Alley Theatre Presents Sedaris' SANTALAND DIARIES, 12/8-11

This season, along with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas, which runs on the Hubbard Stage, the Alley Theatre will once again present a second holiday production, David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries on the Neuhaus Stage. Alley Artist Todd Waite will reprise his role as "Crumpet the Elf" in the outlandish, and true, chronicles of David Sedaris' experience as a worker in Macy's SantaLand display. Also this season, for select performances Alley Artist Paul Hope will appear as "Crumpet the Elf": December 8 at 7:30 PM, December 9 at 7:30 PM, December 10 at 6:00 PM and Saturday, December 11 at 2:30 PM.   

This compact, one-character comedy has been described as "a dream rendition at the Alley Theatre, courtesy of the ideally cast Todd Waite" by the Houston Chronicle. The Santaland Diaries is an hilarious cult classic, featuring comic encounters during the height of the holiday crunch. NPR humorist and best-selling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humor writers. Recommended for mature audiences due to language and subject matter.  

The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello and directed by David Cromer, begins previews Sunday, November 21, opens Tuesday, November 23 and runs through Friday, December 31 on the Neuhaus Stage.

Todd Waite is in his tenth season as an Alley Company Artist, appearing in over 40  productions, including Gentleman Starkey in Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up, Hermann Pister in Intelligence-Slave, Richard Hannay in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, Mr. Webb in Our Town, Jan in Rock 'n' Roll,  Sir George Crofts in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Martin in The Goat or Who is Sylvia, Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, Kerner in Hapgood, Ivan in Art, Jake in Stones in His Pockets and Burgoyne in The Devil's Disciple.  Previously, Mr. Waite spent six seasons with the renowned Shaw Festival, was the Enjolras in the Canadian premiere of Les Miserables and has guest-starred on all major U.S. and Canadian networks. Awards include: the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, Best Actor nomination: The Coronation Voyage (world premiere) and the Critic's Choice Award  in for Intimate Exchanges (Dallas Theatre 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 is currently teaching at the High School for the Performing Arts. His private students attend Stage Door, Interlochen, Juilliard, DePaul, Yale and The Royal Scottish Academy.

Paul Hope is a native Houstonian and an Alley Company Artist, who has appeared on the Alley stages for 17 seasons in a wide range of roles, including William Crocker in The Farnsworth Invention, Beverly Carlton in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Duke of Venice in Othello, Officer O'Hara in Arsenic and Old Lace, Charles in The Clean House, Gavin in House and Garden, Richard in Hay Fever, Arthur in Love! Valour! Compassion!, Serge in Art, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet, Frederick in Noises Off and Sgt. "Froggy" Le Seuer in The Foreigner, among many others. His musical theatre roles include Rohna in Grand Hotel, with Cyd Charisse and Liliane Montevecchi, and Col. Lockert in Dodsworth, with Hal Linden, both at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth. He has appeared at Theater Under the Stars as Beauregard in Mame with Juliet Prowse, Bienstock in Sugar with Robert Morse, and M. Renaud in La Cage with Lee Roy Reams. He has also performed as Steve Baker in Showboat, with Eddie Bracken, at Houston Grand Opera and most recently took over for John Lithgow as the narrator of Carnival of the Animals for Houston Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet. He is the Artistic Director for Bayou City Concert Musicals, which has presented concert stagings of Follies, Falsettos, A Little Night Music, She Loves Me, 70 Girls 70, Assassins, Fiorello, The Secret Garden, Pal Joey, On the Town and this year, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

The design team of The Santaland Diaries includes scenic design by Karin Rabe (Alley Theatre Properties Master), costume design by Blair Gulledge (Alley's Intelligence-Slave, Mrs. Mannerly, Underneath the Lintel), lighting design by Kevin Rigdon (Alley's A Behanding in Spokane, Intelligence-Slave, Mrs. Mannerly, Our Town,) and sound design by Pierre Dupree (Alley's A Behanding in Spokane, Intelligence-Slave, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Secret Order).

Tickets to The Santaland Diaries start at $21. Performances of The Santaland Diaries are  Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday evenings at 7:30 PM, Friday Evenings at 6 PM and 9 PM and Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2:30 PM. Tickets to The Santaland Diaries 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.             

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 ten or more. Call 713.315.3346 for more information.

ACTOUT
Thursday, December 2, 6:00 - 7:15 PM
Houston's premiere theatre group for gay and lesbian theatre fans and their friends celebrates the Alley Theatre's production of The Santaland Diaries. This pre-curtain event is free with your ticket to the Thursday, December 2, 7:30 PM performance of The Santaland Diaries. To buy a ticket, required for this event, use the promo code: ACTOUT. Purchase online at www.alleytheatre.org or call the box office at 713.220.5700.