Unsolved Crime in "Hollywood"

Based on a real unsolved crime, Hollywood is a noir whodunit written by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro, set in the Golden Age of film. The thriller, directed by Christopher Ashley, is coming to the La Jolla Playhouse on May 10th through June 12th. 

The year is 1922, when famed director William Desmond Taylor is found murdered in his home. Celebrity suspects rise as headlines flood with reports of love triangles, hush money, and deception. Will Hays, Hollywood's newly appointed moral watchdog, comes to town with a will to silence this scandal and make good of a newly corrupted city. 

In our true-blue American history, Irish-born director, William Desmond Taylor directed 59 silent films and acted in 27 films before his untimely murder on February 1, 1922. He made his directorial debut in 1914 with The Awakening. In 1918, he enlisted as a private in the Canadian Expeditionary Force, which led to him being assigned to the Royal Army Service Corps of the Expeditionary Forces Canteen Service. When returned to Los Angeles in 1919, he was honored by the Motion Picture Directors Association at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. In his short career, he worked with Margaret Gibson, Mary Pickford, Wallace Reid, Dustin Farnum, and Mary Miles Minter. 

The most notable films he directed were The Diamond From the Sky (1915), Davy Crockett (1916), Tom Sawyer (1917), Anne of Green Gables (1919), Huckleberry Finn (1920), and The Green Temptation (1922). Because of his high status and mysteriousness surrounding his death, newspapers often fabricated reports about his murder. He left behind his daughter, Ethel Daisy Deane-Tanner, whom he made his legal heir in 1921.

Playwright Joe DiPietro is best know for the musical Memphis, which won Tony Awards for Best Book and Best Score, along with Best Musical in 2010. His other accomplishments include a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for Best Book for his Gershwin show, Nice Work If You Can Get It, which starred Matthew Broderick and Kelli O'Hara. DiPietro also worked with Bryan in The Toxic Avenger, which debuted off-Broadway. The show won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Musical. His first produced work was I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change, which was the longest-running musical in off-Broadway history with over five thousand performances at the Westside Theatre.

Since October 2007, director Christopher Ashley has served as Artistic Director at La Jolla Playhouse. In his time at the Playhouse, he has worked on Come From Away, John Guare's adaptation of His Girl Friday, David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross, and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. He also directed acclaimed musicals Xandadu, and Memphis, which eventually made their way to Broadway. Ashley oversaw the world premieres Little Miss Sunshine, Limelight: The Story of Charlie Chaplin, Bonnie & Clyde, the West Coast premiere of 33 Variations, and others.

Hollywood will be shown in the Mandell Weiss Theatre. The Weiss Theatre seats just under 500 patrons, with a special two front rows that are removable for greater stage length. The theatre is unique in that it has an upstairs wooden deck for any kind of party, and a small amphitheatre for pre-show entertainment.

This show contains nudity, and children under the age of 6 are not permitted in the theatre during performances unless otherwise posted. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased at La Jolla Playhouse. Patron Services can answer any questions future attendees have at (858) 550-1010.