La Jolla Playhouse's Eric Keen-Louie Appointed to New Role of Executive Producer

La Jolla Playhouse has announced that Eric Keen-Louie, who joined the Playhouse in 2018 as Producing Director, will take on the new role of Executive Producer at the Theatre.

In this newly-created leadership position, Keen-Louie will serve as lead producer of the Playhouse's subscription season. Additionally, in partnership with Rich Family Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Debby Buchholz, he will be the lead point person in overseeing the development and growth of the theater's mission, core values, programming and practices to continually center the organization's anti-racism and inclusion commitments and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

As lead producer, Keen-Louie will collaborate with Playhouse staff to oversee assembling creative teams, casting, production budgets, and artistic development for all productions in the Playhouse's subscription season. In addition, he will continue to work with the Artistic Department on strategic planning, season programming, and the overall artistic health of the organization. As lead point person for the Playhouse's EDI work, Keen-Louie will collaborate with each department to identify, develop and pursue the organization's diversity and inclusion goals. He will work with staff to ensure ongoing, company-wide anti-racism and anti-harassment training, as well as with the Playhouse's staff-driven Accountability and Inclusion Alliance to support the group's activities and growth.

"From day one at the Playhouse, Eric has shone brilliantly as an innovative leader and trusted collaborator for countless projects, on stage and off. His passion, producing expertise, and fierce dedication to nurturing and championing diverse artists and audiences, made him our unequivocal choice for this vital new position," said Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse.

"Eric is deeply respected in the field - both locally and nationally - and he brings a wealth of experience and an invaluable perspective to the table. We are so delighted to have him step into this key role at the Playhouse," noted Debby Buchholz, Managing Director of La Jolla Playhouse.

Said Keen-Louie: "With the calls for theatres around the country to take tangible action to advance social justice, I can think of no better place to call home at this moment than La Jolla Playhouse. I am honored to work alongside Chris, Debby, and the remarkable staff and board, as we continue to nurture a Playhouse that is more equitable, inclusive, accessible and anti-racist. As a gay third-generation Chinese American, I have not always felt that there was a place for someone like me in theatre. The creation of this position is a reminder that there is and I hope it brings more visibility to the need for continued change and expansion of leadership in our field."

Keen-Louie (he/him/his) joined the Playhouse in 2018 as Producing Director, where he oversaw numerous productions, including the world premieres of The Coast Starlight, Kiss My Aztec! and Diana. He previously worked at The Old Globe for seven years, where he served as Associate Producer and later as Associate Artistic Director. During his tenure he helped guide nearly fifty productions, co-created The Powers New Voices Festival, and helped launch the arts engagement programs Community Voices and Globe for All. Keen-Louie spent three years at The Public Theater as the Assistant to the Associate Producer and then Director of Special Projects. Independently, he produced Kingdom and the GLAAD Media Award-winning when last we flew. He also assisted Broadway producer Margo Lion on Hairspray and Caroline, or Change. He is a recipient of The Edward & Sally Van Lier Arts Fellowship for Producing, an alumnus of American Express' Leadership Academy, and a member of LEAD San Diego's Impact 2021 cohort. He serves as Secretary for the National Alliance of Musical Theatre's Board of Directors and chairs the organization's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility Committee and New Works Committee. He graduated with a B.A. in Dramatic Literature from New York University and an M.F.A. in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University, where he received a Dean's fellowship. He shares his commute to La Jolla with his husband Anthony Keen-Louie, an administrator in student affairs at UC San Diego. He is a proud third-generation Chinese-American.

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 ​105 world premieres, commissioning more than 60 new works, and sending 33 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.

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