SAN DIEGO, June 22 (UPI) -- Des McAnuff will resign from his role as artistic director of San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse to pursue other artistic opportunities.
The director of the Tony award-winning musical "Jersey Boys" led the playhouse from 1983-94 and returned to head up productions again in 2001, Daily Variety reported.
McAnuff will retain ties with the theater when he assumes the newly created position of director emeritus after his contract ends in April.
La Jolla is in the process of forming a search committee to search for McAnuff's successor.
McAnuff -- who won Tony awards for directing "Big River" and "The Who's Tommy" -- plans to direct a revival of "The Wiz" and a production of Aaron Sorkin's "The Farnsworth Invention" before leaving the La Jolla post, Variety reported.
