Quick Facts
Biography
Christopher Ashley (b. July 6, 1964) is a stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse.
Biography
Ashley graduated from Yale University in 1984, where he studied Math and English. In 1997, he completed The Drama League program for directors. He was appointed artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, California, in 2007.
Ashley directed the musical Memphis, which opened on Broadway in October 2009, receiving the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Directorand Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Musical. He previously directed the musical Xanadu (2007) on Broadway, receiving a Drama Desk Award nomination, for direction, as well as several other plays and musicals.
He has directed many stage works Off-Broadway, including at the Manhattan Theatre Club. He directed Jeffrey by Paul Rudnick Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in 1993, for which he received the Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director. He also directed the film version, which was released in 1995.
He directed the Sondheim Kennedy Center Celebration productions of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002.
He directed the new musical Come from Away, which premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in June 2015, and will open on Broadway in February 2017 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
He is directing the new musical stage version of Freaky Friday, which premiered at the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia in October 2016.
Work
- Broadway
- Leap of Faith (2012)
- Memphis (2009)
- Xanadu (2007)
- The 24 Hour Plays (2005) (Special Benefit): That Other Person"
- All Shook Up (2005)
- The Smell of the Kill (2002)
- The Rocky Horror Show (2000) (Revival) Tony Award nomination, Direction of a Musical
- Voices in the Dark (1999)
- Jackie (1997) (Production consultant)
- Off-Broadway (select)
- Blown Sideways Through Life written by Claudia Shear (1993 and 1994), also TV film (1995)
- Jeffrey (1992 and 1993), also the film (1995)
- Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities, written by Anna Deavere Smith (1992) Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Director
- Communicating Doors, written by Alan Ayckbourn (1998)
- Valhalla (2004), written by Paul Rudnick; Lucille Lortel Award nomination, Outstanding Director
- Regional
- Freaky Friday, Signature Theatre (2016)
- Come from Away, La Jolla Playhouse (2015)
- "List of 2001 Tony Award Winners" The New York Times, May 15, 2001
- " 'Blown Sideways Through Life' Film Overview" tcm.com, accessed October 9, 2016
- ^ Internet Movie Database listing imdb.com
- " 'Jeffrey' Film, 1995" tcm.com, accessed October 9, 2016
- Sommer, Elyse. "A CurtainUp Review 'Valhalla'" CurtainUp, February 4, 2004