NEW VISION,
LINE UP
NEW VOICES I’m excited to share all the details of the Alley Theatre’s 2019–20 season – my first here at the Alley. You will experience a world premiere developed right here during the Alley All New Festival, thrilling new works from fresh voices, as well as fun and familiar titles you know and love. And at the center of it all is our exceptionally talented Resident Acting Company.
On the Hubbard Theatre stage, the season lineup includes the opener Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, set right here in Texas, Quixote Nuevo, a modern take on Cervantes’ Don Quixote by Octavio Solis, a powerful new production of George Orwell’s 1984 by Michael Gene Sullivan, Sarah Ruhl’s zany comedy Dead Man’s Cell Phone, and finally Kate Hamill’s lively adaptation of the Jane Austen favorite Sense and Sensibility. In the Neuhaus Theatre, we’ll open with Vietgone by playwright Qui Nguyen, a fresh new voice whose work I’m thrilled to produce; we’ll welcome the Public Theater’s Artistic Director Oskar Eustis to direct Camp David, a riveting history play by Lawrence Wright (Cleo) about President Jimmy Carter and peace in the Middle East. We’ll close the season with the world premiere of Chisa Hutchinson’s Amerikin which was developed during the 2019 Alley All New Festival. I am delighted to share my premiere season with you. I look forward to seeing you at the Theatre. Regards,
5 PLAY PACKAGE: HUBBARD THEATRE
THE WINTER’S TALE
By William Shakespeare Directed by Rob Melrose September 13 – October 13, 2019
QUIXOTE NUEVO
By Octavio Solis Adapted from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Directed by KJ Sanchez January 17 – February 9, 2020
1984
By George Orwell Adapted by Michael Gene Sullivan Directed by Rob Melrose March 6 – 29, 2020
By Sarah Ruhl Directed by Brandon Weinbrenner April 17 – May 10, 2020
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
By Kate Hamill Based on the novel by Jane Austen Directed by Adriana Baer June 5 – July 5, 2020
8 PLAY PACKAGE: HUBBARD & NEUHAUS THEATRE
VIETGONE
By Qui Nguyen Original Music by Shane Rettig Directed by Desdemona Chiang October 4 – November 3, 2019
CAMP DAVID
AMERIKIN
By Chisa Hutchinson Directed by James Black May 8 – June 7, 2020
By Lawrence Wright Directed by Oskar Eustis February 14 – March 15, 2020
SEASON EXTRAS AGATHA CHRISTIE'S
A CHRISTMAS
Adapted by Ken Ludwig
By Charles Dickens Adapted and Originally Directed by Michael Wilson Directed by James Black November 15 – December 29, 2019
EXXONMOB I L SU M M E R CHI L L S TM
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Rob Melrose Artistic Director
DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE
Directed by Rob Melrose July 19 – August 25, 2019
CAROL
A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS
FULLY COMMITTED
By Becky Mode Directed by Brandon Weinbrenner November 26 – December 29, 2019
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DE S I GNER TALKS A pre-show talk that offers audiences an exclusive opportunity to ask questions about the designers’ work and learn how they brought the script to life. A member of the artistic staff will lead a discussion with the production’s creative team to give audiences a behind-the-scenes look at the design process. alleytheatre.org/designertalk
A L L E Y I N C O NT EX T Dive deeper into your favorite plays with post-show discussions. These talks feature the cast and members of the artistic staff as well as civic leaders, distinguished academics, and area professionals exploring the themes of the play and how they are reflected in our lives today. alleytheatre.org/alleyincontext
MORE THAN YOU SEE ON THE STAGE S PE CTACUL AR EV EN T SPA CES Whether you are looking to have an intimate dinner with friends before a performance, a holiday party for 200, or your next shareholders’ meeting, the Alley has several meeting and function rooms and unique lobby spaces that will make your next event stand out. alleytheatre.org/events
MAKE A GIFT IN CELEBRATION OF ROB MELROSE’S INAUGURAL SEASON! Please consider a gift to celebrate the inaugural season of the Alley Theatre’s Artistic Director, Rob Melrose. Your support will help usher in a new, creative era under Rob’s artistic leadership, benefitting the work you see on stage and out in the community. Philanthropic support accounts for almost half of the Alley Theatre’s annual operating budget. Your generosity would help sustain the Alley’s legacy of producing world-class theatre for Houstonians and beyond while nurturing leading voices that transform American Theatre today. alleytheatre.org/support–us
Applied Theatre at the Alley’s Education and Community Engagement Department offers various programs to engage and educate community members of all ages. Our programs strive to improve literacy skills, spark intellectual curiosity, celebrate community diversity and cultural heritage, and foster personal growth through social emotional learning.
Play Makers camps allow children to learn and hone their theatre skills, have fun in a diverse environment, make new friends, and discover ways to shine on and off the stage. alleytheatre.org/playmakers Alley Character Education Series gives students the gift of laughter while they learn some of life’s toughest lessons. This year’s wacky tours will help kids learn about grit and resilience as well as how to cope with crisis in a healthy way. alleytheatre.org/oskar Alley Articulated is an innovative program that is tailor-made to fit the needs of business professionals. We help with public speaking or daily interactions. alleytheatre.org/articulated Alley Student Matinee Access Programs (MAPS) exposes students to the best the Alley has to offer in exclusive 10 a.m. performances. alleytheatre.org/MAPS El Zócalo is an ongoing place-making initiative to celebrate, grow, and interact with Houston’s diverse Latin culture and artistic community. alleytheatre.org/ElZócalo
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The Flex Subscription Pass is $600 for 10 vouchers to use for any Alley subscription show in the 2019–20 Season and good for any seat in the house. It includes all subscriber benefits! Ideal for people-on-the-go who want to pick select shows and dates. With a Flex Subscription Pass, you can add on the season extras – Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas, and Fully Committed.
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R OM A N TI C TA L E O F RE D E MP T I O N This whimsical tale of romance, tragedy, and comedy will take center stage in familiar places for Alley audiences. Set in Texas, this magical tale will be seen through the imaginative eyes of a young, Houstonian child. This play is a sweeping story of wrath and redemption and of lost and then found love. The Resident Acting Company will join together to tell Shakespeare’s beloved fable of hard-won joy and the promise of renewal. Suitable for ages 12 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting James Black Elizabeth Bunch Dylan Godwin Shawn Hamilton Chris Hutchison
Melissa Pritchett David Rainey Jay Sullivan Todd Waite
MOD ER N R ETELLING Directed by Austin, Texas-based KJ Sanchez and starring “Sesame Street’s” Emilio Delgado, Quixote Nuevo is an inspiring reimagining of Cervantes’ Don Quixote by celebrated playwright Octavio Solis. Set in a fictional modern-day Texas border town, Quixote and his sidekick embark on an adventure in search of long-lost love. Infused with imagination, Tejano music, and true Texas soul, Quixote Nuevo shows the challenges of living in this modern world all the while in pursuit of a lost dream. The play is a co-production with Hartford Stage and Huntington Theatre Company. Suitable for ages 14 and up.
M OD ERN RE T E L L IN G Based on George Orwell’s futuristic novel, 1984 brings us the story of Winston Smith and a stark vision of a world in which freedom of action, word, and thought are controlled by Big Brother. How far are we from realizing Orwell’s nightmare? Are we already there? Can there be more than one truth, more than one set of facts? As the story of Winston’s fight for individual identity unfolds, the vision grows increasingly terrifying as the world it depicts grows uncomfortably familiar. A ferocious and provocative adaptation of one of the most prescient works of literature of the last century. Suitable for ages 14 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting Elizabeth Bunch
David Rainey
Shawn Hamilton
Jay Sullivan
Chris Hutchison
Todd Waite
OF F THE WALL COMEDY An incessantly ringing cell phone in a quiet café. A stranger at the next table who has had enough. And a dead man. So begins Dead Man’s Cell Phone, a wildly imaginative comedy by Sarah Ruhl (The Clean House). An off-the-wall play about the odyssey of a woman forced to confront her own assumptions about morality, redemption, and the need to connect in a technologically obsessed world. Suitable for ages 14 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting Elizabeth Bunch Chris Hutchison Melissa Pritchett
Jay Sullivan Todd Waite
C L A SS IC R OMANTIC FAVOR ITE A playful new adaptation of Jane Austen’s beloved novel follows the fortunes (and misfortunes) of the Dashwood sisters—sensible Elinor and sensitive Marianne—after their father’s sudden death leaves them financially destitute and socially vulnerable. Set in gossipy late 18th-century England, in Kate Hamill’s fresh new adaptation, the play is full of humor, emotional depth, and bold theatricality. Sense and Sensibility examines our reactions, both reasonable and ridiculous, to societal pressures. When reputation is everything, how do you follow your heart? Suitable for high school-aged audiences and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting James Black
Melissa Pritchett
Elizabeth Bunch
David Rainey
Dylan Godwin
Jay Sullivan
Chris Hutchison
A R AUCOUS COMEDY OF TWO VERY NEW AMER ICANS It’s 1975. Saigon has fallen. He lost his wife. She lost her fiancé. But now in America, a strange new land of cowboys, hippies, and bikers, these two Vietnamese refugees just might find each other. Remixing history and culture into a funny and energetic fantasia, playwright Qui Nguyen creates a contemporary twist on the boy meets girl story that The New York Times hails as “a raucous, immensely moving comedy.” Using his irreverent, infectious style, Nguyen takes audiences on a hilariously rip-roaring ride across 1970s America with a hot soundtrack that serves up hip-hop, sass, and revolution. Suitable for ages 14 and up.
P OWE R A N D P O L IT IC S From the Texas playwright of the world premiere Alley hit Cleo. Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright, author of God Save Texas and The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11, offers a behind-the-scenes look at a historical moment whose legacy continues to resonate 41 years later. In the tumultuous 1970s, Middle East peace seemed nearly as impossible as it does today. Yet during 13 days in 1978, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, with the powerful help of U.S. President Jimmy Carter and First Lady Rosalynn Carter, hammered out an agreement that inspired the entire world. Wright’s play delivers a tremendously human look at both the hope and the cost of that historic moment. Suitable for ages 14 and up.
WOR LD PR EMEIR E Developed as part of the 2019 Alley All New Festival. Jeff Browning, a new father desperate for community, casually follows his buddy’s advice and tries to join a white supremacist group…but the results of his ancestry test prove surprising. Amerikin follows Jeff as serious consequences come knocking and the line between “us” and “them” gets incredibly blurry. Suitable for high school-aged audiences and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting Shawn Hamilton
FU L L STEAM AHEAD CL AS S IC THR ILLER Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is a plot-twist masterpiece that has thrilled mystery lovers from television, radio, and film. And now audiences have the chance to experience this lush mystery live onstage. Playwright Ken Ludwig (The Three Musketeers) adapts the classic thriller that features renowned detective Hercule Poirot and a cast of characters sure to have everyone in the audience guessing just who did it. Don’t miss your shot at being at the scene of this masterpiece crime during ExxonMobil’s Summer Chills. Suitable for ages 12 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting James Black
Melissa Pritchett
Elizabeth Bunch
David Rainey
Dylan Godwin
Jay Sullivan
Shawn Hamilton
Todd Waite
Chris Hutchison
FAMILY HOLIDAY TR AD ITION A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas is a familyfriendly re-telling of Charles Dickens’ classic story, which follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey with the three ghostly spirits who visit him on Christmas Eve. A Christmas Carol instills a powerful message about redemption and the spirit of the holiday season. Suitable for ages 6 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting James Black
Charles Krohn*
Elizabeth Bunch
Melissa Pritchett
Shawn Hamilton
David Rainey
Paul Hope*
Jay Sullivan
Chris Hutchison
Todd Waite *Resident Acting Company Emeritus
O NE–MAN HOLIDAY COMEDY Becky Mode’s hilarious and delicious comedy, featuring over 40 characters, comes to life in the hands of one man. Meet Sam. He works the reservation line at one of New York’s hottest restaurants, where the best food inspires the worst behavior. Coercion, threats, and bribes from a cast of desperate callers, all brought to life by one man, prove they will stop at nothing to land a prime reservation or the right table. While juggling scheming socialites, name-dropping wannabes, fickle celebrities, and egomaniacal bosses, can he still manage to get home for the holidays? Suitable for ages 14 and up. 2019–20 Resident Acting Company Casting Dylan Godwin
Stephen Hu and McKenna Marmolejo in Don X. Nguyen’s The Supreme Leader
Christina Austin Lopez, Gabriel Diego Hernández, Juan Sebastián Cruz, and Orlando Arriaga in Hilary Bettis’ 72 Miles to Go...
ALLEY ALL NEW FESTIVAL January 17 – 26, 2020
The Alley is committed to producing more world premieres, commissioning new plays, and engaging and supporting Playwrights year round. Alley All New is comprised of a variety of public and in-house programs designed to support playwrights and cater to the needs of each new project. Through this initiative, the Alley produces world premieres, commissions new plays, and supports playwrights year round. In January, we will showcase six new plays in process by some of the most exciting voices in contemporary theatre via the fifth annual Alley All New Festival. All Alley All New workshop performances and readings are free and open to the public. Festival packages featuring prime seating, parties with festival artists, and meals between performances, will be available for purchase this fall.
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Todd Waite
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