ALLEY THEATRE

www.alleytheatre.org

James Black, Interim Artistic Director

Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director
Box Office Phone 713-220-5700

Presents

THE 2017 - 2018 SEASON

 

 

Alley Theatre Announces Schedule Changes

for 2017-2018 Season due to flood damage from Hurricane Harvey


– Lawrence Wright’s Cleo is presented April 2018; New dates for shows in the season –


HOUSTON – The Alley Theatre is moving forward with the 2017-2018 season and announces new spring dates for Cleo by Lawrence Wright, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Holmes and Watson, and The Cake.

"“Hurricane Harvey’s impact is continuing to affect the Alley, but we are very glad that we have been able to re-schedule the premiere of Cleo later in the Spring, and especially excited to go forward with the original dates for the premiere of Describe the Night at the Quintero Theatre at UH, beginning September 15,” said Gregory Boyd, Alley Theatre’s Artistic Director. “Alley staff has worked miracles in revising our Spring calendar, in order not to lose any productions in our subscription season. And we know too how supportive all our patrons and audiences have been during challenging times - that gives us great energy going forward.”

Flooding from Hurricane Harvey damaged the Theatre’s electrical systems. These provide power to both stages and are currently offline. The Alley’s production center is also without power, and designers, artisans, and staff have not been able to complete the production work on Cleo which would have allowed us to keep the original October 2017 opening date. Cleo will shift to the Spring, beginning April 6, 2018 and running through April 29 in the Hubbard Theatre at the Alley.

 Additionally, due to the flood damage in the Neuhaus Theatre and the time required to renovate this space, the first production in the Neuhaus will be Lover, Beloved: An Evening with Carson McCullers in February 2018.

In order to accommodate the new dates for Cleo, Satchmo at the Waldorf, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Holmes and Watson, and The Cake will shift their performance dates.

Please see an updated 2017-2018 Alley Season Schedule. New dates and production information will be posted online at alleytheatre.org

 

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 2017-2018 SEASON SCHEDULE

 


 World Premiere

Cleo
 By Lawrence Wright

Directed by Bob Balaban
Hubbard Theatre at the Alley Theatre
Previews Begin: April 6, 2018
Open: April 11, 2018
Press Opening: April 18, 2018
Close: April 29, 2018
Hubbard Theatre

Set during the filming of the disastrous 1963 movie Cleopatra, Cleo is the story of the scandalous romance of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Their relationship brought condemnation from the Vatican and the US Congress, and it opened the age of paparazzi and tabloid celebrity, ensuring that the names Burton and Taylor would always be associated with the greatest sex scandal in ancient history.

Acclaimed director and actor Bob Balaban (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gosford Park and multiple films with Christopher Guest including Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show) directs this new play by the Texas-based, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright.

 

 

Picasso at the Lapin Agile
 By Steve Martin

Directed by Sanford Robbins
Hubbard Theatre at the Alley Theatre
Previews Begin: May 11, 2018
Open: May 16, 2018
Close: June 3, 2018
Hubbard Theatre

Paris. 1904. Picasso and Einstein walk into a bar. Humorous, contemplative and wholly imaginative, comedian and film star turned playwright Steve Martin’s play surprises and provokes. Jumping off from the notion that these two great men were close in age and in Paris at the same time, Martin leaps into a fantastical contemplation of what they might have discussed and who else might have joined them at the Lapin Agile bar.

 

 


 The Cake
 By Bekah Brunstetter

Directed by Jackson Gay
Neuhaus Theatre at the Alley Theatre
Previews Begin: June 1, 2018
Open: June 6, 2018
Close: July 1, 2018

Alley All New Production

Suitable for Mature audiences

Jen lives in New York but has always dreamed of getting married in her native North Carolina. With the wedding six months away, she heads down South to ask Della, her late mother’s best friend who owns a bakery there, to do the honors of making her wedding cake. Della's cakes are the best—she's going to compete on the Great American Baking Show, no big deal. Della is overjoyed to make Jen’s cake—until she realizes that there isn’t just one bride, but two. She can't really bake a cake for such a wedding, can she? Moral quandaries, reality TV and loads and loads of butter form this play by Bekah Brunstetter (NBC’s This Is Us) about three women trying to reach out across a divide that just keeps growing.

 



 Holmes and Watson

By Jeffrey Hatcher

Directed by Mark Shanahan

Hubbard Theatre at the Alley Theatre
Previews Begin: June 22, 2018
Open: June 27, 2018
Close: July 22, 2018

 

Based on the characters of Arthur Conan Doyle

Suitable for general audiences

Three years after the mysterious death of beloved detective Sherlock Holmes off Reichenbach Falls, Dr. John H. Watson receives a telegram that suggest his old friend may still be alive. The mysterious wire was sent from a doctor who states that three patients in his asylum’s care have each claimed to be the late Sherlock Holmes. Watson embarks on a journey to disprove these claims. Could Sherlock Holmes really be alive after all this time? Holmes and Watson is a riveting new adventure from award-winning writer Jeffrey Hatcher.

2017-2018 SUBSCRIBER AND TICKET INFORMATION: All subscribers and current ticket holders will be mailed new tickets for scheduled shows. Patrons with tickets to The Santaland Diaries will be contacted by a member of the Box Office staff to discuss options including donating the value of the tickets to the Alley Theatre Recovery Fund. For any questions, please email boxoffice@alleytheatre.org.

RECOVERY AND REBUILDING THE ALLEY

The Theatre is grateful for the kind notes of concern from many people and organizations around the country. Many of the Alley Theatre’s staff members have suffered personal loss and damages from the storm. The Theatre has set up a tax-deductible Employee Flood Assistance Fund to support these staff members who have dedicated their lives to bringing great theatre to Houston and the nation. Please visit www.alleytheatre.org for more information or text ALLEYSTAFF to 41444 to donate. To donate to the Alley Recovery Fund to help the Theatre recover and rebuild after devastating flooding text ALLEY to 41444.

ABOUT THE ALLEY THEATRE

The Alley Theatre, one of America’s leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company led by interim Artistic Director James Black and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. Home to a Resident Company of actors, the Alley creates a wide-ranging repertoire and innovative productions of classics, neglected modern plays, and premieres. Alley All New, the initiative to commission and develop new work year-round, features the Alley All New Festival each season presenting workshops and readings of new plays and musicals in process. Additionally, the Alley serves 80,000 students annually with award-winning education and community programs including in-school arts integration residencies, school tours and student matinees. A recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley has brought productions to Broadway, 40 American cities including New York’s Lincoln Center and internationally to London, Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg throughout its 71-year history.