LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE

Christopher Ashley Artistic Director

Christopher Ashley most recently directed Xanadu on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre, which opened in June 2007. Since graduating cum laude from Yale University in 1986, Mr. Ashley has directed over 60 productions, including Broadway musical productions All Shook Up (Palace Theatre 2005, national tour 2006) and The Rocky Horror Show (2001 Tony Award, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle nominations – Best Direction of a Musical, Circle in the Square Theatre). At the Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration he directed both Sweeney Todd (2002, Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction of a Resident Musical) and Merrily We Roll Along; at New York Theatre Workshop, Valhalla (2004, Lucille Lortel Award nomination), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (1998) and Blown Sideways Through Life (1993); at the Minetta Lane Theatre, Jeffrey (1993, Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director, Obie Award, Director); at the WPA Theatre, The Naked Truth (1994) and The Night Hank Williams Died (1989); at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Fires in the Mirror (1993, Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director); at the Goodspeed Opera House, They All Laughed (2001) and the world premiere of Lucky in the Rain (1997); at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Bunny, Bunny (1998); at the Variety Arts, Communicating Doors (1998); at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Wonder of the World (2001), New Yorkers (2001), Between Us (2004) and Regrets Only (2006); at the Helen Hayes Theatre, The Smell of the Kill (2002) and at the Mark Taper Forum, Without Walls (2006). Mr. Ashley has also been the recipient of the Princess Grace Award statuette, the Drama League Director Fellowship and an NEA/TCG Director Fellowship. He also directed the feature film of Jeffrey, released by Orion Classics, and the American Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS.

Michael S. Rosenberg Managing Director

Michael S. Rosenberg was appointed Managing Director of La Jolla Playhouse on April 15, 2009. He was Co-Founder and Executive Director of New York's Drama Dept., where he produced 21 productions, including As Bees in Honey Drown by Douglas Carter Beane, June Moon by George S. Kaufman and Ring Lardner, The Book of Liz, by David and Amy Sedaris, and the Tribeca Theater Festival in partnership with Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Craig Hatkoff, the Tribeca Film Festival and American Express. After twelve years at Drama Dept., he went on to run the theatrical arm of East of Doheny, a theatre and film production company, where he oversaw numerous theatrical projects, including the Tony Award-winning Broadway hit Grey Gardens. Prior to Drama Dept., Rosenberg worked on the management teams for Broadway's The O'Neill Plays and off-Broadway's The Real Live Brady Bunch and Stars in the Morning Sky. He also spent several years in Washington, DC, where he produced and managed educational theatre programs for the National Dance Institute at The Kennedy Center, Kaiser Permanente and the Shakespeare Theatre. Most recently he was a producer of the 2008 Broadway revival of American Buffalo, starring John Leguizamo, Cedric the Entertainer and Haley Joel Osment.

Shirley Fishman Director of Play Development

In addition to her duties as Director of Play Development, Ms. Fishman has served as dramaturg on Carmen, The Deception, Most Wanted, The Wiz, Culture Clash's Zorro in Hell, The Scottish Play, Palm Beach, Eden Lane, When Grace Comes In, Adoration of the Old Woman, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, Diva, I Am My Own Wife (2004 Pulitzer Prize) and Dracula, The Musical. At the Joseph Papp Public Theater, Ms. Fishman dramaturged such projects as Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, directed by Michael Greif; Two Sisters and a Piano by Nilo Cruz; Tina Landau's Space; Arthur Miller's The Ride Down Mount Morgan; Tony Kushner's A Dybbuk: Or Between Two Worlds; David Henry Hwang's Golden Child; numerous works-in-process, readings and workshops and co-curated the Public's annual New Work Now! Festival. She has been a Creative Advisor/Dramaturg at the Sundance Theatre Lab, working on such projects as Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife; Naomi Iizuka's 36 Views and Moises Kaufman's The Laramie Project. She is an M.F.A. graduate of Columbia University's Theatre Theory/Criticism/Dramaturgy program, has lectured at UCSD's Department of Theatre and Dance and is a Dramaturg for UCSD's Baldwin Playwrights Festival. She serves on the Board of Trustees of the San Diego Performing Arts League.

Debby Buchholz General Manager

Ms. Buchholz joined La Jolla Playhouse in September 2002. Prior to joining La Jolla Playhouse, Ms. Buchholz was Counsel to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C., where she oversaw the business and legal arrangements for the Kennedy Center and the National Symphony Orchestra. She worked on numerous special events and television and radio projects including the Kennedy Center Honors and the PBS special, The Kennedy Center Presents. Ms. Buchholz was a member of the Kennedy Center's Senior Management Committee charged with determining budgets, programs and policies for the Center. She was a faculty member of the Smithsonian Institution's program on Legal Problems of Museum Administration. Prior to joining the Kennedy Center, she served as a corporate attorney in New York City and Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of UCSD and Harvard Law School. Ms. Buchholz and her husband, noted author and White House economic policy advisor Todd Buchholz, live in Solana Beach and are the proud parents of Victoria, Katherine and Alexia.

Peter J. Davis Production Manager

Before relocating to San Diego in 2003 to join the staff of La Jolla Playhouse, Mr. Davis spent seven seasons as Production Manager at Second Stage Theatre in New York City, where he helped produce the "second stagings" of Edward Albee's Tiny Alice, Sam Shephard's Tooth of Crime and Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth, as well as the New York premieres of August Wilson's Jitney, Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night and Mary Zimmerman's Metamorphoses (on which he also served as Co-Production Supervisor for the year-long run on Broadway).

Ellen Kulik Director of Development

Ms. Kulik joined the Playhouse in 2007. With an extensive background in fundraising and non-profit management, Ms. Kulik possesses both broad experience and a deep understanding of arts organizations and the unique challenges they face. She led Boston Ballet's overall development effort for eight years; during her tenure, she significantly improved the level of fundraising while doubling annual revenue, led a capital campaign for production refurbishment and worked intensively on Board engagement. Ms. Kulik also worked with the San Francisco Ballet on the senior management team as Director of Development and oversaw an $11 million fundraising program. In addition to dance companies, Ms. Kulik has worked in theatre as Interim Director of Development with San Diego's Old Globe, and as Director of Development with the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston as they undertook a major capital campaign for a new facility. She was also a consultant to the Boston Center for the Arts, a performing and visual arts complex, where she designed a development plan and strategy for individual and major giving. After completing undergraduate course work at Princeton University, Ms. Kulik went on to receive an M.B.A. from Simmons College School of Management. Her first career as a ballet dancer in the U.S. and Europe provided her with a keen insight into the operations of performing arts organizations.

John T. O'Dea Director of Finance

Mr. O'Dea joined the Playhouse in 2006. Mr. O'Dea received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and has an active CPA license. In addition to his extensive experience as a senior accountant for Price Waterhouse, he has worked closely with several publicly traded high-tech companies as a controller. His experience working with outside auditors and with budget preparation, cash flow management and staff supervision, as well as the presentation of financial material to trustees and board committees, made him exactly the right fit for La Jolla Playhouse. Originally from New York, Mr. O'Dea moved to La Jolla in junior high school and has lived in San Diego ever since. O'Dea stays connected to his community by staying highly involved. He serves on both the board of his church and the board of the local UCLA Club of San Diego.

Stephen McCormick Director of Education and Outreach

Mr. McCormick completed his Master of Fine Arts in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University in 2001. He has been the Director of Education and Outreach for La Jolla Playhouse since 2006. During his time at the Playhouse Mr. McCormick has commissioned world premiere productions for youth from high profile playwrights such as Will Power, Kathryn Walat and Rhiana Yazzie. Prior to his time at the Playhouse, Mr. McCormick served as Associate Artistic Director and Education Director for First Stage Children’s Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Over the course of his 15 year relationship with First Stage Mr. McCormick directed productions including Sideways Stories From Wayside School, Two Donuts, Ramona Quimby and A Taste of Sunrise and appeared in numerous productions as an actor. Mr. McCormick has also worked as an educator and/or performer for Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Nashville Children's Theatre, Childsplay, Arkansas Children's Theatre, National Theatre of the Deaf, Arizona State University, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Springer Opera House and the Tennessee School for the Blind. He can also be heard playing various aquatic life in multiple video games for the SpongeBob Squarepants TV series.

Dana Harrel Associate Producer

Ms. Harrel comes to La Jolla Playhouse after serving as the Associate/Resident Director on Xanadu on Broadway. For three years served as Artistic Associate and then Producer Musical Theatre Lab (Stage II) at Barrington Stage Company, where she helped develop and produced The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn, Ears on A Beatles (which transferred to the Daryl Roth Theatre) and Burnt Part Boys (premiering in NYC fall 2008). For three years, served as Co-Artistic Director of Genesius Theatre Group in NYC, where she produced Fair Game by Karl Gajdusek and Worth by Suzanne Lee. Directing credits include the critically-acclaimed play Medallion by Tanya Barfield for the Antigone Project at the Women’s Project, "em>Urinetown for Yale Dramat, Hush at INTAR, Night Train to Bolina by Nilo Cruz, Yerma, Hide and Seek and Fiddler at the Hangar Theatre, Blood Wedding at GSU, El Dia Que Me Quieras for Actors of the World, Such a Pretty Day for New Georges, as well as numerous readings and workshops in NYC and around the country. Associate and Assisting Credits include The 25th Annual ..Spelling Bee (Resident Director), Modern Orthodox (also Resident Director), and Fran’s Bed (all for James Lapine), Two Sisters and A Piano, Lackawanna Blues (Loretta Grec, Dir), Sound of Music, Josh Keenan (Associated Director - Kevin Moriarty, Dir). Translated Lorca’s House of Bernarda Alba for Emily Mann at McCarter Theatre and Yerma at Hangar Theatre. NYU Graduate, NEA/TCG Finalist and Drama League Alumni.

Mary Cook Director of Marketing

Becky Biegelsen Public Relations Director

Ned Collins Director of Operations