LOS ANGELES — Jessica Stone, a Tony-nominated director (“Kimberly Akimbo,” “Water for Elephants”), has been named the new artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse, succeeding Christopher Ashley at the helm of one of the nation’s preeminent regional theaters. The Board of Trustees of La Jolla Playhouse made the announcement on Tuesday.
Her appointment ends the monopoly of male artistic directors at peer institutions in Southern California. In a region that boasts some of the country’s most important nonprofit theaters (the Old Globe, South Coast Repertory, Center Theatre Group, Pasadena Playhouse and the Geffen Playhouse), La Jolla Playhouse will be the only one of this elite group with a woman calling the artistic shots.
Stone had a flourishing career as an actor, racking up numerous Broadway credits before she transitioned to directing. Her last outing on a Broadway stage as a performer came in Kathleen Marshall’s 2011 Tony-winning revival of “Anything Goes,” starring Sutton Foster…