Christopher Ashley (born July 6, 1964) is an American stage director. Since 2007, he has been the artistic director of the
La Jolla Playhouse.[1]
Career
Ashley graduated from
Yale University in 1986, with a Bachelor of Art in Theatre.[2][3] In 1987, he completed The Drama League program for directors.[4]
Ashley directed the musical Memphis, which opened on
Broadway in October 2009, receiving the
Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Director[7] and
Tony Award nomination, Best Direction of a Musical.[8][2] 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.
In 2007 he was appointed artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, California.[3]
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]