Dish-Houston

In Theresa Rebeck's new comedy, Fool, two kings get together and place a wager on their fools – a jester competition, if you will!

The funniest FOOL gets to keep his (or her) head. Two evil minions have a lot to say about this, but not as much as the kitchen wench. And what's the queen been up to all night? A dramatical comical farcical tragical play about power, love and laughter, set in a medieval kitchen.  Adult Language, Adult Situations, Beheadings.

Directed by Gregory Boyd, this raucous comedy had people laughing all evening! DISH gives this show two curly shoe toes up!

Fool runs through March 16, 2014

Tickets available by clicking HERE

The Alley Theatre, one of the nation's leading nonprofit theatre companies and housed in one of Houston's most iconic buildings, unveiled plans today to enhance its artistic product and complete the first extensive renovation of its facilities since its opening in 1968 through a $73 million capital campaign.  

Meredith Long and Roger Plank are co-chairmen of the campaign, "Extended Engagement." More than $31 million has already been raised toward the goal.

The campaign will pay for updating all theatrical systems with state-of-the-art equipment, substantially improving the patron in-theatre experience and amenities, and ensure the Theatre's future as a performing arts institution of national caliber that is sustainable, relevant, and accessible for future generations of Houstonians.

"The Alley's commitment to ensuring a legacy of great theatre experiences is evident in the first-class facility planned," said Long. "The goal of the renovation is to enhance the character of the Alley Theatre building and change the audience experience exponentially."

The Extended Engagement Campaign has three primary components: 
I. $10 million for Artistic Enhancement: 
Increase the artistic budget by $1 million each season from 2008 through 2017 to fund the artistic mission of the theatre, supporting plays with larger casts and higher production values, and expanding the resident company to include actors, directors, playwrights, and designers. 

II. $46.5 million for Renovation: 
Renovate the existing building, including the Hubbard Stage and lobbies, clean the concrete building exterior and create a more energy efficient building.  
The construction start date has not been established. 

III. $16.5 million for Endowment and Cash Reserve: 
Augment the Alley's current endowment by $15 million and increase cash reserves by an additional $1.5 million to support the enhanced artistic product.

"The Alley's strategic plan, set by the board in 2006, has enabled the Theatre to expand the annual budget spent on its artistic product by $3 million per year," explained Plank.  "This investment has enabled the Alley to delight audiences and is already paying dividends in higher earned and contributed income.  It has permitted our overall operating budget to grow 50 percent and sets the stage for the balance of the 'Extended Engagement' campaign."  "For the past six years, including the recession of 2008-2010, the Alley has posted consecutive years of operating surpluses," stated Managing Director Dean R. Gladden.  "We currently have no debt and an accumulated surplus of $1.2 million.  Our strong financial position places us in the best possible position for this campaign to succeed." 

"This capital campaign and the renovations envisioned will allow the Alley to enrich the audience's experience, creating a more intimate space where actors and audience are closer," promised Artistic Director Gregory Boyd. "We will maintain our commitment to the resident company, supporting theatre artists working together on a variety of projects over time, embrace new theatre technology, and continue to nurture new play development.  By continuing to support these artistic initiatives, we will be able to plant the flag of Houston and Houston's Alley Theatre in the other theatre capitals and cities around the globe."

Renovation
Since 1968, no major renovation has been made to the Hubbard Stage - the largest of the Alley's two stages - or to the public and backstage areas of the building, the building's air conditioning, plumbing, and electrical systems. Renovation plans include: 

Stage improvements:
Added fly loft with computer-controlled, motorized rigging; fully trapped stage floor; state-of-the-art lighting, sound and electrical enhancements; and larger and more flexible dressing room facilities; 

Audience amenities:
All new seats and seating configuration that will provide a more intimate experience for the audience, with accessible seating in multiple areas; new and expanded restrooms; new lobby space with a skyline view and new flooring throughout the public spaces; 

Building upgrades:
New multi-zoned air conditioning system; new plumbing and expanded sprinkler system; installation of energy efficient glass and cleaning of the building exterior.

Enhancing the Character of the Building
With its bold, concrete exterior and multiple-turrets, the Alley Theatre building has secured itself as one of Houston's most significant, architectural landmarks. The distinctive building, dedicated in 1968, is the heart of Houston's downtown Theater District and is the only downtown performing arts venue owned and operated by a performing arts company.   The building was the first solo project designed by architect Ulrich Franzen, one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century to emerge from the Harvard School of Design. Renovations planned will embrace the unique features of this iconic building, enhancing its character with 21st century theatre systems and audience amenities to ensure its value to tomorrow's audiences and theatre artists.  

For more information CLICK HERE

But you can try to get your head around it at the Alley Theatre beginning March 1st. Bringing together an outstanding, large cast with a world-class artistic team, Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd directs Aaron Sorkin's A Few Good Men. This epic production brings this captivating military courtroom drama to life. 

You may remember the 1992 movie with Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore that was nominated for four Academy Awards. 

Jeremy Webb as Lt. j.g. Daniel A. Kaffee and Lee Sellars as Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep in the Alley Theatre’s production of A Few Good Men. A Few Good Men runs March 1 through March 24, 2013 on the Hubbard Stage. Photo by Jann Whaley.

Aaron Sorkin is an Academy and Emmy Award-winning screenwriter, producer, and playwright, whose film credits include The Social Network, Moneyball, Charlie Wilson's War, and the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic. Sorkin's HBO hit series, The Newsroom, debuted in 2012 bringing in an average of 7 million viewers per episode. Sorkin produced and wrote the television series Sports Night, winning the Humanitas Prize and the Television Critics Association Award. He spent the next four years writing and producing The West Wing, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series all four years, two Peabody Awards and the Humanitas Prize.

Aaron Sorkin returns to the Alley Theatre after The Farnsworth Invention in 2009 with this captivating courtroom drama. A Few Good Men ran for nearly 500 performances on Broadway in 1989, became an Oscar-nominated film in 1992 and was re-conceived for a 2005 London revival. This taut, tense thriller, originally inspired by true events, erupts when two Marines are accused of the hazing death of a fellow Marine at Guantanamo Bay. This hard-hitting, suspenseful story puts the Marine code of honor on trial.

"Sorkin's plays live in a way most theatre writing doesn't," Artistic Director Gregory Boyd says. "As scene follows scene his plays have a tempo-rhythm, a quickening and almost musical life - in orchestrating the entire event, Sorkin uses all the tools. His writing is alive - and he is, and rightly, a model of contemporary dramatic storytelling. We're very pleased to welcome him back to the Alley's stage."

The cast of A Few Good Men features Alley Theatre Resident Company Members Jeffrey Bean as Cmdr. Walter Stone, James Black as Capt. Matthew A. Markinson, Emily Neves as Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway, David Rainey as Judge Julius Alexander Randolph, Jay Sullivan as Cpl. Howard, and Todd Waite as Capt. Isaac Whitaker.

Making their Alley Theatre debuts are Max Carpenter as Pfc. Louden Downey, Robert Eli as Lt. Jack Ross, David Pegram as Lance Cpl. Harold W. Dawson, Michael Schantz as Lt. Jonathan James Kendrick, Lee Sellars as Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep, Jeremy Webb as Lt. j.g. Daniel A. Kaffee, and Jared Zarilli as Lt. j.g. Sam Weinberg. 

Houston actors making their Alley debuts are Daniel Bevan, Andrew Garrett, Dain Geist, Darnea S. Olson, Benjamin Reed and Tristien Marcellous Winfree. Houston actors returning to the Alley stage include Ross Bautsch, Mark Jackson, and Justin O'Brien.

A Few Good Men, by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Gregory Boyd, begins performances Friday, March 1, opens officially Wednesday, March 6, and runs through Sunday, March 24, 2013, on the Hubbard Stage.

ABOUT THE ALLEY THEATRE 
The Alley Theatre is a nationally recognized Theatre Company based in Houston, Texas.  The Alley was founded in 1947 and is one of the few US companies with a commitment to resident artists. Under the direction of Artistic Director Gregory Boyd and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden, the Alley creates a wide-ranging repertoire of innovative productions of classics, neglected modern plays, and new works in its 11 production season. The Alley has brought its productions to Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, 40 American cities, to Berlin, Paris, and St. Petersburg, as well as to major European festivals (including two in one season at the Venice Biennale). A recipient of the Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Alley has premiered plays by Edward Albee, Horton Foote, Robert Wilson, Rajiv Joseph. Kenneth Lin,  Eve Ensler, Keith Reddin, and Herbert Siguenza, as well as creating the premieres of the musicals Jekyll & Hyde, The Civil War, and Wonderland. Other notable collaborations include The Roman Plays (with Vanessa Redgrave), Hydriotaphia (by Tony Kushner), and Danton'sDeath. The Alley's productions are built and rehearsed in the Alley Theatre Center for Theatre Production - a 75,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the theatres themselves and are performed on the 824-seat Hubbard Stage and the 310-seat Neuhaus Stage. The Alley continues to provide its audiences with thought-provoking, diverse and transformative theatre. alleytheatre.org

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets to A Few Good Men start at $26. All tickets to A Few Good Men are available for purchase at 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. 

Sadly a very funny show finds it's end at The Alley. Santaland Diaries plays along with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas,which runs on the Hubbard Stage during the Holiday season. David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries runs downstairs on the Neuhaus Stage. This is the last holiday season that the Alley Theatre will produce this show, directed by David Cromer, who won the MacArthur Genius Award and Obie Award for Best Director. Cromer's critically acclaimed production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, ran for over a year on Broadway and most recently he directed  Sweet Bird of Youth, now running at the Goodman Theater in Chicago.  This past summer, David Cromer appeared in the premiere episode of Aaron Sorkin's The Newsroom on HBO.  Alley Artist Todd Waite reprises his role as "Crumpet the Elf" in the outlandish, and true, chronicles of David Sedaris' experience as a worker in Macy's SantaLand display.

A compact, one-character comedy, The Santaland Diaries  is a 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 Saturday, November 24, opens Thursday, November 29 and runs through Sunday, December 30 on the Neuhaus Stage.

Todd Waite (Crumpet) is in his 12th season as an Alley Company Artist. Most recently seen in Death of a Salesman as Uncle Ben and November as Archer Brown, he has appeared in over 60 productions including four Christmas seasons of the one-man show The Santaland Diaries.

To purchace tickets CLICK HERE

DISH received the sad word over the weekend that due to a health problem, Alley veteran James Black is unable to perform the role of Willy Loman in the Alley Theatre’s current production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.  Everyone is confident that he will make a full recovery and will be able to return to the Alley stages in future productions.

“I must put my health above all, follow the medical guidance of my doctor, and step away from this role and this great production,” says James Black.  “I leave with a heavy heart and apologize for disappointing loyal Alley subscribers and current ticket holders.”

Managing Director Dean R. Gladden continues:

“We request that you respect the privacy of James Black and feel confident that he will return to full strength soon and be able to direct this year’s production of A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas. We have cancelled performances through Friday, October 5 and are doing our best to contact all ticket holders to reschedule for performances later in the run.”

Artistic Director Gregory Boyd is pleased to announce that Glenn Fleshler will play the role of Willy Loman. He was the understudy for Willy Loman in the recent Broadway production. His Broadway credits also include Captain Brice, RN in Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia and Antonio’s man/ensemble in Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. A definitive first preview and opening will be announced at a later time.

ABOUT DEATH OF A SALESMAN
The return to the Alley of Arthur Miller’s Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Death of a Salesmanis particularly relevant today. The play juxtaposes the American Dream with the realities of a fluctuating economy, unequal opportunities, and unfair advantages, with vivid characters and consummate theatricality. As salesman Willy Loman approaches the end of his working life, he must reconcile his unrealized dreams while struggling against the current world. Recommended for general audiences; mature themes.

ABOUT GLENN FLESHLER
Glenn Fleshler is making his Alley Theatre debut. On Broadway, he appeared in Death of A Salesman, Arcadia, The Merchant of Venicewith Al Pacino, A Behanding in Spokane, Guys and Dolls, and Spring Awakening. He appeared with Meryl Streep in Mother Couragein Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre, Maggie Smith in The Lady From Dubuque in the West End, and the Drama Desk-winning cast of Stuff Happens at The Public Theatre along with many other productions Off-Broadway and around the country. He has had many recurring roles on TV including George Remus on Boardwalk Empire, Pavel Mirminsky on Delocatedand Det. Milton Trammel on Damages. He has also made appearances on Law & Orders, Fringe, The Good Wife, Bored to Death, Sex and the City and Third Watch. Films include: Margaret, All Good Things, A Price Above Rubies and the upcoming releases of Gods Behaving Badly, Nightingalewith Marion Cotillard and Joaquin Phoenix, Starbuck with Vince Vaughn and the latest Woody Allen project.