Yoshimi's Battle Bridges Science and Art

A groundbreaking science fiction musical is wowing audiences at the UC San Diego-based La Jolla Playhouse. Directed by Des McAnuff, the Tony Award-winning director of Broadway musicals “Jersey Boys” and “The Who’s Tommy,” “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots” is a magical tale of love and the struggle for survival set to the music of The Flaming Lips and featuring a 14-foot robot puppet, dancers in “glowing” LED costumes and stunning projections

But beyond the cutting-edge stagecraft, “Yoshimi” is a testament to the intertwined and largely unexplored relationship between science and art. In this sold-out event, leading San Diego medical researchers and La Jolla Playhouse artists, including McAnuff and Artistic Director Christopher Ashley, have a frank and fascinating discussion about the creative ground they share.

Moderated by Daniel Einhorn, medical director of Scripps Whittier Diabetes Institute, the panel also includes Gerald Joyce, professor in the departments of chemistry and molecular biology at The Scripps Research Institute, Thomas Albright, director of the Vision Center laboratory at Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and Pamela Itkin-Ansari, adjunct assistant professor at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute.

Watch “The Art in Science, The Science in Art” on UCSD-TV December 4 at 8:30pm or online now.