Kristianne Kurner Ends Her New Village Arts Run With the Play It Once Staged in Stagecoach Park

Previews of As You Like It begin October 16 at the Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center on State Street. The show runs through November 29, and it is the last production Kristianne Kurner will direct at the company she founded. She picked the play on purpose. In 2001 it was New Village Arts' first Shakespeare in the Park production, staged outdoors at Carlsbad's Stagecoach Park. She brought it back in 2010 at Vista's Moonlight Amphitheatre.

So this fall makes three productions of the same comedy across 25 years. The company's history also runs through Carlsbad places most residents have walked past many times. A converted chicken coop, a Jazzercise studio and an old lumber building each played a part.

Twenty-Five Years, Mapped Onto Familiar Carlsbad Addresses

Kurner and fellow graduates of the Actors Studio Drama School officially launched New Village Arts in April 2001. The company's moves after that line up with landmarks a Carlsbad resident would know:

1. Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center, September 2001. The first public performance was Four Play, an evening of play readings.
2. The Granary in Magee Park. The company's first full production, Cindy Lou Johnson's Brilliant Traces, was staged in what the Union-Tribune calls "a converted chicken coop."
3. Stagecoach Park, 2001. The first Shakespeare in the Park show was As You Like It.
4. A Jazzercise studio, for five years. The company spent this stretch between the Granary and a permanent home.
5. 2787 State Street, from June 2007. In 2006 the Carlsbad City Council approved the company's use of the city-owned former Bauer Lumber building. New Village Arts opened there the next June with Sam Shepard's True West.

The State Street building is still the company's home, much changed since 2007. A renovation reported at $2.8 million reopened it in January 2023. It brought a rebuilt 100-seat theater with new stage, lighting and sound systems, a redesigned ticket office, a smaller second stage and a large mural on the outside wall. The smaller room took over the former Foundry visual-arts space. Today the company calls it the White Family Next Stage and books comedy, opera, spoken word and salsa there.

Why the Building Carries Dea Hurston's Name

The renovated building reopened under a new name, the Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center. Dea Hurston, a local Black playwright and arts philanthropist, cut the ribbon alongside Kurner on January 27, 2023. Hurston died in July 2024 after a long illness.

Naming rights at arts buildings usually follow a donation. Kurner says this one did not:

"We didn't name this building in Dea's honor because of money donated. We did this because we thought 'Who is the most deserving person in San Diego theater to have a name on the building?' It was driven by what we believe."

She told the Union-Tribune that the ribbon cutting with Hurston is one of her fondest offstage memories at the company. The other came the same year, when the Ray Charles Foundation recognized New Village Arts and put Ray Charles' name on its stage.

Small as it is, the 100-seat room has landed some major work. In 2023 Kurner directed Jez Butterworth's The Ferryman, its first U.S. production outside Broadway. "For our little 100-seat theater in Carlsbad to get the premiere of that show is something I will always be proud of," she said. She has produced or directed more than 170 shows with the company.

What Kurner Is Bringing Back to Arden

This As You Like It differs from the 2001 park production. It is the musical adaptation by Shaina Taub and Laurie Woolery, with music and lyrics by Taub, who has won a Tony Award. New Village Arts has set it in Southern California. The banished court becomes image-conscious Hollywood, and the Forest of Arden looks like Joshua Tree. Cast members play instruments live on stage.

Kurner is designing the set as well as directing. Angela Parrish is music director and Nikki Antoine is choreographer.

Dates and times for the run:

• Previews: begin Friday, October 16
• Opening night: Saturday, October 24, with a champagne reception and Handel's Ice Cream
• Matinees: 2:00 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays
• Evenings: 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays
• Closing: November 29

Single tickets are on sale through New Village Arts.

Her Directing Ends in November. Her Producing Runs Into Next Summer.

People have been calling As You Like It Kurner's farewell, and that is true of her directing. It is not her last season as producer. She made the announcement in July 2026: the 25th season, which opened in August with the Queen musical We Will Rock You, is her last as leader of the company. Her final season as producer closes with In the Heights.

The rest of Season 25 runs through next summer.

• Cabaret by Kander and Ebb, with a book by Joe Masteroff: January 29 to March 14, 2027
• Furlough's Paradise by a.k. payne: April 9 to May 9, 2027
• In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes: June 4 to July 18, 2027

Kurner told the Union-Tribune that "this whole season is about creating community." She said ending on In the Heights is "the perfect ending not only for me but for our 25th anniversary season."

One date is still unclear. The Union-Tribune reports that Kurner will stay through June 2027, and the season page lists In the Heights running to July 18. Neither source gives an exact handoff date.

The Search for a Successor

Kurner said she began planning her exit long before she announced it.

"I would say that even around year 15 I started to dream of being able to get New Village to a place where it could survive and thrive without me," she said. She described the company as "strong enough to be here in Carlsbad and do the kind of work that we do and not have to rely on me."

The handoff has been set up deliberately. Kurner will help the board search for her successor and then help train that person before she moves back to New York City. The company says its board has formed a search committee and is working toward a smooth transition. Neither the July announcement nor the company's transition page names a successor.

Whoever is chosen will take over more than the 100-seat theater. The company's outreach includes classes and camps for children, teens and seniors, school partnerships, and the Mainstage Players program for neurodiverse young people. It also runs Mindful Theatre for seniors and people living with Alzheimer's or dementia, and the Dea Hurston Fellowship for underrepresented artists.

Around the Village During the Run

Some performance days fall on busy Village weekends. Halloween is a Saturday this year. Halloween in the Village runs 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day, with trick-or-treating across the Village and a costume contest at Village Faire. That evening's 7:30 curtain gives you time to change after. On Saturday, November 14, the Woman's Club of Carlsbad holds its Holiday Market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3320 Monroe Street, so a morning at the market fits before that afternoon's 2:00 matinee.

For more than four decades, Polly Rogers & Associates has watched institutions like New Village Arts shape daily life along the North County coast, and we support the foundations and community groups that keep them going. If you would like to talk about what places like State Street mean for your corner of Carlsbad, we're happy to help. Request a Complimentary Market Consultation.