Agatha Christie's THE UNEXPECTED GUEST will be the single ExxonMobile Summer Chills play, running for three weeks. For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.
THE ALLEY THEATRE
www.alleytheatre.org
Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director
ExxonMobile Summer Chills 2008
PRESENTS
Agatha Christie's THE UNEXPECTED GUEST will be the single ExxonMobile Summer
Chills play, running for three weeks. For more information visit
www.alleytheatre.org.
AGATHA CHRISTIE'S
THE UNEXPECTED GUEST
July 10th
through August 3rd, 2008
Twisty Mystery Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest
Slated for Alley Theatre’s Annual ExxonMobil Summer Chills
Annual ExxonMobil Summer Chills Production The Unexpected Guest Appears at the Alley Theatre Hubbard Stage and runs July 10 through August 3, 2008
HOUSTON, TX –Alley Theatre will produce one of Agatha Christie’s favorite murder mysteries, Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. ExxonMobil Summer Chills productions are perfect summer outings for families and friends seeking a cool respite from the Houston summer heat. With tickets starting at the low price of $21, ExxonMobil Summer Chills is a great way to introduce live theatre to first-timers, giving them an opportunity to thrill in the series’ plot twists, suspenseful moments and unexpected revelations.
Directed by Alley Associate
Director James Black, Agatha Christie's
The Unexpected Guest begins previews
Thursday, July 10, opens
officially Saturday, July 12
and runs through
Sunday, August 3,
2008.
The Alley Theatre is supported by the 2008-2009 season sponsor Continental
Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre.
Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest
will be the single ExxonMobil Summer Chills play, running for three weeks. In
dense fog near the South Welsh coastline, a stranger runs his car into a ditch
and arrives at a nearby house. Inside, he finds the murdered body of a former
big-game hunter. The dead man’s wife is near the body with a gun in her hand.
Is she guilty or is she protecting someone? Appearances are sure to deceive in
this twisty mystery. Guardian
review of the 1958 premiere said "At the end [Agatha Christie] heard the kind of
applause that has given her Mousetrap
a record six-year run."
Dame Agatha Christie, the
most famous creator of murder mysteries, was born in 1890 and worked as a
hospital dispenser during the First World War. Her first detective novel,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
(1920), introduced Hercule Poirot, the Belgian hero who was to appear in many
subsequent novels and plays. Over the next 56 years, Christie wrote 66 novels
and more than a dozen plays, including
Murder on the Orient Express,
The Mousetrap, The Unexpected
Guest, Black Coffee,
And Then There Were None, and the Miss Marple mysteries -
which served as the basis for the films
Murder, She Said and Murder at
the Gallop and the inspiration for many television programs. The
Alley has produced many of Christie’s plays, among them
Death on the Nile,
Witness for the Prosecution, The
Mousetrap, Black Coffee,
Spider’s Web and
Towards Zero.
The cast of Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest features Alley Company Actors Paul Hope as Julian Farrar, Elizabeth Heflin as Laura Warwick, James Black as Michael Starkwedder, Todd Waite as Henry Angel, Jeffrey Bean as Sergeant Cadwallader and John Tyson as Inspector Thomas. Rounding out the cast are Ann Quackenbush as Miss Bennett (Alley's House and Garden), Brandon Hearnsberger as Jan Warwick (Alley's Othello and The Lieutenant of Inishmore) and Melissa Hart as Mrs. Warwick (Alley's Steele Magnolias and After the Fall).
The design team for Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest includes Scenic Design and Lighting Design by Kevin Rigdon (Alley's Underneath the Lintel, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Scene, Death on the Nile), Costume Design by Alejo Vietti (Alley's Othello, The Scene, Death on the Nile, Tryst, A Christmas Carol) and Sound Design by Joe Pino (Alley's Doubt and The Crucible).
TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets are $21, $25, $29 and $39 and will go on sale to members of the Alley
Theatre’s Email Club beginning April 18, 2008. Tickets will be available for the
general public on May 2. Tickets to
Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest are available for
purchase at
www.alleytheatre.org,
at the Alley Theatre Box Office,
615 Texas Avenue, or by calling
713.220.5700. Groups of 10 or more can receive special concierge services and
select discounts by calling 713.315.3346. The added convenience of reservations
by phone or Internet is available for a nominal fee.
CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE
Sunday, July 13, 2008
7:30 p.m.
The Alley Theatre is pleased to offer open captioning for many of our
productions throughout the season. To ensure that your seats will accommodate
your needs, please call the box office at 713.220.5700 when ordering tickets to
this performance. Discounted tickets are available for groups of ten or more.
Call 713.315.3346 for more information. Sponsored by National Oilwell Varco.
PAGES & STAGES
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
6:15 p.m. - 7:15 p.m.
Alley Theatre has partnered with the Houston Public Library to create this
pre-curtain event for each Hubbard Stage production. Patrons who have read
The Body in the Library by Agatha
Christie will discuss the book. Please call Lizz Eynatten at 713.315.5404, or
visit www.alleytheatre.org for details.
ACTOUT
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Houston's premiere theatre group for gay and lesbian theatre fans and their
friends celebrates the Alley Theatre’s production of
Agatha Christie’s The Unexpected Guest.
To find out more call 713.228.9341, ext. 404. To purchase tickets, go online and
use promotion code “ACTOUT” or call 713.220.5700 and mention "ActOUT."
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