ALLEY THEATRE

Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director
Paul R. Tetreault, Managing Director

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE


(L-R) Annalee Jefferies as Beatrice and James Black as Eddie Carbone. Alley Resident Company Actor James Black returns to Houston from his Broadway debut to take the role of Eddie Carbone in Arthur Miller's most compelling masterpiece A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. His character is at the center of this modern tragedy about the life of an unhappy Brooklyn longshoreman driven to extremes by a violent and corrosive passion. When Eddie learns the news that his beautiful niece Catherine has fallen in love with one of his wife's cousins, he makes plans to dissolve the love affair. A View from the Bridge is directed by Stephen Rayne who has been affiliated with England's Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. Photo by Jim Caldwell.


Arthur Miller's Compelling Masterpiece
Launches Alley Theatre Season

September - 24 - October 23, 1999

Opening September 29, 1999
http: / /www.alleytheatre.com


Houston, Texas - A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE, Arthur Miller's outstanding modern
tragedy will be the first play featured in the Alley Theatre's 1999 - 2000
Large Stage season, sponsored by Stanford Group. Stephen Rayne, who has
worked with England's Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company
will direct. Sponsored by Shell Oil Company Foundation and BJ Services,
A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE begins previews Friday, September 24 and opens
Wednesday, September 29, running through October 23, 1999.

Alley Resident Company Actor James Black returns to Houston from his Broadway
debut in Not About Nightingales (after originating the role of Butch O'Fallon
in London and then Houston), to perform the lead role of Eddie Carbone in
A View from the Bridge. While in New York for Not About Nightingales, James
Black received a Theatre World Award and was nominated for a Friends of New
York Theatre Award. He was also listed by Time Out magazine as the actor
"Who's Missing" from the 1999 Tony Awards nominee list for Best Featured
Actor in a Play.

Mr. Black will be Eddie Carbone, the Brooklyn longshoreman around which the
story of A View From The Bridge unfolds. Eddie leads an unfulfilled and
unhappy life which is temporarily enlivened by the presence of his niece
Catherine. His attachment to her becomes more and more apparent with the
entrance of his wife Beatrice's cousins Rodolpho and Marco, who come to
stay with them in an effort to avoid the immigration authorities. As a
relationship between Catherine and Rodolpho develops, Eddie's jealousy
blinds him to the consequences of his own behavior.





Arthur Miller


Born in 1917 in New York, Arthur Miller is one of America's greatest living playwrights. He
grew up in Brooklyn and when he returned there after college, Miller worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard while writing scripts for radio. The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Death of a Salesman, he achieved his first major success with his 1947 play All My Sons. When Death of a Salesman hit
Broadway in 1949, Miller began to be recognized along with Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams as one of this century's three great American dramatists. He went on to win a Tony Award for his 1953 hit The Crucible. Miller's personal knowledge of Brooklyn served as inspiration for the characters of A View from the Bridge which he wrote in 1955. Some of his other plays include: A Memory of Two Mondays, After the Fall, Incident at Vichy, The Price, and Playing for Time. Along with many other honors and accolades, Arthur Miller received a 1999 Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Joining Mr. Black are Alley Company Actor James Belcher as Mike; Chris Henry Coffey as
Rodolpho; Alley Resident Company Actor Annalee Jefferies as Beatrice Carbone; Alley Resident
Company Actor Charles Krohn as the First Immigration Officer; Ty Mayberry as the Second
Immigration Officer; Alley Company Actor Alex Allen Morris as Louis; Alley Company Actor Noble Shropshire (also fresh from Broadway's Not About Nightingales) as Alfieri; Alley Resident Company Actor John Tyson as Tony; Sabrina Veroczi as Catherine; and Alley Company Actor Kevin Waldron as Marco. A View from the Bridge features scenic design by Hugh Landwehr, lighting design by Pat Collins, costume design by Karyl Newman and sound design by new Alley Resident Sound Designer Malcolm Nicholls.

Following the Alley run, the University of Texas Performing Aits Center will present the Alley's
production of A View from the Bridge Oct. 28-31 in Austin for its Texas Trailbl@azers Series,
celebrating the contributions Texas artists have made to music, theatre, and dance. As part of this co- production, the Alley Theatre artistic staff will be coordinating a number of theatre workshops on a variety of production topics at the UT Performing Arts Center.
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The Alley Theatre, recipient of the 1996 Special Tony Award for outstanding regional theatre, is
a resident theatre company located in the heart of downtown Houston. Alley productions have been seen throughout the United States and abroad. In 1998, the Alley Theatre continued
its commitment to international collaborations by joining Vanessa Redgrave and
Corin Redgrave's Moving Theatre of London to produce the world premiere
production of Tennessee Williams early play Not About Nightingales at the
Cottesloe Theatre in London. A collaboration with the Moving Theatre and
Royal National Theatre and directed by Trevor Nunn, Not About Nightingales
made its U.S. debut at the Alley Theatre in June 1998 and went on to open at
the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in the Spring of 1999, featuring
two Alley Actors in principal roles. The Alley began its 1998 - 99 season
with the world premiere of an original and unique musical event entitled
The Civil War by Gregory Boyd, Jack Murphy and Frank Wildhorn (composer of
Jekyll & Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel and an Alley Theatre Associate Artist).
The Civil War also went on to a run at Broadway's St. James Theatre in April,
1999, making it the second Alley offering on Broadway that season.

For the 1999 - 2000 season, Gregory Boyd, the Alley Theatre Artistic Director
has chosen to include a juxtaposition of the new, the contemporary and the
classic - including a trio of new plays by three writers making their Alley
debuts: Lemonade, a world premiere by Eve Ensler, As Bees in Honey Drown, a
brilliant comedy by Douglas Carter Beane, and Margaret Edson's 1999 Pulitzer
Prize winner WIT. Alongside these are three modern masters who helped define
20th century playwriting : Arthur Miller, Tom Stoppard and Noel Coward
(whose centennial is being celebrated); and two very contrasting productions
of plays written by the young William Shakespeare, on his way to defining an
earlier millennium.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE can be purchased at the Alley Theatre Box
Office, 615 Texas Avenue, or by calling 713-228-8421. Tickets to preview
performances are $19 - 35; tickets to performances on or after September 29
range from $32 - 49. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets at a
discounted rate by calling 713-228-9341, ext. 350. Patrons with low hearing
may call (TTY) 713-220-5710 to purchase tickets.


SPECIAL PERFORMANCES AND EVENTS
PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN
The Alley Theatre continues its efforts to make its productions available to broader audiences.
Three Pay-What-You-Can perforrnances----offered to patrons who, for financial reasons, may not
otherwise be able to attend full-price performances at the Alley-are scheduled during this run:

8 p.m. Friday, September 24; 7:30 p.m. Sunday, September 26; and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, September 28 (Available for select seats, limit two per person--cash or check only@with a $2 minimum for each ticket. Available in-person, the day of the performance only.)

SPANISH TRANSLATION
Spanish translation is available for both performances scheduled on Sunday, October 3 (2:30
p.m. and 7:30 p.m.) and sign language, captioning and audio description are available for the both
performances on Sunday, October 17.

TALK TO THE ARTISTS
Alley patrons are also invited to attend one pre-show "informance" on Saturday, October 8, 45
minutes prior to the 8 p.m. curtain time. Three post-show Talk-Backs with the cast are scheduled for Thursday, September 30; Thursday, October 6; and Saturday, October 8.

BETWEEN THE LINES-SEMINARS FOR EDUCATORS
In collaboration with the University of Houston School of Theatre, the Alley Theatre will host
the first of five Between the Lines seminars for educators this season at 12 p.m. Saturday, October 16. Between the Lines is a series of Saturday afternoon panel discussions at the Alley for educators hinged around productions during the 1999-2000 season. The program affords local-area teachers an in-depth literary experience of the Alley's productions, enhancing their ability to teach dramatic literature in their classrooms. It also allows a unique opportunity to hear distinguished theatre artists and professionals speak about their work. For more information about Between the Lines, call the Alley's Department of Education and Community Outreach at 713-228-9341.
This production is recommendedfor mature audiences.
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(L-R) Annalee Jefferies as Beatrice and Sabrina Veroczi as Catherine. Eddie Carbone is an unhappy Brooklyn longshoreman driven to extremes by a violent and corrosive passion in Arthur Miller's most compelling masterpiece, A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE. When Eddie learns the news that his beautiful niece Catherine has fallen in love with one of his wife's cousins, he makes plans to dissolve the love affair. A View from the Bridge is directed by Stephen Rayne who has been affiliated with England's Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. Photo by Jim Caldwell.


ALLEY THEATRE OPENS 1999 - 2000 SEASON WITH ARTHUR MILLER'S

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE

WHAT:
A View from the Bridge
by Arthur Miller
Directed by Stephen Rayne
Alley Resident Company Actor James Black returns to Houston from his
Broadway debut in Not About Nightingales to take the role of Eddie Carbone in
Arthur Miller's most compelling masterpiece A View from the Bridge. His
character is at the center of this modem tragedy about the life of an unhappy
Brooklyn longshoreman driven to extremes by a violent and corrosive passion.
When Eddie learns the news that his beautiful niece Catherine has fallen in love
with one of his wife's cousins, he makes plans to dissolve the love affair. A View
From the Bridge will be directed by Stephen Rayne who has been affiliated with
England's Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company.

WHEN: Sept. 24-Oct. 23, 1999

WHERE:
Alley Theatre, Large Stage
615 Texas Avenue
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TICKETS:
Tickets to A View from the Bridge can be purchased at the Alley Theatre Box
Office, 615 Texas Avenue, or by calling 713/228-8421. Tickets to preview
performances are $19-35; tickets to performances on or after Sept. 29 range from
$32-49. Groups of IO or more can purchase tickets at a discounted rate by calling
713/228-9341, ext. 350. Patrons with low hearing may call (TTY) 713/220-5710
to purchase tickets.

615 Texas Avenue Houston, Texas 77002-2795

Administrative Offices: 713-228-9341, Fax: 713-222-6542
Box Office: 713-998-8421 * TTY-. 713-220-5710
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