Theater News

La Jolla Playhouse 2019-20 Season to Feature Work by John Leguizamo and More

The season will also include world premieres by Ike Holter and Melissa Ross.

John Leguizamo will present Kiss My Aztec! at the La Jolla Playhouse.
John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone's Kiss My Aztec! will play at La Jolla Playhouse.
(© David Gordon)

La Jolla Playhouse has announced four productions for its 2019-20 season.

The theater's plans include the world premieres of Put Your House in Order by Ike Holter, directed by Lili-Anne Brown; and The Luckiest, by Melissa Ross, directed by former Playhouse associate artistic director Jaime Castañeda. The Luckiest was developed as part of the Playhouse's 2018 DNA New Work Series.

The season will also include the Berkeley Repertory Theatre production of John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone's Kiss My Aztec!, directed by Tony Taccone, based on a screenplay by John Leguizamo and Stephen Chbosky. The show features music by Benjamin Velez; and lyrics by Velez, David Kamp, and Leguizamo. Closing out the season will be Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee, featuring songs by the acclaimed Cambodian-American band Dengue Fever, directed by Chay Yew.

Two additional productions and run dates for the upcoming season will be announced shortly.

"The 2019/2020 season showcases four riveting new pieces that represent a multitude of vibrant and vigorous voices, all of which examine — in vastly different ways — how ordinary people attempt to persevere under extraordinary circumstances," said artistic director Christopher Ashley in a statement. "John Leguizamo and Tony Taccone's new musical takes us back to the 16th century in a savagely funny and deeply-irreverent piece about the Aztec resistance to the Spanish conquistadores; rising Chicago playwright Ike Holter's Put Your House in Order is a witty, suspenseful cross between a romantic comedy and apocalyptic thriller; Melissa Ross's The Luckiest — developed during our 2018 DNA New Work Series — paints a moving picture of a young woman attempting to re-take control of her life in the face of a serious illness; and UC San Diego MFA alumna Lauren Yee's Cambodian Rock Band is a redemptive and rocking story of a father and daughter finding each other amidst decades-old secrets."