Kristianne Kurner’s first production wasn’t in a theater — it was in her backyard.
Kurner, New Village Arts’ executive artistic director and founder, began her directing career as a youth, putting together shows with her best friends and inviting neighbors to be the audience. One original show — a musical medley — told the tale of three women who traveled to Hollywood, Kurner recalled.
“Taking people, finding what they’re best at — putting it together with the goal of telling a story that’s outside of your own lived experience — is really what always drives me,” Kurner said.
However, Kurner’s passion for producing, performance and creativity didn’t stop in her backyard.
After spending several years working professionally in Los Angeles, Kurner channeled that same creativity into founding New Village Arts, or NVA, in 2001, an award-winning nonprofit professional theater company in Carlsbad.
Now, after 25 years, Kurner will step down from her position in June 2027 to pursue producing opportunities in New York City, she told The Coast News.
Kurner completed her graduate studies at the Actors Studio Drama School, which partnered with The New School in New York City at the time. Thirty years later, Kurner said she thinks she will experience the city differently and is excited by New York City’s vibrancy.
“I feel like I’ve got unfinished business with the city,” Kurner said.
Kurner said she is also looking forward to helping her son, who also lives and works in New York, produce his work.
When she first conceptualized NVA, Kurner said she knew she wanted to set anchor in Carlsbad. She said she felt the city and the people of Carlsbad supported the arts and believed that performance was vital to a “healthy community.”
During her time at NVA, Kurner witnessed the company go from operating in a converted chicken coop at The Granary when it was first founded, to the corporate headquarters at Jazzercise, to finally its current home: the Bauer Lumber Building in Carlsbad Village.
NVA’s current building is owned by the city — another example Kurner said demonstrated the city’s support.
Kurner has produced and/or directed more than 170 shows during her time at NVA. Some of the shows that stand out to her include premiering “The Ferryman” after negotiating with a Hollywood agent for four months and the original holiday musical “A Black Family Christmas,” she said.
A recorded version of “A Black Family Christmas” still plays on PBS and KPBS.
In 2023, NVA’s building was renamed the Dea Hurston New Village Arts Center, making it the second arts center in the U.S. to be named after a Black woman. Hurston, who died in 2024, was a local Black playwright and arts philanthropist who advocated for diversity in theater.
The center’s Ray Charles Stage was also named after the famed singer-songwriter. Kurner, who takes pride in the center’s commitment to diversity, said the two examples are among her favorite memories at NVA.
However, Kurner’s success with NVA did not come without adversity. One of the challenges of founding NVA was learning how to approach problems — especially those associated with the business side of running the company — with a “creative mindset.”
When NVA Artistic Producer Kali Boston joined the company in 2023, she said Kurner immediately made her feel welcome.
“You could feel her warmth and you could feel how much she cared about the arts and creating the best show possible,” Boston said.
Boston said one of the things she admires about Kurner is her problem-solving abilities, as well as her commitment to making the theater an inclusive and diverse space. Boston, who is a member of the BIPOC community, said Kurner has been “unwaveringly” supportive of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ communities — a trait Boston feels isn’t often found in people in high positions of power.
NVA Manager of Marketing and Communications Olivia Pence said she is inspired “24/7” by Kurner’s leadership style, especially as a woman leader in theater, a space Pence said can feel dominated by men.
Pence, who first joined NVA as a performer in 2019, said Carlsbad Village has grown tremendously over the past 25 years because of its budding food, culture and entertainment scene.
Pence said she feels Kurner has helped build that community in Carlsbad Village by introducing award-winning theater into the local fabric.
“You build that community of theater goers and patrons that all are coming together to create and inspire and witness something special here in the middle of your community,” Pence said.
Kurner said she is passionate about building community through producing theater, art and stories — a principle that guided her vision for NVA. The collaborative effort that goes into productions can ultimately be exhilarating, allowing the community to experience a story together, she said.
Kurner’s last show as a director with NVA will be William Shakespeare’s classic “As You Like It,” while her last show as a producer will be “In the Heights.” Kurner said it felt fitting to end her time at NVA with the two productions, given “As You Like It” grapples with themes associated with community and “In the Heights” is set in New York City — Kurner’s future home.
“You get this experience of watching your community be better because of the hard work you put in — and what a gift is that,” Kurner said.
