La Jolla Playhouse New Season Includes 'Xanadu,' Kaufman & Busch

La Jolla Playhouse's Artistic Director Christopher Ashley is pleased to announce his inaugural season at La Jolla Playhouse.

33 Variations
April 8 — May 4, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre

The new season begins with 33 Variations, written and directed by Moisés Kaufman. The story of Ludwig van Beethoven's fascination with a trivial waltz written in 1819 and the modern-day musicologist who sets out to discover the root of his obsession, will be making its West Coast premiere. Kaufman is one of the most celebrated writers and directors working in theatre today, receiving a Tony Award nomination and an Obie Award for his direction on and off Broadway, respectively, of Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife, which began at the Playhouse as a Page To Stage workshop production in 2001 and had its West Coast premiere here in 2005. Kaufman is also the author of Gross Indeceny: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and the landmark play The Laramie Project.

The Night Watcher
July 1 — July 27, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Forum

Charlayne Woodard brings her exuberant theatricality and sensitivity to the Playhouse with her new one-woman play The Night Watcher, a Page To Stage workshop production. In the play, Charlayne serves as "Auntie" to 30 nieces and nephews who struggle with the many challenges facing teenagers today. Our Page To Stage New Play Development program provides our audience with an intimate look at the creative process. The show changes nightly based on the audience reaction. Tony Award-nominated and Obie Award-winner Woodard returns to the Playhouse for the first time since her first solo play, Pretty Fire, which premiered here in 1999. Her other works include Neat, In Real Life and Flight.

The Third Story
September 16 — October 19, 2008 in the Sheila & Hughes Potiker Theatre

Charles Busch's hilarious world premiere comedy The Third Story will play to Playhouse audiences this fall. The play follows a 1940s out-of-work screenwriter and her son, who collaborate with her on a new screenplay involving a mobster, a mad scientist and a witch from a Russian fairytale. Commissioned by the Playhouse last year, The Third Story comes on the heels of Busch's Broadway play, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which earned him a Tony Award nomination. Other plays include The Lady in Question and Die, Mommie, Die!, which was subsequently adapted into the Sundance award-winning smash hit film.

Tobacco Road
September 30 — October 26, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Forum

When Jack Kirkland adapted Erskine Caldwell's 1932 novel Tobacco Road for the stage, it became the longest-running play in Broadway history, playing for seven-and-a-half years. Since then, it has seldom been produced and audiences have rarely had the opportunity to see it — until now. The Playhouse revival of this American classic interweaves humor and horror as Georgia sharecroppers teeter on the brink of self-destruction during the Great Depression, barely surviving without fuel, seed money or credit. Director David Schweizer makes his debut at the Playhouse, following his long and successful directing career with productions like Horizon, Boys from Syracuse and Wintertime. With Tobacco Road, Schweizer will direct this searing portrait of the darker side of humanity and the perseverance of love, infusing it with resonance for modern audiences.

Xanadu
November 11 — December 21, 2008 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre

Straight from its current smash Broadway run and directed by Playhouse Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, Xanadu follows a Greek goddess in 1980 who comes to life to inspire a struggling artist to pursue his dreams and establish…a roller disco. With a book by Douglas Carter Beane (Broadway's The Little Dog Laughed) and the movie's original music and lyrics by John Farrar and Jeff Lynne, this tongue-in-cheek, roller-skating extravaganza is sure to tickle your funny bone and have you humming the classic score all the way home. Ashley is thrilled to share this show with La Jolla Playhouse patrons. Some of Ashley's many credits include The Rocky Horror Show and All Shook Up on Broadway, and Off Broadway's Jeffrey, Fires in the Mirror and The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told.

Still to be announced will be the sixth play in our subscription series and two productions in THE EDGE series. THE EDGE series is the newest of La Jolla Playhouse's signature programs that presents audiences the most cutting-edge, challenging and provocative theatre being created today. Supported through a generous grant from the James Irvine Foundation, THE EDGE encompasses bold new work by theatrical forms, integrating new technology or looking at our world in completely new ways.

Six-play, four-play and three-play subscription packages are currently on sale; prices range from $132 to $360. Single tickets for the 2008/2009 season will go on sale March 9.  Single ticket prices range from $29 to $100.

Subscription discounts vary by performance and package choice, with a savings of up to 25% off regular ticket prices.  Students, seniors and military receive $3 off single tickets for all performances except previews and Saturday evenings (when ordering you must provide a valid military ID, student ID or proof of age).

Show schedules usually follow: Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 7:30PM, Thursdays & Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM (no Saturday matinees during first preview week), and Sundays at 2PM & 7PM.

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