Christopher Ashley

Christopher Ashley (born July 6, 1964) is an American stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse.

Ashley graduated from Yale University in 1986, with a Bachelor of Art in Theatre. In 1987, he completed The Drama League program for directors.

He directed many Off-Broadway stage productions, 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 for Outstanding Director. He also directed the film version, which was released in 1995.

Ashley directed the musical Memphis, which opened on Broadway in October 2009, receiving the Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Director and Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Musical. He previously directed the musical version of the cult 1980 film Xanadu (2007) on Broadway, receiving a Drama Desk Award nomination, for direction, as well as several other plays and musicals.

He directed the Sondheim Kennedy Center Celebration productions of Sweeney Todd and Merrily We Roll Along in 2002.

In 2007 he was appointed artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, California.

He directed the new musical Come from Away, which premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse in June 2015,[10] and opened on Broadway in February 2017 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, receiving a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.[11][12][13] He was originally set to direct a film adaptation of the musical, which was canceled on February 2, 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, he directed a live stage film recording of the show at the Schoenfeld Theatre in front of an invited audience including survivors and first responders from the 9/11 attacks, which was released on Apple TV+ on September 10, 2021, to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the attacks.[14][15][16][17]

He directed the new musical stage version of Freaky Friday, which premiered at the Signature Theatre, Arlington, Virginia in October 2016.[18]

The 2021 film musical Diana, directed by Ashley, was released on Netflix on October 1, 2021.[19]

Ashley is openly gay.[20]