ONE MAN, TWO GUVNORS, ALL THE WAY, THE NETHER and More Set for Alley Theatre's First Season in Newly Renovated Space

Gregory Boyd, Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, announces 6 of the 8 plays that will comprise its 2015-2016 Inaugural Season in the renovated theatre.

"The New Alley Season in the superb renovation of the Theatre space begins a new era for the Alley Company," said Boyd. "The roster of plays reflects the most vivid theatrical story-telling anywhere - and we are hugely excited to welcome our family back to its new home, and a new generation of theatre-goers to the Alley."

"On the Hubbard Stage, the unique comedy of One Man, Two Guvnors is matched by the exciting drama of All The Way and the unparalleled comic imagination of Tom Stoppard's Travesties." explains Boyd. "The Neuhaus Stage plays host to three thrilling new plays -- including the gripping The Other Place by Sharr White, and the ingenious The Nether by Jennifer Haley. It's a season unparalleled in scope, depth and delight - and an exhilarating, exciting challenge for the Alley actors and artists," said Boyd.

In October, the Alley Theatre's season begins with Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, a unique laugh-out-loud mix of satire, songs, and stupendous physical comedy. In the heart of 'sixties England, charming and doltish Francis, fired from his pop band, unexpectedly finds himself with two new jobs and two new bosses, who are connected to each other in wildly improbable ways. He has to keep them from discovering each other -- and that turns out to be not so simple. Mistaken identities, outrageous farce, love triangles and inspired lunacy are the result.
Previews start October 2, opens October 7, and runs through November 1, 2015. Contains adult language and sexual situations.

On the Neuhaus Stage in the fall is Sharr White's The Other Place. A haunting drama about Juliana Smithton, a neurologist whose research leads to a potential breakthrough for a new Alzheimer treatment. Just as it does, her life takes a disorienting turn. During a lecture to colleagues, she enters into a mystery that blurs fact with fiction, the past with the present, until the elusive truth is unraveled in a windswept cottage on the shores of Cape Cod, "the other place." Previews start October 23, opens October 28, and runs through November 15, 2015. Contains adult language and mature themes.

On the Hubbard Stage in January is the winner of the 2014 Tony Award, All The Way, by Robert Schenkkan. The Alley's Texas-sized production of this gripping new play about LBJ features a cast combining artists from the Alley, with members of the Dallas Theatre Center portraying some of history's most dynamic figures: J Edgar Hoover, Martin Luther King, Jr., Governor George Wallace, Senator Hubert Humphrey, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, and the 36th President of the United States himself, Lyndon Baines Johnson. Previews start January 29, opens February 3, and runs through February 21, 2016. Contains adult language.

In March on the Hubbard Stage is Travesties, a brilliantly funny, pyrotechnical tour-de-force. A freewheeling, invigorating whirligig of art, revolution, sex and song-and-dance by four-time Tony Award winner Tom Stoppard (Shakespeare in Love, the Alley's Rock 'n' Roll, Hapgood, Invention of Love, The Real Thing), Travesties centers around the fictional meeting of three extraordinary figures in Zurich in 1917: the novelist James Joyce, the Dadaist performance artist Tristan Tzara and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. The two revolutionary artists and the political Revolutionary collide inside the faulty memory of one of Stoppard's greatest comic creations, a minor official named Henry Carr, whose exuberant imagination rewrites history in very surprising ways. Previews start March 18, opens March 23, and runs through April 10, 2016. Suitable for mature audiences. Striptease. Nudity. Pie-fights.

On the Neuhaus stage in May, is Jennifer Haley's The Nether, winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Set in the year 2050, The Nether is an intricate sci-fi crime drama that tells the story of a new virtual digital world, which provides total sensory immersion. Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every whim, with no consequences in the "real" world. Or so it seems. A female detective begins an investigation to determine if there is a point at which thought or intention may actually constitute a crime within, and outside of, this new virtual realm. The investigation begins a battle over technology and the darker side of human desire. Previews start May 13, opens May 18, and runs through June 12, 2016. Sexual content and language.

The finale to the season is Born Yesterday, the great American comedy about politics and the power of female persuasion. A delicious screwball classic, Born Yesterday tells the story of a hot-tempered and corrupt tycoon and a not-so-dumb blonde out to "capitalize" on everything Washington has to offer. This ex-showgirl gets an extreme makeover from a political reporter hired by her boyfriend and receives more than a history lesson. Previews start June 3, opens June 8, and runs through July 3, 2016. Suitable for general audiences.

The Alley's 2015-2016 subscription season includes 8 plays, two of which will be announced at a later date, plus traditional holiday special A Christmas Carol -- A Ghost Story of Christmas and, returning to the Neuhau Stage for a limited run, The Santaland Diaries.

Part of the Alley's mission is to produce thought-provoking and diverse works that should be experienced by all. Theatre lovers can experience these plays for as little as $26 each. Season tickets may be purchased at alleytheatre.org or by calling 713.220.5700. Subscribers can purchase a 5 play package containing One Man, Two Guvnors, All The Way, Travesties, Born Yesterday and one play to be announced at a later date. An 8 play package is also available containing all the plays in the 5 play package plus The Other Place, The Nether and two plays to be announced at a later date. A Christmas Carol and The Santaland Diaries are available to all subscribers as add-ons.

Individual tickets will be available for purchase in August 2015, at alleytheatre.org 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.

The Alley Theatre produces 400 performances annually, more than all other performing arts organizations in the Theater District combined. The Alley has attracted over 8 million people to Houston's Theater District since 1968 and has a $34.5 million annual economic impact on the City of Houston ("Arts & Economic Prosperity III: The Economic Impact of Nonprofit Arts & Culture Organizations and their Audiences in the City of Houston," Americans for the Arts, 2005.)

The Alley Theatre, one of America's leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company focused on collaborating with resident actors, visiting artists, directors, designers, dramaturgs, and authors to cultivate the new voices, new work, and new artists of the American theatre. A staff of 177 is under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The Alley has also brought its productions to 40 American cities, and to Berlin, Paris, St. Petersburg and New York's Lincoln Center, as well as to major European festivals (including two in one season at the Venice Biennale) and Broadway. A recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley creates a wide-ranging repertoire and innovative productions of classics, neglected modern plays, and premieres, as well as new works developed through the Alley's new play initiative. For more information go to alleytheatre.org.

Photo: Facebook

To post a comment, you must register and login.