Ep20 - Christopher Ashley: Tony Award Winning Director and Mastermind behind La Jolla Playhouse

Tony winning director Christopher Ashley is best know for various shows including Come From Away, Memphis, Xanadu, and All Shook Up and is the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. In this episode, he speaks about his time at Yale as a math major who spent a lot of time in the theatre department. We discuss his career as a Broadway director, which eventually lead him to a Tony Award for best direction of a musical for Come From Away (and even how it is going to be made into a film!).  Christopher speaks about the difference between the New York and California theatre communities, the importance of arts funding and how theatre brings people together and creates a sense of community. Find more information about the La Jolla Playhouse by visiting lajollaplayhouse.org. Connect with The Theatre Podcast: Support us on Patreon: Patreon.com/TheTheatrePodcast TikTok: @thetheatrepodcast Twitter & Instagram: @theatre_podcast Facebook.com/OfficialTheatrePodcast TheTheatrePodcast.com Alan's personal Instagram: @alanseales Jillian's personal Instagram: @jillianhochman Email me at [email protected]. I want to know what you think. Thank you to our friends Jukebox The Ghost for our intro and outro music. You can find them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook @jukeboxtheghost or via the web via jukeboxtheghost.com. A very special thanks to our patrons who help make this podcast possible! If you would like to see your name in this show notes or get a shout out on the pod itself, visit ttp.fm/patreon to become a member and show your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices