Today we’d like to introduce you to Bridget Cavaiola Stone.
Hi Bridget, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
About 10 years ago I came to visit my brother in San Diego and just fell in love with the city. Born and raised in Maryland outside of Annapolis, and living 15 years in Baltimore, I thought I would stay there for my life—-it’s an absolutely wonderful place to live and I tell everyone we broke up amicably when I made the big decision to move my whole life to the West Coast. I made a pact with my parents, whom I am very close with, and they moved out here 8 months after me, and I spent the first year of my life here falling in love with San Diego while living in north PB. I am a former high school English and theatre teacher/director, and when I moved here I was running my own consulting business—using theater strategies to teach communication skills in the corporate setting and working all over the 42 school districts of San Diego County as a teaching artist. I was also able to find a super supportive and loving community in Finest City Improv as a teacher and performer—having left the Baltimore Improv Group which I helped develop and grow over 15 years. I had the great fortune to get connected to La Jolla Playhouse early on in my time here, working as an acting teaching artist in their summer programming and have steadily grown and found my home there and am proud to now lead our Learning and Engagement Department as the Director of Learning and Engagement running over 25 unique community programs impacting up to 30,000 San Diegans each year.
I met my husband 6 years ago—he’s raised in Borrego Springs and is an art teacher in Chula Vista, and seeing the desert for the first time was an out of body experience! We postponed our October 2020 wedding due to Covid for a full year to get married in 2021 and are happily living in Bay Park with our dog Sunny in our first purchased home together that we bought a year ago. San Diego is my home—-I love the beaches and the arts and culture. The proximity to Los Angeles has helped fulfill my lifelong dream of being a game show contestant and I even won once at a show called “25 Words Or Less” which I also filmed during the pandemic. More game shows to come!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always struggles and bumps—-interpersonal challenges, the fear of moving and starting over, imposter syndrome–but I honestly do try to follow a few of my favorite improv guidelines in all my decisions and it may seem cheesy, but the same things that help you get genuine humor and laughs on stage can help support those daily challenges we all face. I tell everyone that they should take an Intro to Improv class if they can. There is no other place that will put you in a room with more than a dozen multi-generational strangers, the majority of whom you would never interact with in your life had you not taken this class. And you learn to listen and play with each other. The spirit of “yes, and” helps me focus on finding and meeting people where they are and building on relationships and ideas first rather than shut people and experiences out. My other favorite guideline is, “Make everyone look better than you.” Imagine if we all spent all day doing this how we could all feel so darn good all day long!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As a member of the senior leadership team at La Jolla Playhouse, I am so proud to guide the development and implementation of all learning and community engagement initiatives ensuring that each program aligns with our mission and values. The Playhouse is a nationally recognized leader in developing the new and the next in American theater—and we are so grateful to not only support our artists on our stages but also youth, adult learners, members of our military community, students impacted by the criminal justice system and transformative work with fantastic San Diego community partners.
One of my favorite parts of my job is serving as the Executive Producer for the Performance Outreach Program (POP), which, since 1987, has commissioned groundbreaking artists to create new plays for young audiences, touring throughout San Diego County. I have the pleasure to engage with theatre for young audiences (TYA) playwrights locally and nationally to develop an original play for kids in 3-6 grade. Most of our young audiences are seeing live theatre for the very first time and we bring it right to their school cafetorium! I am so excited to bring our 2026 POP TOUR to schools this spring in March and April. It’s called COLORIN, COLORADO by San Diego playwright Mabelle Reynoso and Directed by Tori Rice. It’s a beautiful Spanish bilingual play about believing in yourself and finding the courage to persevere even when the problems seem insurmountable.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Working as an arts administrator is not for the faint of heart. We are working with vulnerable populations and often have long hours and are facing a climate of budget cuts on the national level in unprecedented levels. But I get to wake up every day and feel so proud of this work and know that connecting the arts into people’s lives is so important now and more than ever. Listening and reciprocity are key to finding meaningful partnerships and relationships and truly meeting people where they are can’t be emphasized enough. Going to back to that Intro to Improv class, I have taught hundreds of students and they have all taught me so much about how we can truly listen to each other and work together to build something that no one has ever conceived of before. They come to improv for so many reasons—-most of them are not looking to be performers—-but are looking for friendship, to step out of their comfort zones, to work on social anxiety, or just get to be creative since their “day jobs” have them sitting in front of computers all day. Staying curious and “leaning in” help me as an educator and as an arts leader. I love to watch other people find their spotlight in whatever way that may show up.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.bridgetcavaiola.com
