Christopher Ashley, the Tony Award-winning artistic director of La Jolla Playhouse since 2007, will be honored next year with one of the theater industry’s most prestigious accolades, the “Mr. Abbott” Award.

Past recipients of the “Mr. Abbott” honor include such luminaries as Bob Fosse (1986), Mike Nichols (1987), Trevor Nunn (1993), Susan Stroman (2001), George C. Wolfe (2011) and former Old Globe artistic director Jack O’Brien (2002). Handed out by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (SDCF), the “Mr. Abbott” is awarded to a director or choreographer in recognition of lifetime achievement. It’s named after George Abbott, a director-producer-playwright who was a major Broadway presence from the 1920s-1960s.

Dani Barlow, director of the SDCF, said Ashley is being recognized for his “extraordinary” versatility as a director of musicals and plays and the significant number of Broadway shows that he has developed over the years at La Jolla Playhouse, including the world premiere of “Come from Away,” for which he won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical.

The recipient of each year’s “Mr. Abbott” award is selected by a jury of theater industry peers that includes 2015 honoree James Lapine, a director, bookwriter and three-time Tony winner whose credits include “Sunday in the Park with George” and “Into the Woods.” Lapine said Ashley’s recognition is well-deserved.

“I want to celebrate Chris who is so deserving of this recognition. He is not only one of our most talented directors but has always been kind, generous and supportive of his peers,” Lapine said.

Ashley’s numerous directing credits include the Broadway musicals “Come From Away,” “Memphis,” “Diana: The Musical,” “Xanadu, “Leap of Faith,” “All Shook Up” and “The Rocky Horror Show.” He has also directed at the Playhouse the world premieres of “The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical,” “Babbitt,” “The Darrell Hammond Project,” “Hollywood” and “Chasing the Song,” among many others. He has also directed several films, including “Jeffrey” and “Lucky Stiff.”

Ashley will receive the award at a gala event on March 31 in New York City co-chaired by “Come From Away” Tony nominee Jenn Colella and two-time Tony-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, who grew up in San Diego.