LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES 2020/2021 SEASON
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Contact: Becky Biegelsen
PRESS RELEASE (858) 228-3092 | bbiegelsen@ljp.org
LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES 2020/2021 SEASON
SLATE TO FEATURE TWO WORLD PREMIERES, A WIDELY-ACCLAIMED
PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST AND A BROADWAY-BOUND MUSICAL
Bhangin’ It
World Premiere
Book by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza
Music and Lyrics by Sam Willmott
Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran
Mother Russia
World Premiere
By Lauren Yee
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
What the Constitution Means to Me
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Oliver Butler
Lempicka
Book and Lyrics by Carson Kreitzer
Music by Matt Gould
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Announced for Broadway in 2020/21
La Jolla, CA — La Jolla Playhouse announces four of six productions for its 2020/2021 season: the
world premieres of Bhangin’ It, book by Mike Lew (Tiger Style!) and Rehana Lew Mirza (DNA New
Work Series’ Child of Colonialism), music and lyrics by Sam Willmott, directed by Amy Anders
Corcoran, co-produced with McCarter Theatre Center; and Mother Russia, by UC San Diego MFA
alumna Lauren Yee (Cambodian Rock Band), directed by Tyne Rafaeli (The Coast Starlight); along
with What the Constitution Means to Me, the acclaimed work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Heidi
Schreck, directed by Oliver Butler; and the previously-announced, Broadway-bound musical
Lempicka, book and lyrics by Carson Kreitzer, music by Matt Gould, directed by 2019 Tony Award
winner Rachel Chavkin (Broadway’s Hadestown).
The season will also include a new show directed by Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic
Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and a sixth production to be announced shortly. Tickets for the
Playhouse’s 2020/2021 season are currently available only by subscription at LaJollaPlayhouse.org
or by calling (858) 550-1010.
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.org“I couldn’t be more proud of this exceptional season, featuring two vibrant new musicals and a
pair of plays by two of the most decorated playwrights working today,” said Ashley. “Bhangin’ It
explores the competitive world of intercollegiate Bhangra dance in a charming and infectious
musical comedy, while Lempicka is a riveting new piece about one of the 20th century’s most
compelling artists. We’re also delighted to welcome back UC San Diego graduate Lauren Yee
with her latest work, a comedy about dealing with new-found freedoms in 1990s Russia, and to
share with audiences Heidi Schreck’s celebrated Broadway hit – a deeply personal and incredibly
moving play about the defining document of our country.”
About the 2020/2021 Season
Bhangin’ It
Book by Mike Lew and Rehana Lew Mirza
Music and Lyrics by Sam Willmott
Directed by Amy Anders Corcoran
Co-Production with McCarter Theatre Center
Winner of the 2019 Richard Rodgers Award, Bhangin’ It is an exhilarating new musical set in the
high stakes world of intercollegiate competitive Bhangra: a traditional Punjabi folk dance
morphed into a good ol' American dance-off. Mary, a biracial college student, thinks she's got all
the right moves on the Bengal Tigers Bhangra team – but to teammate Preeti, she is just not
“Indian enough.” When Mary is abruptly booted off the Tigers, she and her roommate Sunita put
together a team whose only criteria for joining is a desire to dance. With Nationals coming up, can
Mary whip this eclectic, ragtag group into shape to take on the competition? Brash, intoxicating
and joyous, Bhangin' It is a celebration of the traditions we inherit from yesterday and those we
create for tomorrow.
Mother Russia
By Lauren Yee
Directed by Tyne Rafaeli
Welcome to St. Petersburg in the 1990s – the Berlin Wall has fallen, the Soviet Union has
dissolved and opportunity abounds. But barely-competent government surveillance workers
Euvgeny and Dmitri find themselves lost in their strange new world of glasnost, perestroika and
McDonald’s. When they’re assigned to track Katya, a fallen pop-star with international allure, a
love triangle, mistaken identities and some really shoddy espionage tactics are set in motion. It’s
possible they might just make it out of this mess and find happiness – if only they could make a
decision. A world-premiere comedy about the curse of freedom and having to choose between
the Filet-o-Fish and the Big Mac.
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgWhat the Constitution Means to Me
By Heidi Schreck
Directed by Oliver Butler
Direct from Broadway, the 2019 Tony-nominated Best Play and Pulitzer Prize finalist What the
Constitution Means to Me, by famed writer Heidi Schreck, arrives at La Jolla Playhouse for a
strictly limited engagement. This boundary-breaking play breathes new life into our Constitution
and imagines how it will shape the next generation of Americans. Fifteen-year-old Heidi earned
her college tuition by winning Constitutional debate competitions across the United States. In this
hilarious, hopeful and achingly-human new play, she resurrects her teenage self in order to trace
the profound relationship between four generations of women and the founding document
that shaped their lives. Schreck’s timely and galvanizing play, directed by Oliver Butler, became a
sensation off-Broadway last fall before transferring to Broadway, where it received two Tony
Award nominations among countless other accolades. See the play The New York Times hails
as "not just the best play on Broadway, but also the most important." Casting for What the
Constitution Means to Me will be announced at a later date.
Lempicka
Book and Lyrics by Carson Kreitzer
Music by Matt Gould
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Amid the violence of the Russian Revolution, a young painter named Tamara de Lempicka and her
aristocrat husband are forced to abandon their luxurious lifestyle and flee to the dubious safety of
Paris. Relying on raw talent and relentless ambition, Tamara claws her way from penniless refugee
to in-demand portraitist, earning a place among Parisian high society. Her world is upended once
again when she meets Rafaela, a free spirit from the city slums, who introduces Tamara to a new
world of decadence and passion. Torn between her new muse and her husband and fighting to
leave her mark on an ever-changing world, Tamara must discover the depths of her own strength
to survive. Spanning decades of political turmoil and told through a thrilling, pop-infused score,
Lempicka boldly explores the contradictions of a world in crisis, a woman ahead of her era, and an
artist whose time has finally come. The world premiere of Lempicka was originally produced in
July 2018 by the Williamstown Theatre Festival; Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director.
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgArtist Biographies
Christopher Ashley has served as La Jolla Playhouse’s Artistic Director since 2007. During his
tenure, he has helmed the Playhouse’s productions of The Squirrels, Hollywood, The Darrell
Hammond Project, His Girl Friday, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Dram of Drummhicit, A Midsummer
Night’s Dream, Restoration and the musicals Diana, which has been announced for a Broadway
opening in March, 2020, along with Escape to Margaritaville, Freaky Friday, Chasing the Song,
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 and the Craig Noel
Award for Direction. He also spearheaded the Playhouse’s Without Walls (WOW) 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. Ashley also directed the feature films Jeffrey and Lucky Stiff, as well as the American
Playhouse production of Blown Sideways Through Life for PBS. He is the recipient of the Princess
Grace Award, Drama League Director Fellowship and NEA/TCG Director Fellowship.
Oliver Butler (Director, What the Constitution Means to Me) is a founder and co-Artistic Director of
The Debate Society. He recently directed the Broadway premiere of What the Constitution Means
to Me (Tony, Lucille Lortel, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award
nominations; finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama), the west coast Premiere of Will Eno's Thom
Pain (based on nothing) starring Rainn Wilson at The Geffen Playhouse, Thom Pain (based on
nothing) starring Michael C. Hall at the Signature Theatre Company and The Amateurs by Jordan
Harrison at The Vineyard. Regional productions include Itamar Moses’s The Whistleblower at
Denver Center, Christopher Shinn's An Opening in Time at Hartford Stage and Daniel Goldfarb's
Legacy at Williamstown Theatre Festival. In Australia he directed the premiere of Timeshare by
Lally Katz at The Malthouse in Melbourne. He also directed the premiere of Will Eno’s The Open
House (OBIE Award for Direction; Lortel Award, Best Play) at the Signature Theatre Company. He
is a Sundance Institute Fellow and a Bill Foeller Fellow (Williamstown).
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgRachel Chavkin (Director, Lempicka) received the 2019 Tony Award, Drama Desk Award and
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Director of a Musical for Hadestown. She is a director, writer
and dramaturg, as well as the founding Artistic Director of Brooklyn-based ensemble the TEAM
(theteamplays.org), whose work has been seen all over London and the UK, including the National
Theatre, Royal Court and multiple collaborations with the National Theatre of Scotland. Selected
freelance work: Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (Ars Nova, A.R.T.,
Broadway), Lempicka (Williamstown), Caryl Churchill's Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (New York
Theatre Workshop), Marco Ramirez’s The Royale (Old Globe, Lincoln Center), Bess Wohl’s Small
Mouth Sounds (Ars Nova, Off-Broadway, national tour), Sarah Gancher’s I’ll Get You Back Again
(Round House) and multiple collaborations with Taylor Mac including The Lily's Revenge, Act 2
(HERE). In addition to her awards for Hadestown, Chavkin is a recipient of a Tony Award
nomination for Best Direction of a Musical, three Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, multiple
Lortel Award nominations, two Doris Duke Impact Award nominations and the 2017 Smithsonian
Award for Ingenuity along with Dave Malloy, with whom she is working on an upcoming
adaptation of Moby Dick (A.R.T. December 2019). Her first film, Remind Me, was an official
selection of the Venice and Beverly Hills Film Festivals. Proud NYTW Usual Suspect and Member
of SDC.
Amy Anders Corcoran (Director, Bhangin’ It) was the associate/resident director of Escape to
Margaritaville for Christopher Ashley on the pre-Broadway tour and on Broadway, and directed
the national tour which opened in Providence, RI in October. She also served as Mr. Ashley’s
Associate Director on Disney’s Freaky Friday. Corcoran directs mostly new musicals, including the
NYC off-Broadway and London premieres of Unexpected Joy. Her work has also been seen at
Asolo Rep, Guthrie Theatre, Goodspeed, NAMT and American Conservatory Theater. Favorite
directing credits include 21 Chump Street (European premiere), I Am My Own Wife (NYC site-
specific production), Little Women, Smokey Joe’s Café and CULT!. Corcoran received the SDC
Noël Coward Fellowship for Comedic Direction, mentored by Mark Rucker. A proud member of
SDC, she holds a B.A. in Psychology with Honors from the University of Kansas and an M.F.A. in
Directing from Penn State.
Matt Gould (Composer, Lempicka) is a two-time Richard Rodgers Award winner (2012 and 2014)
and Jonathan Larson Award winner. His musical Witness Uganda (aka Invisible Thread), written
with Griffin Matthews, had its NY premier at Second Stage Theater and its world premiere at the
American Repertory Theater at Harvard. His original musical Lempicka, written with Carson
Kreitzer, premiered at the Williamstown Theater Festival in 2018. Other works include The Family
Project for LA’s Center Theatre Group and Twilight in Manchego (directed by Tony Winner Billy
Porter). Gould has written and arranged music for Playwrights Horizons and translated, adapted
and directed Romeo and Juliet in Pulaar (Mauritania, West Africa). Matt has performed around the
world including Uganda, Mauritania and Japan, and across the US. A graduate of Boston
University’s College of Fine Arts, Matt is a frequent speaker and guest lecturer at schools and
Universities. He is the co-director of UgandaProject but mostly just wants to be home with his
husband and kid watching Sesame Street and walking the dogs. #Zaddy @FakeMattGould
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgCarson Kreitzer (Librettist/Lyricist, Lempicka) is a playwright, lyricist, librettist and a recent
Guggenheim, MacDowell and McKnight Fellow. Current projects include Capital Crime!, a play
with songs set in Gilded Age New York, and a series of plays about the climate crisis: green,
Timebomb and a third play inspired by her time on a ship in the Arctic, exploring the Svalbard
Archipelago as part of The Arctic Circle Artist and Scientist Residency Program. Her plays include
The Love Song of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Rosenthal New Play Prize, Steinberg New Play Citation
and Stavis Award), The Slow Drag (New York and London) and Lasso of Truth (NNPN Rolling
World Premiere). She is a Core Writer with The Playwrights’ Center, an alumna of New Dramatists
and was the first Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark. Her collection SELF DEFENSE
and other plays is available from No Passport Press.
Mike Lew (Co-Librettist, Bhangin’ It) is beyond thrilled to return to La Jolla Playhouse, his
hometown theatre. Previous collaborations with the Playhouse include serving as the 2018/19
Artist-in-Residence and a commission for The Colonialism Project (both with Rehana Lew Mirza),
and the west coast premiere of his play Tiger Style! (also at Olney, Huntington and Alliance). His
other plays include Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi at the Public, Donmar Warehouse, Wooly Mammoth,
Artists Rep); Bike America (Ma-Yi, Alliance) and microcrisis (Ma-Yi, InterAct, Next Act). He and Ms.
Lew Mirza are joint Mellon Foundation Playwrights-in-Residence at Ma-Yi Theater. Mike is a
Dramatists Guild Council member, Tony voter and New Dramatists resident. Honors: Lark
Venturous and NYFA fellowships; PEN, Lanford Wilson, Helen Merrill, Heideman and Kendeda
awards. Education: Juilliard, Yale.
Rehana Lew Mirza’s (Co-Librettist, Bhangin’ It) previous collaborations with La Jolla Playhouse
include serving as the 2018/19 Artist-in-Residence and a commission for The Colonialism Project
(both with Mike Lew). Her plays include: Hatefuck (2019 production at Colt Coeur and WP
Theater; upcoming production at Round House in 2020); A People’s Guide to History in the Time
of Here and Now (Primary Stages commission; workshop production: AMDA); Soldier X
(productions: Ma-Yi, Brooklyn College; 2015 Kilroys List; NYSCA/Lark commission); Tomorrow,
Inshallah (Storyworks/HuffPost commission; production: Living Room Theater, Kansas City);
Neighborhood Watch (NNPN/ InterAct commission); and Barriers (productions: Desipina, Asian
American Theater Company). Honors include: 2019 NYFA Fellow, Colt Coeur Company member,
HBO Access Fellow, Lilly Award (Stacey Mindich “Go Write A Play”) and a TCG/New Georges
Fellowship. She and Mike also share a Mellon Foundation National Playwright residency
administered in partnership with Howlround at Ma-Yi Theater. M.F.A.: Columbia University; B.F.A.:
NYU Tisch.
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgTyne Rafaeli (Director, Mother Russia) recently directed La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere of
Keith Bunin’s The Coast Starlight. She is a New York-based director of new plays, classics and
musicals. Recent productions include Ming Peiffer's Usual Girls at Roundabout Theater Company
(New York Times Critics’ Pick), Craig Lucas' I Was Most Alive with You at Playwrights Horizons
(New York Times Critics’ Pick), Martyna Majok’s Ironbound and the world premieres of Anna
Ziegler’s Actually and Amanda Peet’s Our Very Own Carlin McCullough at Geffen Playhouse,
Michael Yates Crowley’s The Rape of the Sabine Women at The Playwrights Realm, and the New
York premiere of Lauren Yee’s In a Word (New York Times Critics’ Pick). Her work has also been
seen at Classic Stage Company, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Two
River Theater, PlayMakers Rep, New York Stage & Film, Goodspeed, Juilliard, Williamstown
Theatre Festival, Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare
Festival and the O'Neill Playwrights Conference. Tyne is a 2016-18 Time Warner Directing Fellow
at the Women's Project Theater and received the 2014 SDC Sir John Gielgud Fellowship for
Classic Direction.
Heidi Schreck (Playwright, What the Constitution Means to Me) is a writer and performer living in
Brooklyn. What the Constitution Means to Me was recently named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and won
the Obie Award and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best American Play. Schreck also
received two Tony Award nominations for What the Constitution Means to Me for Best Play and
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play, and received the 2019 Benjamin
Hadley Danks Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters. Her play Grand Concourse, which
debuted at Playwrights Horizons and Steppenwolf Theatre in 2014–2015, won the Stacey Mindich
Lilly Award in 2015 and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Screenwriting credits
include I Love Dick, Billions and Nurse Jackie. Schreck has also taught playwriting and
screenwriting at NYU, Columbia, Kenyon College, and Primary Stages. She has received three
Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and a Theatre World Award. She is also the recipient of the
Horton Foote Playwriting Award and the Hull-Warriner Award from the Dramatists Guild.
Sam Willmott’s (Composer/Lyricist, Bhangin It) projects include Yo, Vikings! and the Swedish
Cottage Marionette Theatre's Wake Up, Daisy! (both with Marcus Stevens); the Emmy-nominated
HBO documentary Song of Parkland, Standardized Testing – The Musical!!!! and the mini-musical
Scarlet Takes a Tumble. His written work has received the Kleban Prize, the Fred Ebb Award, a
Jonathan Larson Grant, the ASCAP Foundation’s Cole Porter and Harold Adamson Awards,
MAC’s John Wallowitch Award, and the Kennedy Center ACTF Musical Theater Award. He has
written over 150 songs for the Korean English-language children’s program, English Egg, and
taught at Harvard University, Pace University’s Musical Theater BFA, and Lincoln Center’s
Songwriting in Schools Program. SamWillmott.com.
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(858) 550-1070 | 2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037 | LaJollaPlayhouse.orgLauren Yee’s (Playwright, Mother Russia) Cambodian Rock Band, with music by Dengue Fever, will
be produced at La Jolla Playhouse November 12 – December 15. It premiered at South Coast
Rep, with subsequent productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Victory Gardens, City Theatre,
Merrimack Rep, Signature Theatre, Portland Center Stage and Jungle Theatre. Her play The Great
Leap has been produced at the Denver Center, Seattle Repertory, Atlantic Theater, Guthrie
Theater, American Conservatory Theater, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre and Steppenwolf, with future
productions at Long Wharf and Asolo Rep/Miami New Drama. Honors include the Doris Duke
Artists Award, Steinberg Playwright Award, Whiting Award, Steinberg/ ATCA Award, American
Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, Horton Foote Prize, Kesselring Prize, Primus Prize, a
Hodder Fellowship at Princeton and the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List. She's a
Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists member, Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab
member and Playwrights Realm alumna playwright. Her TV work includes Pachinko (Apple) and
Soundtrack (Netflix). She is currently under commission from Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla
Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage and South Coast Rep. B.A.: Yale. M.F.A.: UC San
Diego. laurenyee.com
McCarter Theatre Center (Co-Producer, Bhangin’ It) Under the leadership of award-winning
playwright and Artistic Director Emily Mann, Managing Director Michael S. Rosenberg, and
Special Programming Director William W. Lockwood, McCarter Theatre Centre’s mission is to
create world-class theater and present the finest artists for the community’s engagement,
education, and entertainment. Winner of the 1994 Tony Award® for Outstanding Regional
Theatre, world premieres include Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
(2013 Tony® – Best Play); Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brother/Sister Plays; Emily Mann’s Having
Our Say; and Danai Gurira’s The Convert. Upcoming productions for 2019-2020 include Rachel
Bonds’ Goodnight Nobody; Anthony Shaffer’s murder mystery, Sleuth; and Nathan Alan Davis’
The Refuge Plays. McCarter brings artists from around the world to Princeton, New Jersey
including Andy Borowitz, The Moth Mainstage, Gregory Porter, Roseanne Cash, and more.
Education and outreach efforts serve tens of thousands through student matinees, in-school
residencies, and adult classes. mccarter.org.
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. Currently led by Tony
Award winner Christopher Ashley, the Rich Family Artistic Director of La Jolla Playhouse, and
Managing Director Debby Buchholz, the Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck,
Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer. Renowned for its development of new plays and musicals, as
well as its biennial Without Walls (WOW) Festival, the Playhouse has mounted 103 world
premieres, commissioned 52 new works, and sent 33 productions to Broadway – among them
Jersey Boys, The Who’s Tommy, Memphis, the currently-running hit musical Come From Away
and the upcoming Diana, set to open in March, 2020 – garnering a total of 38 Tony Awards, plus
the 1993 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. The Playhouse is also one of the few
theatres in the country to annually commission and tour a brand-new play for young audiences.
LaJollaPlayhouse.org.
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