Lakewood Playhouse Names John Munn Managing Artistic Director

Serving as interim managing artistic director of the Lakewood Playhouse one month before the death of Marcus Walker in March of 2011, John Munn, 46, was offered the position by the Playhouse this on Friday.

Below is a press release by the Playhouse:

Munn was born and raised in Tacoma and graduated high school from Charles Wright Academy in University Place. He attended the University of LaVerne in California and Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland.

He started his theatrical career in the Young Actor's Program at Tacoma Little Theatre when he was eight years old. This year marks both his 30-year anniversary of his acting debut at the Lakewood Playhouse starting with "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" to his 15th anniversary as a director for the Playhouse "Sherlock Holmes: The Crucifer of Blood."

In that time, he has been involved, in various capacities, in more than 100 local stage productions and has served on the boards of both the Playhouse and Tacoma Little Theatre.

For three years, in the early '90s, he founded and ran Tacoma's first new theatre company since Tacoma Actor's Guild, Last Ditch Efforts.

The Weekly Volcano named him Tacoman of the Year in 2011.

He is also the founder and CEO of Comic Book Ink, an award-winning comic shop located in Lakewood.