, music by Sinuhe Padilla
• Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord by Kristina Wong
• As You Like It by William Shakespeare
• The Outsiders by Adam Rapp, music and lyrics by Jamestown Revival, based on the novel by S.E. Hinton

2023/24

• Love All by Anna Deveare Smith
• Is It Thursday Yet? by Jenn Freeman and Sonya Tayeh, composed by Holland Andrews
• The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical by Joe Iconis and Gregory S. Moss, music and lyrics by Joe Iconis
• SUMO by Lisa Sanaye Dring
• Babbitt by Joe DiPietro, based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis
• Redwood by Tina Landau, music by Kate Diaz, lyrics by Kate Diaz and Tina Landau

2024/25

• The Ballad of Johnny and June by Des McAnuff and Robert Cary with music by Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
• Derecho by Noelle Viñas
• Velour: A Drag Spectacular by Sasha Velour and Moises Kaufman
• Primary Trust by Eboni Booth
• Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again by Anna Ouyang Moench
• 3 Summers of Lincoln by Joe DiPietro, lyrics by Daniel J. Watts and Joe DiPietro, music by Crystal Monee Hall

External links

• La Jolla Playhouse official website
• California Arts Council
• Christopher Ashley, La Jolla Playhouse Artistic Director – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org, October 2007