THE ALLEY THEATRE
www.alleytheatre.org
Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director
Dean R. Gladden, Managing Director
 

PRESENT

THE SEAGULL

Directed by Gregory Boyd

Scenic Design by Kevin Rigdon

Costume Design by Alejo Vetti

Alley Theatre Announces Cast and Creative Team for Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull.

The Seagull Runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage.

HOUSTON, TX – Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for the Alley Theatre’s new production of the large scale classic, The Seagull, in the Alley’s intimate Neuhaus Stage. Alley Company member James Black takes on Boris Trigorin, the writer and lover of actress Irina Arkadina, who is played by Alley favorite Jose de Guzman.  Making their Alley debuts are Karl Glusman, playing Irina Arkadina’s son Konstantin Treplev, and Erica Lutz, playing Nina, his love interest.

Artistic Director Gregory Boyd explains that placing this show in the Alley’s smaller space "drove my desire to direct Checkhov’s first masterpiece. The rapport one feels with the characters to their comedy and heartbreak is intensified by their physical closeness.  And closeness to the characters is everything in Chekhov. Here is a play where all the characters are connected – by the theatre, by art, by family – and their inter-workings and inner-workings are not only the subject of the play, but the essence of the playwright’s technique."  

 Chekhov created one of the enduring masterpieces of the world theatre and a modern classic that grows richer with time.  In his 1895 play, Chekhov describes the romantic entanglements of a group of actors, writers and artists gathered on a Russian estate.  In Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, Arkadina, a famous and successful actress, is spending the summer on her brother Sorin’s estate, accompanied by her lover, Trigorin, a well-known novelist. Arkadina’s son Konstantin is an aspiring writer and is planning a performance of his first play.  Nina, the daughter of a neighboring landowner, with whom Konstantin is rapturously in love, is set to play the lead role. Nina’s youthful radiance mesmerizes Trigorin, further complicating the romantic entanglements of the estate’s summer guests. Immortalized by the Moscow Art Theatre The Seagull, the first of Chekhov’s masterworks, is the exploration of youth, love, and heartbreak.

"Women never forgive failure."  Konstantin tells Nina of his efforts as a writer.  Erica Lutz as NINA and Karl Glusman as KONSTANTIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull.  THE SEAGULL runs from February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

"Anton Chekhov is arguably the greatest playwright of the modern period. There are few playwrights more aloof, more distant from the opinions of their characters, who are more deeply involved with what they do than what they say . . . Yet no other playwright is as deeply invested in the future of the human race . . ." - Theatre critic and playwright Robert Brustein, Chekhov in an Hour.

The Seagull features Alley Theatre Acting Company members Jeffrey Bean as Sorin, James Belcher as Shamreyev, James Black as Trigorin, Chris Hutchison as Medvedenko and Todd Waite as Dorn.

The Seagull also features Josie de Guzman as Arkadina, Karl Glusman as Konstantin, David Gorena as Yakov, Kimberly King as Paulina, Erica Lutz as Nina, Kalob Martinez as Cook, Rachael Tice as Masha, and Ellen Dyer and Rebekah Stevens as Housemaids.

The Seagull will feature scenic design by Kevin Rigdon (Alley’s The Monster at the Door, August: Osage County, A Behanding in Spokane) and costume design by Alejo Vietti (Alley’s Pygmalion, August: Osage County, Alfred Hitchcock The 39 Steps). Lighting design is by Pat Collins (Alley’s Harvey, Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Man Who Came to Dinner), music composition and sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Alley’s Amadeus, Peter Pan, Cyrano de Bergerac) and hair and wig design is by David H. Lawrence (Alley’s Rock ‘n’ Roll).

The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov and directed by Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd, begins previews Friday, February 3, opens Wednesday, February 8 and runs through Sunday, March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. 

ABOUT THE CAST

Jeffrey Bean (Peter Sorin) is in his 17th season as an Alley Company Artist and has appeared in over 100 Alley productions since 1989. Recently he has appeared in Ether Dome as Dr. Charles Jackson, Amadeus as Salieri, August: Osage County as Bill Fordham, Peter Pan as Smee, Boeing-Boeing as Robert and Alfred Hitchcock’sThe 39 Steps as Man #2. Previous Alley highlights include The Farnsworth Invention as David Sarnoff, Mauritius as Philip, Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano, The Scene as Charlie, Doubt as Father Flynn, Subject to Fits as Prince Myshkin, Much Ado About Nothing as Benedick, Journey’s End as 2nd Lieutenant Trotter, The Pillowman as Michal, Hapgood as Ridley, Twelfth Night asFeste, The Importance of Being Earnest as Algernon, Billy Bishop Goes to War as Billy Bishop, Gross Indecency as Oscar Wilde, Arms & The Man as Bluntschli, The Crucible as Deputy Gov. Danforth, The Foreigner as Charlie Baker, and Stones in His Pockets as Charlie Conlon, et al. Broadway credits include Bells Are Ringing as Francis and Amadeus as Kappelmeister Bonno. Television credits include Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and All My Children. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and a Princess Grace Award winner. www.jeffreybean.com

SORIN:  "It's the tragedy of my life.  I always look like I'm drunk."  Jeffrey Bean as SORIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

James Belcher (Shamreyev) is in his 23rd season at the Alley Theatre. As an Alley Company Artist he has appeared in Ether Dome, Amadeusas Baron Van Swieten, August: Osage Countyas Charlie Aiken, Peter Pan as Cecco, The Mousetrapas Major Metcalf, Intelligence-Slaveas Fritz Engelhardt,  Harveyas Judge Omar Gaffney, Our Townas Joe Stoddard, The Farnsworth Invention as Leslie Gorrell, Rock ‘n’ Roll as Milan/Waiter, The Man Who Came to Dinner  as Mr. Stanley, Mrs. Warren’s Profession as The Rev. Samuel Gardner, Cyrano de Bergerac as Ligniere and The Capuchin, Othello as Brabantio, Arsenic and Old Lace as Teddy Brewster, Treasure Island as Squire Trelawney/Bailiff/Job O’Brien, To Kill a Mockingbird as Heck Tate, Subject to Fits as Lebedev, Much Ado About Nothing as Antonio, Witness for the Prosecution as Sir Wilfred Robarts, Journey’s End as The Colonel, Glengarry Glen Ross as Dave Moss, The Crucible as Judge Hawthorne, Black Coffee as Sir Claud Amory, Dial "M" for Murder as Captain Lesgate, Our Lady of 121st Street as Victor, Twelfth Night as Antonio, and A Christmas Carol as Scrooge for five seasons. He has a BFA in Drama Production from the University of Texas at Austin and a MFA in Directing from the University of Houston. In 1999 he received a BackStage West Garland Award for his role as Peter in the Alley’s production of The Zoo Story.

Josie de Guzman as Arkadina and James Black as Trigorin in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull.  THE SEAGULL runs from February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

James Black (Boris Trigorin) is proud to be celebrating his 24th consecutive season at the Alley where as an actor and occasional director, he has been involved in over 100 productions. Recent appearances include Dividing the Estate as Lewis Gordon,  Pygmalion as Colonel Pickering, Amadeus as Count Orsini-Rosenberg, August: Osage County as Steve Heidebrecht,  Peter Pan as Captain Hook/Mr. Darling, St. Nicholas, Boeing-Boeing as Bernard, Harvey as Elwood P. Dowd, Mrs. Mannerly as Jeffrey, Our Town as Stage Manager, The Farnsworth Invention, Rock ‘n’ Roll as Max, The Man Who Came to Dinner as Sheridan Whiteside, A Christmas Carol as Mrs. Dilber/Jacob Marley, Cyrano de Bergerac as Le Bret, Othello as Iago, Arsenic and Old Lace as Jonathan Brewster, Treasure Island as Long John Silver, Hitchcock Blonde as Hitch, A Moon for the Misbegotten as James Tyrone Jr., Orson’s Shadow as Olivier, Journey’s End as Lieutenant Osborne, A Christmas Carol as Scrooge, The Crucible as Proctor, After the Fall as Quentin, Black Coffee as Hercule Poirot, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as Marcus Lycus, Twelfth Night as Sir Toby Belch, Sherlock Holmes as Moriarty, Hamlet as Claudius, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as George, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest as McMurphy, How I Learned to Drive as Uncle Peck, A View From the Bridge as Eddie Carbone and Not About Nightingales as Butch O’Fallon, among others. He has also directed A Behanding in Spokane, Doubt, Death on the Nile, Glengarry Glen Ross, Deathtrap, Dial "M" for Murder, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Foreigner, Of Mice and Men and As Bees in Honey Drown. His film and television credits include Olympia, The Man with the Perfect Swing, Houston: The Legend of Texas, Fire and Rain, Challenger, Night Game and Killing in a Small Town. He received a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor for Not About Nightingales, and a BackStage West Garland Award for his appearance as Eddie Carbone in the Alley’s production of A View from the Bridge.

Ellen Dyer (Housemaid) has appeared at the Alley Theatre in Dividing the Estate and A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas.

David Gorena (Yakov) recently graduation from Southern Methodist University. He appeared at the Alley Theatre previously as a young cast member in A Christmas Carol.

Arkadina comes back to the estate as Sorin's health is failing to be with him for his final days.  Josie de Guzman as Arkadina in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull which runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Josie de Guzman (Irina Arkadina) returns to the Alley, having recently appeared as Vera Claythorne in And Then There Were None, Barbara Fordham in August: Osage County, Miss Casewell in The Mousetrap, Berthe in Boeing Boeing, Mrs. Mannerly in Mrs. Mannerly, Mrs. Gibbs in Our Town, Eleanor/Esme in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Maggie Cutler in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Matilde in The Clean House, the title role in Hapgood, as well as After the Fall, Twelfth Night, Sherlock Holmes, And Then There Were None, and House & Garden. She appeared as Mrs. Gibbs in Hartford Stage’s production of Our Town. Her Broadway career includes Tony nominations for Guys and Dolls and West Side Story, as well as creating roles in Nick and Nora, Runaways, and Carmelina. She won the 2002 Connecticut Critics Award for Anna in The King and I, and has appeared extensively at the Public Theatre, where she created roles in Elizabeth Swados’ Runaways, Lullaby and Goodnight and The Haggadah, at BAM (Missionaries) and Off-Broadway in Tamara and Once Removed. Her regional theatre appearances include Hartford Stage in Diosa, Great Lakes in She Loves Me, and Denver Center in Man of La Mancha, as well as such varied classical roles as Carmen, Viola, Varya, and Beatrice. Her films include Exiles in New York, FX and FX2, while television appearances include Miami Vice, The Cosby Show, Third Watch, All My Children, and Guiding Light. Her recordings include Lullabies for Everyone and Nanas Para Todos, both sold at cdbaby.com, as well as the cast recordings of Guys and Dolls, Carmelina, and Runaways.

KONSTANTIN introduces a play he has written and directed.  Karl Glusman plays KONSTANTIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Karl Glusman (Konstantin Treplev) is honored to make his stage debut at the Alley Theatre. Recently he wrote a screenplay.

Chris Hutchison (Simon Medvedenko) is in his sixth season as an Alley Company Artist. He returns having spent this past summer playing Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire with the Breadloaf Ensemble in Vermont. This is his 27th Alley Theatre production since first appearing here as Hal in Proof in 2004. Chris’s other favorite roles include A Behanding in Spokane as Mervyn, Intelligence-Slave as Bruno Clemens, Mauritius as Dennis, The Lieutenant of Inishmore as Padraic and To Kill a Mockingbird as Boo Radley. Off-Broadway credits include EST Marathon and revivals of The Second Man, Museum and The Hasty Heart with Obie award-winning Keen Company. Chris’s solo show TRIP was selected for production by Here Arts Center in SoHo. Regionally he has appeared at The Guthrie Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Milwaukee Rep, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Hartford TheatreWorks, and Capital Rep among others. Film and television credits include Kill the Poor, Ed, Chappelle’s Show, All My Children, Guiding Light and some Movies of the Week. He holds a MFA from the University of Washington.

Chris Hutchison plays MEDVEDENKO, a schoolteacher.  Medvedenko loves the daughter of the estate's steward Masha.  The Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Kimberly King (Paulina) debuted at the Alley Theatre in 1991 and has appeared as Harriet Stanley in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Joanna Mace in House & Garden, Inez in Life X 3, Raymonde in A Flea in Her Ear (twice), Keely in Keely and Du, Aggie in Dancing at Lughnasa and Lucy in Dracula, A Musical Nightmare. Kimberly is the founding artistic director of West Sound Repertory Theatre, a Washington State registered 501c3 non-profit professional theatre. Recently Kimberly and husband actor/director Ken Grantham appeared as Agnes and Tobias in the highly acclaimed Aurora Theatre Berkeley production of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance, both are nominated Critic's Circle awards. Kimberly created the roles of Becky in the world premiere of Steven Dietz’s Becky’s New Car, directed by Kurt Beattie, Dolores in the world premiere of Craig Lucas’ Prayer for My Enemy at the Intiman directed by Bart Sher, and Agatha in the premiere of Amy Weisman's Hold Please at South Coast Rep. Kimberly was Sister Aloysius in Doubt at TheatreWorks in the San Francisco Bay Area. Ms. King was nominated for a Critics’ Circle award for her portrayal of Mary Tyrone in Long Days Journey Into Night at San Jose Repertory. She has worked as a leading ensemble member with theatres across the country including Berkeley Repertory, American Conservatory Theatre, Hartford Stage, McCarter Theatre in Princeton and the Mark Taper Forum and Gretta in the Broadway production of James Joyce’s The Dead. A classically trained mezzo-soprano, Ms. King has sung opera, musical theatre, and jazz.  Her website is  www.westsoundrepertorytheatre.org.

Erica Lutz (Nina) is making her Alley Theatre debut. New York theater credits Woody Guthrie Dreams at Theater for the New City, Make it Play! At Theater III, Three Sisters with Glass Bandits, workshops and readings with LAByrinth, Ensemble Studio Theater and The Natives. Her Film, TV and Web credits include the 2012 release of Art Machine, Neptunus Rex at New Hampshire Film Festival, The Biography Channel, Nickelodeon, and CollegeHumor.com. She has a BFA in Conservatory of Theater Arts and Film at SUNY Purchase.

NINA:  "Excuse me.  I refuse to understand you.  You have just been spoiled by success."  Nina is enthralled with Trigorin's celebrity, and she gushes, "My dream!"  Erica Lutz as NINA in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull which runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Kalob Martinez (Cook) has appeared at the Alley Theatre in Ether Dome, Amadeus, and Peter Pan or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up.

Rebekah Stevens (Housemaid) has appeared at the Alley Theatre in Ether Dome and A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas.

Rachael Tice (Masha) is making her Alley Theatre debut. A New York City native, she recently graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts.  She worked with the Atlantic Theater Company for two years before transferring to Stonestreet Studios. Recent works include Mike Gioscia’s play, Pulling Teeth, with Jenna Stern, and a supporting role in the indie film Slider.

Masha cries, "I am so unhappy  and nobody knows.  I am in love with Konstantin."  Rachael Tice as MASHA in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull which runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Todd Waite (Eugene Dorn) is in his 11th season as an Alley Company Artist. He has appeared in over 60 productions including four seasons of the one-man Christmas show, The Santaland Diaries as Crumpet,   Pygmalion as Henry Higgins, The Crucifer of Blood as Sherlock Holmes, Rock ‘n’ Roll as Jan, Mrs. Warren’s Profession as Sir George Crofts, The Goat or Who is Sylvia? as Martin, Arsenic and Old Lace as Mortimer Brewster, Hapgood as Kerner, Deathtrap as Sydney, Art as Ivan, Stones in His Pockets as Jake, The Devil’s Disciple as Burgoyne, The Mousetrap as Christopher Wren, Intelligence-Slave as Hermann Pister, And Then There Were None as Philip Lombard, Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps as Richard Hannay, Our Town as Mr. Webb, and  August: Osage County as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau. Previously, Mr. Waite spent six seasons with the renowned Shaw Festival, played Enjolras in the Canadian premiere of Les Miserables, and has guest-starred on all major U.S. and Canadian networks. Awards include Best Actor nomination for the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship for his performance in the world premiere of The Coronation Voyage and the Critic’s Choice Award for Intimate Exchanges at Dallas Theater Center. He has directed several Canadian premieres and was the resident director for Cirque du Soleil’s "O" in Las Vegas. Mr. Waite is an adjunct professor for the University of Houston’s Graduate Program in Theatre Education and BFA Theatre Program. His private students attend HSPVA, Stage Door, Interlochen, Juilliard, DePaul, Yale, The Royal Scottish Academy and The Stella Adler School.

Rachael Tice as MASHA and Todd Waite as Dorn in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull which runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Gregory Boyd (Director) During his tenure the Alley has risen in national and international prominence, winning the Special Tony Award and experiencing record growth in its Houston audiences, while also transferring its productions to major European Festivals (including two in one season at the Venice Biennale), Broadway and on tour to 40 American cities. Boyd’s addition of artistic associates has enhanced the Alley’s visibility and reputation worldwide; while his commitment to maintaining a resident company of actors has made the Alley unique among American theatre companies. At the Alley, Mr. Boyd has produced over 100 new productions of the widest ranging repertoire in the country. His Alley premieres have been nominated for eight Tony Awards – among them the premieres of Not About Nightingales by Tennessee Williams (Alley, London, Broadway), Jekyll & Hyde, (Alley, National Tour, Broadway), The Civil War (which he also co-authored). New Alley productions have included: Shakespeare’s Roman Plays (with Vanessa and Corin Redgrave); Robert Wilson’s productions of Hamlet, When We Dead Awaken and Danton’s Death (with Richard Thomas); Ellen Burstyn in O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Tony Kushner’s Angels in America Parts 1 & 2 (both directed by Michael Wilson), premieres by Keith Reddin (Synergy); Eve Ensler (Lemonade); and Alley Artistic Associates Edward Albee (The Play About the Baby), Horton Foote (The Carpetbagger’s Children), Ken Ludwig (The Gershwins’ An American in Paris, Leading Ladies) and Frank Wildhorn (Jekyll & Hyde, Wonderland, and Boyd’s collaborator on The Civil War, a musical theatre production that premiered at the Alley before going onto Broadway and two national tours). In addition, Boyd directed the recordings of "The Civil War" and "Jekyll & Hyde" for Atlantic Records. At the Alley, he has appeared as an actor in Danton’s Death (Tom Paine) and Cyrano de Bergerac (Cyrano) and directed over 40 productions including: Rock ‘n’ Roll, Eurydice, Cyrano de Bergerac, Treasure Island, Subject to Fits, Hitchcock Blonde, Hapgood, The Pillowman, Jekyll & Hyde, Three Sisters, In the Jungle of Cities, After the Fall, The Greeks, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Macbeth, As You Like It,and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. This season, he will direct The Seagull, Noises Off, and The Seafarer.  His recent directing projects outside the Alley have included Our Town at Hartford Stage (Hal Holbrook), Coward’s Design for Living at Williamstown (Marisa Tomei, Campbell Scott, Steven Weber), Stoppard’s Travesties at Long Wharf (Sam Waterston, Tom Hewitt) and the premiere of Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan’s Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Boyd has served as Panelist for the National Endowment of the Arts, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Massachusetts Council for the Arts. He has taught on the faculties of Carnegie-Mellon, Williams College, the University of Houston, and the University of North Carolina, where he headed the Professional Theatre Training Program. He was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is a Distinguished Alumnus, and at Carnegie-Mellon.

Jeffrey Bean as SORIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Kevin Rigdon (Scenic Design) is an Associate Director for Design for the Alley Theatre. For the Alley, he has created scenic, lighting, and costume designs for more than 50 productions, including The Monster at the Door, August: Osage County, A Behanding in Spokane, St. Nicholas, Intelligence-Slave, Mrs. Mannerly, Our Town, The Crucifer of Blood, Mauritius, Secret Order, The Unexpected Guest, Underneath the Lintel, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Scene, Death on the Nile, The Clean House, Subject to Fits, Orson’s Shadow, The Pillowman, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Crucible, After the Fall, Life X 3,Topdog/Underdog, Proof, The Greeks, Twelfth Night, In the Jungle of Cities, among manyothers. He has designed the Broadwayproductions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Old Neighborhood, Buried Child, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Song of Jacob Zulu, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Grapes of Wrath, Our Town, Speed-the-Plow, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Caretaker and Ghetto. His Off-Broadway credits include Oleanna, Distant Fire, Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants, Orphans, Balm in Gilead, And a Nightingale Sang…, Edmond and True West. His designs have been seen in the London productions of Waiting for Godot, You Never Can Tell, American Buffalo, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Speed-the-Plow, The Grapes of Wrath and Orphans. He has designed more than 110 productions for Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and has designed for organizations including The Peter Hall Company, The Kennedy Center, American Repertory Theatre, The Goodman Theatre, The Center Theatre Group, The Festival of Sydney, and The Cameri Theatre of Tel-Aviv, among others. He is the recipient of two Tony Award nominations, two American Theatre Wing Design awards, and seven Joseph Jefferson awards among many others. Kevin is the head of graduate design at the University of Houston.

Arkadina laughs at her son Konstantin's play, finding it ridiculous and incomprehensible as Konstantin storms off in disgrace.  Josie de Guzman as Arkadina in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull which runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Alejo Vietti (Costume Design) recently designed the Alley Theatre productions of Pygmalion, August: Osage County, The 39 Steps, Our Town, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mauritius, Eurydice and Cyrano de Bergerac. Other Alley Theatre productions include The Unexpected Guest, Othello, The Scene, Death on the Nile, Tryst for the 60th anniversary season in the Neuhaus Theatre, A Christmas Carol and Bad Dates. HisNew York credits include Stephen Schwartz' Séance on a Wet Afternoon at NYC Opera, Secrets of the Trade, MTC’s Nightingale and MCC’s Grace both starring Lynn Redgrave, Manipulation, Rooms, William Finn’s Make Me a Song, Tryst, Roulette, The Last Sunday in June, 16 Wounded, 2 X Tennessee, The Wau Wau Sisters, Servicemen directed by Sean Mathias, Waiting for Godot, Love's Labour's Lost, Measure for Measure and Othello among others. His Regional credits include Arena Stage, Arizona Theatre Company, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Barrington Stage Company, Cincinnati Playhouse, Cleveland Play House, Colorado Ballet, Columbia University, Florida Stage, Ford’s Theatre Washington D.C., Goodspeed Opera, Guthrie Theater, Hartford Stage, Longwharf Theatre, Minnesota Opera, New York Stage and Film, Northlight Theatre,  Old Globe Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Rockland Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Saint Louis Repertory Theatre, Signature Theatre Washington, Theatreworks Hartford, Westport Country Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival. International: The Edinburgh Festival Fringe and the Donetsk Opera in the Ukraine. Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Gold Unit 07/09. He is the recipient of the 2010 TDF/Irene Sharaff Young Master Award.

Pat Collins (Lighting Design) returns to the Alley, having designed lighting for Harvey, Rock ‘n’ Roll, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Arsenic and Old Lace, Journey’s End, The Underpants, The Crucible, After the Fall, The Real Thing, Hay Fever, A View from the Bridge and Hedda Gabler. Her Broadway credits include Doubt, Proof, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Once Upon a Mattress, An American Daughter, A Delicate Balance, The Sisters Rosensweig, I’m Not Rappaport, Execution of Justice, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Death and the King’s Horseman, Threepenny Opera, and Ten Unknowns. Off-Broadway her work was seen in Doubt, Sight Unseen, Rose’s Dilemma, Burn This and Occupant. Her opera credits include Wagner’s Ring Cycle at The Royal Opera House-Covent Garden and over 100 productions for such companies as The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, English National Opera, The Flemish Opera, Netherlands Opera, The Bayerische Staatsoper – Munich and The Paris Opera at the Garnier.

Arkadina tells Trigorin, "You are the last chapter of my life....my joy, my love, my happiness!".  Josie de Guzman as Arkadina and James Black as Trigorin in the Alley Theatre’s production of  The Seagull.  THE SEAGULL runs February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen’s (Music Composition and Sound Design) Broadway credits include music composition and sound for The Miracle Worker, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Speed of Darkness; music for My Thing of Love; and sound for Superior Donuts, reasons to be pretty, A Year with Frog and Toad, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Hollywood Arms, King Hedley II, Buried Child, The Song of Jacob Zulu, and The Grapes of Wrath. Off-Broadway credits include music and sound for Inked Baby, After Ashley, Boy Gets Girl, Red, Space, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, Marvin's Room; sound for Brundibar, The Pain and the Itch, and Jitney; and music direction and sound for Eyes for Consuela and Ruined. Recent original music and sound credits include: Peter Pan and Cyrano de Bergerac at Alley Theatre; To Kill a Mockingbird at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; American Buffalo at Steppenwolf and McCarter Theatre; Red Hot Patriot at Philadelphia Theatre Company and Austin's Zach Theatre; Having Our Say at McCarter Theatre; and sound for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Steppenwolf and Arena Stage; The Master Butcher Singing Club at Guthrie Theatre; Family Week at Manhattan's MCC; and the world premiere of, Houston's own Bruce Norris' A Parallelogram at Steppenwolf. They have created music and sound at many of America's resident theatres, often with Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, the Comedy Theatre in London's West End, The Barbican Center, the National Theatre of Great Britain, the Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv, the Subaru Acting Company in Japan and festivals in Toronto, Dublin, Galway, Perth, and Sydney.

David H. Lawrence (Hair and Wig Design) returns to the Alley Theatre having previously designed Rock ‘n’ Roll. You have seen David’s work on Imagine This in London, A Catered Affair in NYC and at Old Globe, Rock ’n’ Roll in NYC, Coram Boy in NYC, Company 2007, Souvenir, All Shook Up in NYC and the Tour, Anything Goes at Lincoln Center and the National Tour, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, She Loves Me, Guys and Dolls with Josie de Guzmanwhich won a CLAIROL award for Outstanding Hair design on Broadway along with the National Tour and at  Paper Mill Playhouse in 2004, Tommy in the USA, Germany and London, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The King and I on Broadway and the National Tour, Moliere Comedies, Night of The Iguana, On The Waterfront, Wait Until Dark, On The Town, Grease, Death of a Salesman in NYC Showtime and Los Angeles, Bells are Ringing, The New 42nd Street in NY, German and U.S. Tours, The Full Monty on Broadway and Tours,Maurice Hines’s Guys and Dolls on Tour, The Crucible starring Liam Neeson and Laura Linney, Some Like it Hot starring Tony Curtis on Tour, and Dance of the Vampires. On Off-Broadway and Tours his work has been seen in: Bounce at Goodman Theater and the Kennedy Center, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Dinah Was, Twelfth Night and On The Town in Central Park, and A Dybbuk at NYSF, Jeffrey and Picasso at the Lapin Agile in NYC and the Tour, Chicago with Second Tour, Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida at Alliance Theater, Bounce at Goodman Theatre and the Kennedy Center, Mack and Mabel at Goodspeed Opera House. David also designed the hair for two seasons of Saturday Night Live for which he received an Emmy Nomination,and the films What Ever Happened to Baby Jane on ABC and The James Brady Story on HBO. David is the winner of the 1994 Outstanding Achievement Award from Theatrecrafts International for work on Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.

Karl Glusman plays a despondent KONSTANTIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs from February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

SPONSORS

The Seagull is generously sponsored by Neuhaus Stage Season Sponsor Randall H. Jamail and Associate Producers Kathryn and Jim Ketelsen. The Alley Theatre is supported by the 2011-2012 season sponsor United Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets to The Seagull start at $25.  All tickets to The Seagull 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 713.220.5700 and asking for the group sales department.

Kimberly King as Paulina in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs from February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.

CAPTIONED PERFORMANCE

Saturday, February 4, 2:30 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 713.220.5700 when ordering tickets to this performance.  Discounted tickets are available for groups of 10 or more.

TALKBACK

Tuesday, February 14, 7:30 p.m.

Members of the cast return to the stage following the performance to take questions from the audience. TalkBacks are led by a member of the Alley Artistic Staff.

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Karl Glusman plays KONSTANTIN in the Alley Theatre’s production of The Seagull. The Seagull runs from February 3 – March 4, 2012 on the Neuhaus Stage. Photo by T. Charles Erickson.  For more information visit www.alleytheatre.org.