At the start of 2020, La Jolla Playhouse’s new musical “Fly” was delighting enthusiastic audiences in our Weiss Theatre. We were sending the Performance Outreach Program Tour play, our annual play for young audiences, into San Diego schools for live performances with students. Five productions of the Playhouse-born “Come From Away” were playing to sold-out houses around the world. And I was in New York in previews for the Broadway premiere of “Diana,” a musical that started on the Playhouse stages. It was a beautifully rich and dynamic moment for the Playhouse.
Then we all know what happened: From one day to the next, all physical, in-person operations ceased and the Playhouse was left, like so many arts institutions, wondering when we would be able to come back together to make theater in person.