Stage

After-Christmas Present: The La Jolla Playhouse is facing a cheerier new year, thanks to a $400,000 gift from the Joan B. Kroc Foundation. Kroc is the widow of Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s. The grant, which enabled the Playhouse to balance its 1989 operations budget, is separate from the theater’s current financial stabilization campaign, which is lobbying to raise $1 million by June 30.