Fran de Leon believes in listening to signs.

Over the past year or so, St. Paul-based Theater Mu has been conducting a nationwide search for its next artistic director.

When representatives from the theater reached out to de Leon about the role, she admitted it hadn’t been in her immediate view — she’d lived in Los Angeles for decades and wasn’t looking to leave, and also around the same time had accepted a high-profile fellowship with the Drama League, a national theater organization — but she saw the invitation as a sign.

“Something was telling me to really think outside of what I had normally been focusing on,” she said.

So she said yes.

De Leon officially began as artistic director of Theater Mu on June 2, though she’s about quarter-time right now. As part of the Drama League’s fellowship, she’s spending the summer as a director-in-residence at the Chautauqua Theater Company in upstate New York. During the fall, she’ll split her time about 50-50 between Minnesota and California as she wraps up projects there, then will move to the Twin Cities for good and begin full-time work in December.

Theater Mu, which was founded in 1992 with a specific focus on Asian-American theater and stories, and is now the Midwest’s largest Asian American theater company. As artistic director, de Leon co-leads the organization alongside managing director Anh Thu T. Pham.

The organization’s previous artistic director, Lily Tung Crystal, stepped down last year.

De Leon was born in Los Angeles but lived in the Philippines until she was 8, and has been acting and directing since she was a teenager. Most recently, she was co-artistic director of the L.A.-based touring theater Will & Company and the director of training for Playfair, which applies theater techniques to college campus and corporate programming. She also directs plays on a freelance basis and has had guest and recurring roles on several TV shows including “For All Mankind” on Apple TV and CBS’s “Criminal Minds.”

Before de Leon headed to New York for the Drama League residency, we caught up with her for a Q&A.

QWhat about Theater Mu made you want to say yes when they offered you the role?

AAs a Filipino-American theater artist, it took me a while to define and accept myself as such. I had a touring show that went into college discussing multicultural topics, back in the ‘90s, and then I was asked to come on board for a play called “Dog Eaters” in Los Angeles (in 2007). That was actually the first time that I was part of something specifically Filipino-American. To be in a room of primarily Fil-Am creatives, that showed me that there’s more of us out there — just not necessarily in community with each other. It was a form that I felt I not only wanted to be a part of, but also to ask how I could continue to foster.

(During previous visits to Minnesota,) I saw firsthand how vibrant the Twin Cities theater community is. It was so exciting to me just to feel the vibe, to know that the state has so much support for art and art-making — and making sure to keep it alive, especially right now in a time when we are facing federal cuts.

There were so many elements of Theater Mu that felt like something I wanted to be part of. A company whose mission statement I really believe in, and then meeting those involved: The board, the staff, (managing director Anh Thu T.) Pham and the set-up of co-leadership, which I very much appreciate. So it was surprising in one sense because, again, it wasn’t like I was out there seeking it — but it sought me, and I took the leap and said yes.

QPart of your role at Theater Mu will involve overseeing new-play festivals and writers’ cohorts, and you have experience with talent development and mentorship. How do you see institutions like Mu being able to cultivate the next generation of theater artists?

AFor me, it’s two-fold: To build the next generation of theater makers, as well as the next generation of theater-goers — because we need those folks in there. I have always felt theater needs to be for everyone. There’s kind of an elitism that can happen, especially economically with ticket prices — and that’s another reason I like Mu, is the pay-as-you-are component so shows are really accessible.

And in terms of cultivating the next generation of artists, I believe in pipelining. Any time I’m hired as a director on a project, I say, can we find an associate director and assistant director so we can have these young artists learn by doing? That’s how I learned, by becoming an assistant and an associate and from there coming to the helm. Another thing I’d like to institute at Theater Mu is that all understudies are guaranteed performances. I’d like those guaranteed performances to be peppered throughout the run so the understudies are performing with the principal cast, and the principal cast are there to hold them and carry them as part of the company.

QIn addition to previous artistic director roles, you’ve also directed plays on a freelance basis. How do you negotiate that situation, of going into a new company or community and figuring out how to navigate it?

AAs a freelance director, you’re constantly going into a new space and having to learn the language very quickly and adapt, and I guess that’s where it’s good that I’m a gemini! I’m also the youngest of nine, so I have always had to read the room and figure out, ‘OK, how do I fit in here; when do I speak and when do I sit back?’ I really think that life skill has helped me learn to come in, observe, understand, respect what is already there and then find out how I can add to the experience.

My background is in devised theater. You have a subject, a topic, and that’s all. You have no script, no plotline, no characters — you just get in the room and start exploring and figuring out what this thing is going to be. That really calls for so much openness and flexibility, and a willingness to be wrong. I come into every experience as an artist in that same manner. “I don’t know” is one of my favorite phrases, because it opens me up to learn, and my first year at Theater Mu is going to be learning, learning, learning.