North Coast Rep - Artistic Director David Ellenstein
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North Coast Rep hires artistic director
By Anne Marie Welsh
San Diego Union-Tribune theater critic
November 22, 2002

After a national search, North Coast Repertory Theatre has hired L.A.-based actor-director-teacher David Ellenstein as its next artistic director.

Ellenstein replaces Sean Murray, who resigned in August after four years of building the Solana Beach theater's artistic reputation and nearly tripling its budget.

Ellenstein is best known to San Diego audiences for his astute, passionate production last year of Eugene O'Neill's masterpiece, "Long Day's Journey Into Night," for George Flint's Renaissance Theatre Company at downtown's Lyceum Space. Starring Rosina Reynolds and Jonathan McMurtry, the staging was as subtly calibrated as fine chamber music.

Ellenstein, who is directing "A Christmas Carol" in Michigan, also runs the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and the Los Angeles Repertory Company. He's worked with the education program at La Jolla Playhouse, and has been an artistic adviser to the San Diego-based Streisand Festival of New Jewish Plays.

He's expected to officially assume the post sometime after Jan. 1, 2003.

NORTH COUNTY TIMES
Backstage - North Coast Rep hires new chief
PAM KRAGEN
Staff Writer

Three months after losing its acclaimed artistic director, Sean Murray, North Coast Repertory Theatre has announced his replacement ---- a man equally acclaimed in the regional theater circuit.

David Ellenstein, artistic director for the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and the Los Angeles Repertory Company, will take over the helm of the Solana Beach theater company in a few weeks.

Ellenstein's work is familiar to San Diego theatergoers. He has served as artistic consultant for the Streisand Festival of New Jewish Plays, and he directed Renaissance Theatre Company's critically acclaimed 2001 production of "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at the Lyceum Theatre in San Diego. Ellenstein, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Denise, and their infant son, James Michael, said that he plans to move to San Diego in the near future.

Ellenstein's appointment comes after a nationwide search, which resulted in 125 applicants from as far away as Australia. North Coast Rep board President Ira Epstein said Ellenstein stood head and shoulders above the competition.

"His talents as a director, actor and teacher are exemplary, Mr. Ellenstein was by far the best applicant for the position, and we look forward to having his talents shine at NCRT," Epstein said.

Born in New York City into a theatrical family, Ellenstein has spent his life in theater as an actor, director and teacher, working in theaters across the country. This past week he was in Michigan directing a production of "A Christmas Carol," but he answered a few questions about his new job via e-mail.

When asked what attracted him to the job here, Ellenstein cited North Coast Rep's commitment to growth and to presenting quality and diverse work. Quality of life issues also play a part. Ellenstein said he and his wife look forward to raising their 4 1/2-month-old son in San Diego.

As for long-term goals, Ellenstein said he wants to continue growing North Coast Rep into a fully professional theater, raise the artistic standards and eventually move to a new home theater.

"I know what great work Sean (Murray) had been doing, and I plan to build upon that," he said. "I'd like North Coast Rep to become an artistic haven for the theater artists in the San Diego area."

Ellenstein said he likes all kinds of theater and wants to keep North Coast Rep's focus broad.

"I love it all, from Shakespeare to the new work. I like style pieces, broad comedy and deep tragedy ---- work that celebrates the human spirit. My calling in this world is to create theater that makes the world a better place to live in," he said.

Taking on an ambitious growth project in a dour economy is daunting, but Ellenstein said he's not discouraged.

"Arts have always managed to flourish in hard economic times," he said. "The need becomes greater and the messages more important. I think if our aim is true and what we stand for is communicated properly, we will attract the necessary funds. We must be diligent and clear. I tend to be an optimist, but one must dream of the possible to be an artist."

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