Tony Winner Christopher Ashley Will Direct DIANA Musical at La Jolla Playhouse for 2018/19 Season

La Jolla Playhouse announces Diana, a world-premiere musical from the Tony Award-winning Memphis team Joe DiPietro (book and lyrics) and David Bryan (music and lyrics), directed by Playhouse Artistic Director and 2017 Tony Award winner Christopher Ashley, as part of the 2018/2019 season.

"One of the best things about La Jolla Playhouse is the way it serves as an artistic home to which amazing artists return again and again to develop their work," said Ashley. "Among my favorite long-time collaborators are Joe DiPietro and David Bryan - their new musical brings to the stage one of the greatest cultural icons in modern history, and I can't wait to share it with Playhouse audiences next season."

The piece will join four previously-announced plays for the 2018/2019 season, including the world premieres of Robert Askins' The Squirrels, Lindsey Ferrentino's The Year to Come, Will Power's Seize the King, as well as the west coast premiere of Martyna Majok's queens. Tickets to the upcoming season are currently available only through a subscription purchase. Please visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org or call (858) 550-1010 for information. Performance dates and the final production of the 2018/2019 will be announced shortly.

It's 1981 and the world is ready for a royal wedding - but is the 20-year-old bride ready for what comes after? Following her fairytale union, Princess Diana faces a distant husband, an unmovable monarchy and constant media scrutiny. But her unabashed honesty, modern perspective and gentle compassion galvanizes a nation, even as it threatens the royal family's hold on England. Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and the creative team behind the Tony Award-winning musical Memphis bring to the Playhouse this highly-anticipated musical, featuring an eclectic original score, from classical melodies to 1980s-inspired pop and rock music.

David Bryan is a Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist. He won three 2010 Tony Awards for Best Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Musical for the hit Broadway musical Memphis, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. He is a Grammy® Award-winning keyboard player and founding member of Bon Jovi. Over the past 30 years the band has sold more than 150 million records and toured the world, playing to millions of people. Their recent Because We Can tour was the #1 grossing tour in the world. He and Joe DiPietro have also co-written the award-winning musical The Toxic Avenger. Mr. Bryan is also a National Spokesperson for VH1's Save The Music Program. For more information please visit www.davidbryan.com.

Joe DiPietro is a Tony Award-winning playwright and lyricist. He won two Tony Awards for co-writing Memphis, which also received the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. He was nominated for a Tony Award and won a Drama Desk Award for Nice Work If You Can Get It starring Matthew Broderick. His other plays and musicals include I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (the longest-running musical revue in Off-Broadway history); The Toxic Avenger and The Thing About Men (both winners of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Musical); the much-produced comedy Over the River and Through the Woods; The Art of Murder (Edgar Award winner for Best Mystery Play); and the Broadway musical All Shook Up. His play Hollywood had its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse last season and Clever Little Lies debuted at George Street Playhouse starring Marlo Thomas in 2016. His work has received thousands of productions across the country and around the world.

Christopher Ashley has served as La Jolla Playhouse's Artistic Director since October, 2007. During his tenure, he has helmed the Playhouse's productions of Hollywood, The Darrell Hammond Project, Chasing the Song, His Girl Friday, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Dram of Drummhicit, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Restoration, as well as the musicals Escape to Margaritaville, Xanadu, Memphis, which won four 2010 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Come From Away, for which he won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical. He also spearheaded the Playhouse's Without Walls (WOW) series, the DNA New Work Series and the Resident Theatre program. Prior to joining the Playhouse, he directed the Broadway productions of Xanadu (Drama Desk nomination), All Shook Up and The Rocky Horror Show (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations), as well as the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration productions of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along. Other New York credits include: Blown Sideways Through Life, Jeffrey (Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla, 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 also directed the feature films Jeffrey and Lucky Stiff, as well as the American Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. Mr. Ashley is the recipient of the Princess Grace Award, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.

The Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is internationally-renowned for creating some of the most exciting and adventurous work in American theatre, through its new play development initiatives, its innovative Without Walls series, artist residencies and commissions. Led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, the Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer. La Jolla Playhouse has had 30 productions transfer to Broadway, garnering 38 Tony Awards, among them the currently running hit musical Come From Away, as well as Jersey Boys, Memphis, The Who's Tommy, Big River, as well as Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays and the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, both fostered as part of the Playhouse's Page To Stage Program.

Visit LaJollaPlayhouse.org.