Alley Theatre Announces Cast, Creative Team for AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Around the World in 80 Days, which runs March 4-April 3 in the Hubbard Theatre.

Mark Brown's Around the World in 80 Days, adapted from the great Jules Verne adventure, will be directed by Mark Shanahan, who helmed the Alley's phenomenally popular production of Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps. In Around the World in 80 Days, fearless adventurer Phileas Fogg agrees to an outrageous wager that puts his life and fortune at risk as he embarks on a grand journey to circle the globe in a race to beat the clock.

Danger, romance and comic surprises abound as five actors portraying 42 characters traverse four continents and two oceans in this classic adventure. The cast includes Alley Resident Company Members Todd Waite as Phileas Fogg, Jay Sullivan, Jeffrey Bean and Emily Trask. Also joining the cast is Evan Zes as Passepartout.

"Mark Brown's stage adaptation has conquered the world with distinction," states Director Mark Shanahan. "Brown realized the glorious possibilities in crafting a vaudevillian romp in which five actors play multiple roles."

Around the World in 80 Days features scenic design by Hugh Landwehr ( One Man, Two Guvnors, Dracula) with costume design by Alejo Vietti (Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, A Few Good Men), lighting design by John Ambrosone (Life X 3, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) and sound design by Pierre Dupree (Clybourne Park, November).

Around the World in 80 Days, by Mark Brown and directed by Mark Shanahan, begins preview performances at the Alley Theatre on March 4, opens March 9, and continues through April 3, 2016 in the Hubbard Theatre.

TICKETS: Tickets to Around the World in 80 Days are now on sale and start at $27. Discounted tickets are available for any student, regardless of age, with a valid student ID for $16 for designated performances in designated sections. Tickets can be ordered online (alleytheatre.org) or by phone (713.220.5700). Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Recommended for general audiences.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

The Alley Theatre will also present an Artist Talk-Back following the March 12 and March 15 performances of Around the World in 80 Days. These discussions will feature cast and artistic staff. Artist Talk-Backs are free and open to the public.

Around the World in 80 Days presents a Bon Voyage Party on Sunday, March 6. Youth (ages 6-17) may attend the 2:30 p.m. performance free with one full price paid adult ticket. Pre-show activities for kids will also be offered from 1-2 p.m.

ABOUT THE ALLEY THEATRE

The Alley Theatre, one of America's leading not-for-profit theatres, is a nationally recognized performing arts company lead by Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. The theatre was founded in 1947 and welcomes more than 170,000 audience members each year. The Alley produces up to 16 plays each year in our newly renovated theatre, ranging from the best current work, to re-invigorated classic plays, to new plays by contemporary writers. Home to a Resident Company of actors, the Alley is one of the few professional American not-for-profit theatres to embrace this ideal. In addition, a 75,000 square foot state-of-the-art production center houses scenery construction, costumes, properties, wigs, lighting and sound design - all on-site. Alley All New, the initiative to commission and develop new work year round, features the Alley All New Festival each season presenting workshops and readings of new plays and musicals in process. Additionally, the Alley serves 65,000 students annually with award-winning education and community programs including in-school arts integration residencies, school tours and student matinees. A recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley has brought productions to Broadway, 40 American cities including New York's Lincoln Center and internationally to London, Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg throughout its 69-year history.

The Alley Theatre completed a $46.5 million building renovation in the 2014-2015 season, the first major improvements since the building opened in 1968. With more than 500 performances in 2015-2016, the Alley will produce more shows than all other performing arts organizations in the Houston Theater District combined.