Ashley Alvarez, Eugenia Silva

is thrilled to be making her La Jolla Playhouse debut. Regional: Sweet Goats and Blueberry Señoritas (Portland Stage), The Cubans (Miami New Drama), Anna in the Tropics (Colorado Springs Fine Arts). She’s appeared in other works at New York Theatre Workshop, Williamstown Theatre Festival, LAByrinth, Women’s Project and INTAR. TV: “Search Party” (MAX), “Law & Order” (NBC) and “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC). She co-wrote and stars in Crabs in a Barrel, which won the HBO Latinx Short Film Competition and is currently streaming on MAX. She’s a 2022 Sundance Screenwriting Fellow and recipient of the Sundance Comedy and Latine Fellowship. 

Jorge Sánchez Díaz (he/him), José Portillo

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: Los empeños de una casa (Repertorio Español), The Skin of Our Teeth (Theatre for a New Audience), The Three Musketeers (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Tongue Depressor (The Public Theater). Off-Off Broadway: Lío (Teatro Círculo), Aztec Pirates (The Chain Theater/Lone Star Media). Regional: Junk (Theatre Raleigh). TV: FBI. Education: M.F.A. from Brooklyn College. Dedicado a la gente de Chirilagua, VA. En solidaridad. jorgesanchezdiaz.com 

Asmar Fontenot (he/him), Understudy: Gabe Diaz

La Jolla Playhouse: The Colored Museum (collaboration with Common Ground Theatre). Local credits: Day of Absence (The Old Globe, Common Ground Theatre), Our Collective Yesses (The Old Globe Juneteenth AXIS), Sans Country (Trinity Theatre Company), What Goes Unsaid (Playwrights Project), The Cell Plays (WOW Festival). Education: B.S. in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego.

Caro Guzmán (she/her), Mercedes Silva

is an actor with an appetite for stories that strike the chords of our souls and leave traces on our hearts. She is incredibly excited to be making her La Jolla Playhouse debut with the soulful story that is Derecho. Select credits include: Theatre: She Talks to Beethoven (A.R.T./New York, The Drama League); Acedia (Brick Theater). TV/Film: Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (HBO Max); Red for Revolution premiering at Tribeca Film Festival 2024, opposite Loretta Devine, Jennifer Beals and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Training: Atlantic Theater Company’s Acting Conservatory.

Andrew Gallop (he/him), Understudy: Jeff Randolph

La Jolla Playhouse: Escape to Margaritaville. UC San Diego credits: Waiting for Godot, A Raisin in the Sun, Vieux Carre, Damascus, The Green Cockatoo. Education: M.F.A. from UC San Diego, B.F.A. from the University of Oklahoma. 

Eric Hagen, Jeff Randolph

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional credits include Dial “M” for Murder, The Winter’s Tale, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It, The Tempest and Much Ado About Nothing (The Old Globe); 5 (The Jungle Theater); The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night and King Lear (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Peter/ Piper (Guthrie Theater); Gregory Gregorson and the Magic Pinto Bean (Children’s Theatre Company); Feast of Wolves (Workhaus Collective); A Midwinter Night’s Revel (Walking Shadow Theatre Company). M.F.A.: Old Globe/University of San Diego Graduate Acting Program. B.F.A.: University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program.  

Germainne Lebrón (he/him), Understudy: Gabe Diaz/José Portillo

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. UCSD credits include: The Promise by José Rivera; Romeo & Juliet; 809 Almond (Wagner New Play Festival '24). Regional Theatre credits include: La Gringa (American Stage); Native Gardens (The Warehouse Theatre); The Inheritance (Trinity Rep); Eight Tales of Pedro (The Secret Theatre); Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Cahill Theatre); Dracula, A Christmas Carol (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Are You There? (Humana Festival of New American Plays '20). Education: 2nd year M.F.A. Actor at UC San Diego. Instagram: Germainne_lebron; Germainnelebron.com 

Gio Munguia (he/him), Understudy: José Portillo

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Regional credits include Julius Caesar (New Swan Shakespeare); The Effect (UC Irvine); John Proctor Is The Villain (South Coast Rep); Nicky (Coeurage Ensemble). Education: M.F.A. from UC Irvine.

Carla Navarro (she/her), Soledad Portillo

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Local credits: El Huracán (Cygnet Theatre); Turning Off the Morning News, Drowning Girls, A Bright New Boise (OnStage Playhouse); WOW Festival: Written in Stone (Backyard Renaissance Theatre); Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. (Innermission); Letters from the Wall, From Saints to Stars (Amigos del Rep). Local Tour: G.E.W. (Moxie Theatre). Carla earned her theatre degree in Santiago, Chile where she ran her theatre company until relocating to San Diego. She is a local playwright. www.carla-navarro.com 

Kat Peña (she/her), Understudy: Eugenia Silva/Mercedes Silva/Soledad Portillo

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Sharon (Cygnet Theatre), Dracula (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Are You There? (Humana Festival), Water by the Spoonful (Cahill Theatre), Eight Tales of Pedro (The Secret Theatre), and the award-winning short, Reina. Her UC San Diego credits include: X, The Promise, Dead Girl's Quinceañera, Flea in Her Ear, Dance Nation, Nonna Kills The President, Everybody. Education: M.F.A. in Acting from UC San Diego. katpena.com. 

Luis Vega, Gabe Diaz

La Jolla Playhouse: Seize the King. National Tours: The Humans. Off-Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club (Atlantic Theater Company); Tartuffe (Moliere in the Park); The Gett (Rattlestick Theater); Hindsight (Fault Line); The Underlying Chris (Second Stage); Tell Hector I Miss Him (Atlantic Theater Company); i thought i would die but i didn’t (New Georges/The Tank). Regional: Laughs in Spanish (Denver Center); Change Agent (Arena Stage); Where Storms Are Born (Williamstown); The Underpants (Old Globe); As You Like It (Guthrie). Film/TV: “Elsbeth” (CBS), “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “The Good Fight” (Paramount+), “Madam Secretary” (CBS), Another Earth (Fox Searchlight). Training: M.F.A. from UC San Diego. IG: @sinverguenzaluisvega

Noelle Viñas, Playwright

is a writer and educator from Springfield, Virginia and Montevideo, Uruguay. She's overcome that Derecho is having its world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse after a joyful 2022 DNA New Work Series. Her work has been developed or in residence as a member of the Working Farm at SPACE on Ryder Farm, New York Stage and Film, Tofte Lake Center, Playwrights Foundation, NYC Latinx Playwrights Circle, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Imagination Stage, Weston Playhouse, the Civilians R&D Group, Colt Coeur, and Shotgun Players. This year, her play Cóndor (o, no es dictadura) received a Weissberg Finishing Commission from Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, and IAMA Theatre commissioned and workshopped her two-person play I SAID EVOLUTION. She's also fallen in love with TV writing after staffing on the Peacock show, MRS. DAVIS. Noelle is learning to take herself less seriously all the time, thanks to her sharp-witted mom, the tender presence of a ghost papá, and her siblings Andrea, Alejandro and Carolina. She lives between Brooklyn and LA with Kevin, the love of her life and frequent collaborator. Qué no ni no!

Delicia Turner Sonnenberg, Director

Playhouse credits include The Garden, 2022 POP Tour HOOPLA!, 2018 POP Tour #SuperShinySara, WOW Festival’s The Car Plays SD and Counterweight. Regional credits: The Old Globe Theatre, South Coast Rep, San Diego Rep, Round House Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Other credits: Theatre Calgary, Center Rep, Theatre Squared, Island City Stage, Diversionary Theatre, Cygnet Theatre, New Village Arts, Playwrights Project, Mo`olelo Performing Arts, Two River Theatre and productions at The Old Globe/University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, Sonoma State and Rutgers University, among others. Delicia is a founder and the former Artistic Director of MOXIE Theatre which she helmed for 12 acclaimed seasons, receiving the Des McAnuff New Visions Award for “Risk Taking Leadership and Body of Work” and “2015 Director of the Year” from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. She is currently a Resident Artist at The Old Globe Theatre and serves proudly on the Board for La Jolla Playhouse. Delicia was twice a recipient of the Van Lier Directing Fellowship through Second Stage Theater in New York, and is an alumna of the New York Drama League’s Directors Program, as well as TCG’s New Generations Program. She has received NAACP Theatre Awards, KPBS “Patte” Awards, a Women's International Center Living Legacy Award, as well as many Craig Noel Awards from the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle. 

Tanya Orellana (she/her), Scenic Designer

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Off-Broadway: What Became of US (Atlantic Stage 2). Regional: Big Data, Fefu and her Friends, Poor Yella Rednecks: Vietgone 2 ( A.C.T.); Mother Road (Berkeley Rep); For the People (Guthrie Theatre); One of the Good Ones, Stew (Pasadena Playhouse); Where Did We Sit on the Bus? (Denver Center Theatre); Heart Sellers (Milwaukee Rep); King of the Yees (Signature Theatre);  Alma (Kirk Douglas); Somewhere Over The Border (Syracuse Stage); Private Lives, Justice (Arizona Theatre Company); American Mariachi (Alley Theatre); The Heath (Merrimack Rep). Education: M.F.A. CalArts. Affiliations: La Gente: The Latine Production Network, Wingspace Theatrical Design.

Dominique Fawn Hill, Costume Designer

Dominique's designs include world premieres of plays and musicals produced at venues such as The Public Theater, The Alliance Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, and The Geffen Playhouse. Her theatre credits include Broadway: Fat Ham (Tony Award Nomination) Off-Broadway: Tambo & Bones (Lucille Lortel Award Nomination, Playwrights Horizons), Where the Mountain Meets the Sea (MTC), The Dark Girl Chronicles (The Shed), and 125th & FREEdom (National Black Theatre). She holds a M.F.A. from the University of California, San Diego. You can find her work at DominiqueFHill.com 

Sherrice Mojgani, Lighting Designer

recently designed The Garden (La Jolla Playhouse); Trouble in Mind, What You Are and Skeleton Crew (The Old Globe); Bulrusher and Blues for an Alabama Sky (McCarter Theatre Center); The Mountaintop and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Round House Theater); Tiny Beautiful Things and The Folks at Home (Baltimore Center Stage); The High Ground, The Heiress and Two Trains Running (Arena Stage); Spunk, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and The Scottsboro Boys (Signature Theatre Company); A Raisin in the Sun, Murder on the Orient Express, A Few Good Men and Sweat (Pittsburgh Public Theatre). Sherrice is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She holds a B.A. in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz and an M.F.A. in Lighting Design from UC San Diego. smojgani.com  

Germán Martínez, Sound Designer

A proud son of immigrant parents, Germán Martínez is a Honduran-American, award winning freelance Theatrical Sound Designer based in NYC/NJ. he received his degree in Sound Design from Montclair State University in May 2018. As a designer, he seeks original and enticing plays to help develop, and bring forward the stories of bold playwrights. He strives to provide his services to stories that explore the topics of, but are not exclusive to the LGBTQIA experiences, immigrant and first generation stories, and BIPOC narratives. Germán has worked at several regional theatres, but is over the moon to be making his La Jolla debut. Keep up with his work on Instagram: @GermanTheSoundDesigner

Alberto “Albee” Alvarado (he/him), Wig and Hair Designer

La Jolla Playhouse: The Ballad of Johnny and June, SUMO, The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical, Bhangin’ It, to the yellow house, The Last Tiger in Haiti (Makeup Design). Broadway: The Outsiders. Other regional credits: Clyde’s (Moxie Theatre); A Transparent Musical (Makeup Design; Center Theatre Group); La Boheme, Barber of Seville (San Diego Opera); Sweeney Todd, Little Women (opera), Don Giovanni, Kiss Me Kate (Seagle Music Colony, NY) and San Diego Junior Theatre. Education: B.A. from SDSU. Daniel, family & friends: Gracias for your unwavering support. “I’m here to amplify underrepresented voices. Representation matters. Your story matters.” IG: @saboralbee 

Zharia O’Neal, Dramaturg

is a playwright and dramaturg hailing from the British Virgin Islands. 2022 Playwright-in-Residence at Sound Theatre, USC International Artists’ Fellow, and HUMANITAS PLAY LA awardee. Her work has been commissioned by UCLA's Diversifying the Classics and Sound Theatre and includes: Roost (National Playwrights Conference Semifinalist), Seven Stage Circle (Ashland New Plays Finalist) and more. Selected dramaturgy projects: NAMBAM (Center Theatre Group), Suburban Black Girl (Ojai Playwrights’ Conference, La Jolla Playhouse DNA New Work Series), Is God Is (Lobby Theatre) and A Raisin in the Sun (South Coast Repertory). Residencies: Sound Theatre, Headlands Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm. 

tbd casting co.; Stephanie Yankwitt, CSA, Casting

Casting for La Jolla Playhouse includes the world premieres of The Coast Starlight, to the yellow house, Here There Are Blueberries, SUMO and Babbitt, and multiple staged readings/workshops. Current/upcoming: The Fires (Soho Rep), Here There Are Blueberries (Tectonic Theater Project & New York Theatre Workshop), Sanctuary City (TheaterWorks Hartford) and Public Obscenities (Woolly Mammoth & TFANA). Film/TV includes In the Summers (Exile/Lexicon), ReEntry (PlotNaut) and Ladies First (Culture House/Netflix). Stephanie sits on the CSA's Equity in Entertainment committee.

Chandra R.M. Anthenill (she/her), Stage Manager

La Jolla Playhouse: The Garden, Junk. Regional: Stir, English, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Exotic Deadly, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Trouble in Mind, Krapp’s Last Tape, What You Are, Tiny Beautiful Things, Globe for All (2017–2023), The Lorax, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Guys and Dolls, Camp David, The Comedy of Errors (The Old Globe); Fun Home, Beachtown, Roz and Ray, Into the Beautiful North, Outside Mullingar, The Oldest Boy, Honky (San Diego Rep); El Huracán, Mud Row, The Last Wife, Bad Jews, Sons of the Prophet, Spring Awakening, Assassins, Company (Cygnet). 

Alexa Burn, Assistant Stage Manager

La Jolla Playhouse: Debut. Select credits include Clyde’s (ASM) at the Denver Center; The Royale (SM) at American Players Theatre; Bald Sisters (SM) at San Jose Stage; Intimate Apparel (ASM), The Three Musketeers (ASM), Chicken and Biscuits (ASM), The Great Leap (ASM), Grand Horizons (ASM) and Hood (ASM) at the Asolo Repertory Theatre; and The Code (SM) at American Conservatory Theatre SF. Alexa was also a stage manager at the Disneyland Resort for many years, working with the Disneyland Band, Dapper Dans, and many more. Alexa is thrilled to be joining the LJP family.