FREAKY FRIDAY Director Christopher Ashley Wins Tony Award

Freaky Friday Director Christopher Ashley has won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for Come From Away. He earned the prestigious award last night at the American Theatre Wing's 71st Annual Tony Awards.

During last night's performance of Freaky Friday at the Alley Theatre, the cast members sent Christopher a special congratulatory message. (Check back on alleytheatre.org to see the cast members' video message).

The Alley Theatre is thrilled to co-produce Freaky Friday with La Jolla Playhouse and Cleveland Play House and we send our sincere congratulations to Christopher on his first Tony Award.

Additionally, Rebecca Taichman (Alley's Gruesome Playground Injuries ) won theTony Award for for Best Direction of a Play for Indecent.

Joining the Alley Theatre as the second Texas regional theatre to win the Regional Theatre Tony Award is Dallas Theater Center (DTC). DTC is also co-producing next season's The Great Society.

ABOUT FREAKY FRIDAY: Freaky Friday, a new musical based on the celebrated novel by Mary Rodgers and hit Walt Disney films, is a hilarious, contemporary update of an American classic that follows an overworked mother and teenage daughter on a wild journey after magically swapping bodies. The musical, with book by Bridget Carpenter (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood) and score by the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning team of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey (Next to Normal, If/Then), is a sure-fire hit for the whole family.

ABOUT THE Alley Theatre: The Alley Theatre, Houston's Tony Award-winning non-profit professional theatre company, is committed to creating theatre at the highest level, and sharing it with the widest audience.

The Alley produces up to 14 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. The Alley is home to a Resident Company of Artists. They are part of a creative staff numbering nearly 200. In addition, the Alley engages theatre-artists of every discipline - actors, directors, designers, composers, playwrights - who work on individual productions throughout each season as visiting artists.

The productions the Alley mounts are built and rehearsed on-site in the theatre's production center - 75,000 square feet of shops specializing in scenery construction, costume construction, properties, wigs, lighting and sound design. The Alley's rehearsal studios, workshops, large costume collection, and technical workshops are also all on-site in the theatre's downtown location - a facility unique among American theatre companies.

The Company reaches over 200,000 people each year through its performances and education programs. Our audience enrichment programs include pre-show and post-performance talks, events, and workshops for audience members of all ages.

After a year-long, $46.5 million renovation during the 2014-15 season, the Alley Theatre now has one of the most technically advanced non-profit theatre complexes in the nation.

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