The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
company in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. It is the oldest professional theatre company in Texas and the third oldest resident theatre in the United States. Alley Theatre productions have played on Broadway at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
, toured more than 40 American cities, and played internationally in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
.
History
Under the leadership of Nina Eloise Whittington Vance (1914–1980),
the Alley Theatre was founded in 1947 in a "former dance studio with an opening on Main Street. A brick corridor led from Main to the back of the studio, hence the name Alley Theatre."
In 1948, early paying members scouted Houston for a new location for the Alley, finally landing on an abandoned fan factory on Berry Avenue. The Alley re-opened on February 8, 1949, with a production of Lillian Helmann's ''
The Children’s Hour''.
In 1954, Ms. Vance brought in Albert Dekker to guest-star in ''
Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...
''. The Alley then became a fully professional/Equity company.
The Alley Theatre was invited by the United States State Department to represent the American Regional Theatre at the
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
World’s Fair in 1958.
In 1962, the Houston Endowment gifted land worth $800,000 and grants worth $2.5 million were awarded to the Alley from the Ford Foundation for the new building at 615 Texas Ave. In the summer of 1963, the theatre raised more than $900,000 from Houstonians. These funds helped the theatre grow from its modest beginnings into one of the most prestigious non-profit resident theatres in the United States.
Paul Zindel
Paul Zindel Jr. (May 15, 1936 – March 27, 2003) was an American playwright, young adult novelist, and educator.
Early life
Zindel was born in Tottenville, Staten Island, New York, to Paul Zindel Sr., a policeman, and Betty Zindel, a nurse; h ...
's ''
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work.
Productions ...
'' was staged at the Alley in 1964 and in 1971 Zindel won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the work.
In 1996, the Alley Theatre won the
Regional Theatre Tony Award
The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics.
Background
Initially presented in 1948 to Robert Por ...
and has toured 40 American cities and abroad.
and is regarded as “one of the most respected resident companies in the country.”
In 1977, Nina Vance was invited on the State Department tour of Russian theater, which led to an invitation from Nina to Galina Volchek, director of the Sovremennik Theater of Moscow, to come to Houston to produce
Mikhail Roschin’s play, Echelon. This marked the first time a Russian had been invited to the U.S. to recreate a play precisely as it appeared in the Soviet Union.
Having forged alliances with such international luminaries as
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...
,
Vanessa Redgrave
Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
and
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical ''Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whitne ...
, landmark theatrical events at the Alley have included the world premieres of ''
Jekyll & Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'', ''The Civil War'', and in 1998, ''Not About Nightingales'' a newly discovered play by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
, which moved to Broadway in 1999 and was nominated for six Tony Awards, including Best Play.
The Alley is currently led by Artistic Director Rob Melrose and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden.
''Texas Monthly'' writes, no other theatre "in Texas comes close" to the Alley and its "productions often rival Broadway in quality, thanks to its resident acting company (one of the few left in the country) and top-to-bottom production staff."
On March 1, 2011, the Alley Theatre was awarded a Texas Medal of Arts Award by the Texas Cultural Trust, bestowed upon Texas leaders and luminaries in the arts and entertainment industry for creative excellence and exemplary talent.
The theatre was completely renovated in the mid-2010s but was flooded by
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
and sustained the worst damage of any Houston theatre. The Neuhaus Theatre, located on the building's basement level, was filled with seventeen feet of water. The company's prop storage, containing close to 100,000 props, was completely destroyed. In response to Harvey, the company commissioned a touring children's play that was performed throughout Houston area schools.
Building
The opening of the new home of the Alley Theatre in November 1968 was a nationally chronicled event.
It has two stages – the Hubbard Stage, which has 774 seats, and the more intimate Neuhaus Stage, which has 296 seats.
The Alley’s building at 615 Texas Ave. was designed by
Ulrich Franzen
Ulrich Joseph Franzen (January 15, 1921 – October 6, 2012) was a German-born American architect known for his "fortresslike" buildings and Brutalist style.Vitello, Paul (14 October 2012)Ulrich Franzen, Designer of Brutalist Buildings, Dies at 91 ...
, who, along with Ms. Vance, wanted to create “a building that sings from any viewpoint.”
[Zeigler, Joseph Wesley]
''Regional Theatre: The Revolutionary Stage''
U of Minnesota Press, 1973, p. 30. The theatre building has no right angles but does have wide bands and terraces and is “reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings.” Franzen selected the concrete exterior because he was inspired by Houston’s location and the warm weather of the Southwest. There are three triangles in the main building and “the curves cling to and move around the triangles.”
Franzen designed the Alley in what is known as the
Brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
style, which was popular from the 1950s through the mid-1970s. The term “brutalism” was coined in 1953 and comes from the French
béton brut
''Béton brut'' () is a French term that translates in English to “raw concrete”. The term is used to describe concrete that is left unfinished after being cast, displaying the patterns and seams imprinted on it by the formwork.''Exposed concr ...
meaning "raw concrete". Concrete is the material most widely associated with Brutalist architecture.
The Alley's building is among many famous Brutalist structures, including Washington D.C.'s
L'Enfant Plaza
L'Enfant Plaza is a complex of four commercial buildings grouped around a large plaza in the Southwest section of Washington, D.C., United States. Immediately below the plaza and the buildings is the "La Promenade" shopping mall."The L'Enfant c ...
, the
J. Edgar Hoover Building
The J. Edgar Hoover Building is a low-rise office building located at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Planning for the building began in ...
, and the Metro stations (
WMATA
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA ), commonly referred to as Metro, is a tri-jurisdictional government agency that operates transit service in the Washington metropolitan area. WMATA was created by the United States Con ...
),
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
’s Art and Architecture Building,
Boston City Hall
Boston City Hall is the seat of city government of Boston, Massachusetts. It includes the offices of the mayor of Boston and the Boston City Council. The current hall was built in 1968 to assume the functions of the Old City Hall.
It is a cont ...
, the
FBI Academy
The FBI Academy is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's law enforcement training and research center near the town of Quantico in Stafford County, Virginia. Operated by the bureau's Training Division, it was first opened for use on May 7, 197 ...
, and the
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
(London).
The new Alley Theatre became “the most modern, elastic theatre house in the world for the dramatic arts” thanks to
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
professor
George Izenour
George Charles Izenour (pronounced I-zen-our), MPhys, AIEEE (July 24, 1912 – March 24, 2007) was an American designer and leading innovator in the field of theatrical design and technology, as well as an author and educator. He taught a ...
’s first-of-its-kind light grid, adjustable walls and analogue recorder. The tension wire grid, which Izenour described as similar to a bedspring, was made of a couple miles of aircraft cable, which formed a mesh 19 feet above the stage, allowing lighting technicians to easily walk on it before shows to adjust lighting and eliminated the need for footlights, spotlights and curtains.
Houston architect Preston Bolton wrote of Franzen and the Alley building, "I believe the architect, Ulrich Franzen, has created a most successful building for the Alley Theatre – one that will receive much recognition for the city, and enhance the excellent productions that are to come.”
Newsweek wrote about the new Alley Theatre, “the most striking theatre in the U.S. … another step along the road toward ending Broadway’s domination of the American theatre,” and Sydney Johnson of The Montreal Star wrote, "… it looks as though the new Alley Theatre is going to be one of the best – and probably the very best – in the U.S. at least, simply because the building has been designed to house a specified stage and auditorium instead of the other way round."
The new theater was deemed "a very successful statement of both theatrical and architectural values" and was cited by the American Institute of Architects as “inside and out, a brilliant theatrical event.”
Of the Brutalist theatres built in the 1960s, including the Vivian Beaumont at
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...
,
Arena Stage
Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...
in Washington D.C.,
Mark Taper Forum
The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of Downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighboring ...
in Los Angeles, and the
Guthrie Theatre
The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions between Sir Tyrone Gut ...
in Minneapolis, only the Alley Theatre’s architect, Franzen, won the national Honor Award from the
American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
for designing the theatre (1972).
In 1994, the Alley Theatre was chosen to receive the Twenty-Five Year Award by the American Institute of Architects/Houston, which recognizes distinguished architecture of lasting quality.
In 1996, the Alley was featured in the “''Book of American Architecture: 500 Notable Buildings from the 10th Century to Present'' by G. E. Kidder Smith.
In June 2001,
Tropical Storm Allison
Tropical Storm Allison was a tropical storm that devastated southeast Texas in June of the 2001 Atlantic hurricane season. An arguable example of the "brown ocean effect", Allison lasted unusually long for a June storm, remaining tropical or su ...
severely damaged the Neuhaus Stage located on the basement level of the theatre. The flood destroyed the theatre's costume, props, and scenic shops. The theatre was flooded with 14 feet of water.
In 2002, the Alley unveiled its new Center for Theatre Production, a 75,000-square-foot facility. It is adjacent to the main theatre building.
The ''
Houston Press
The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017.
The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...
'', along with others like the George R. Brown Convention Center, ranked the building as one of the ten least photogenic buildings in Downtown Houston. John Nova Lomax, the author of the list, commented "Yeah, yeah, I like the curves and all that, but this concrete hulk still looks like something
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
’s favorite architect would have come up with on
‘shrooms."
In 2017,
Hurricane Harvey
Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest t ...
brought massive flooding to the greater Houston region. Flood improvements made by the Alley after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, such as flood doors on the basement level, held. However, water entered the Alley basement through an electrical box located in the theatre's driveway. The Alley Theatre's Neuhaus Stage was flooded with 17 feet of water and most of the theatre's prop collection, dating back to the 1940s, was destroyed. A massive renovation was undertaken and the theatre re-opened 2 months later in time for its annual production of
A Christmas Carol
''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...
.
Building renovation
In 2013–2015, the Alley underwent a $46.5 million building renovation, the first major improvements since the building opened in 1968, including major improvements to the Hubbard Theatre, backstage area, and public spaces. The renovation was funded by private and public contributions to the Alley through the Extended Engagement Capital Campaign. Improvements included the installation of a new four-story fly loft, creation of a fully trapped stage floor allowing for an orchestra pit and actor and scenery entrances/exits, and a more intimate relationship between the audience’s seating area and the stage. New audience amenities included new seats, expanded restrooms and a new lobby space with a skyline view. With more than 500 performances annually, the Alley produces more performances than all other performing arts organizations in the Houston Theater District combined. The Alley Theatre’s historic renovation of the Hubbard Theatre will opened to the public on October 2, 2015 with
One Man, Two Guvnors
''One Man, Two Guvnors'' is a play by Richard Bean, an English adaptation of ''Servant of Two Masters'' ( it, Il servitore di due padroni), a 1743 Commedia dell'arte style comedy play by the Italian playwright Carlo Goldoni. The play replaces t ...
.
TYPE
The Alley sponsors what is known as the Texas Young Playwrights Exchange (TYPE), which offers a skills-enhancing experience for people under the age of twenty who want to write for the stage.
Every year, several pieces are chosen from the greater Houston area to be produced.
World premieres
* ''
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds
''The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'' is a play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work.
Productions ...
'' by Paul Zindel, 1965
* ''Scream'' by Arthur Laurents, 1978
* ''The Last Flapper'' by William Luce, 1987
* ''Heaven's Hard'' by Jordan Budde, 1989
* ''Road to Nirvana'' by Arthur Kopit, 1990
* ''Act of Passion'' by John Tyson, 1990
* ''
Jekyll & Hyde
''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'', music by Frank Wildhorn, book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse, 1990
* ''The Czar of Rock & Roll'', music and lyrics by Rusty Magee, book by Lewis Black, 1990
* ''Svengali'', music by Frank Wildhorn, book by Gregory Boyd, lyrics by John Bettis, Gregory Boyd, and Frank Wildhorn, 1991
* ''The Kiddie Pool'' by Michael Wilson, 1992
* ''American Vaudeville'' by Tina Landau and Anne Bogart, 1992
* ''
The Baltimore Waltz
''The Baltimore Waltz'' is a play by Paula Vogel. It revolves around a brother and sister who appear to be taking a European trip and is based on Vogel and her brother Carl's real-life experiences. The play had a workshop at the Perseverance Thea ...
'' by
Paula Vogel
Paula Vogel (born November 16, 1951) is an American playwright who received the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play ''How I Learned to Drive.'' A longtime teacher, Vogel spent the bulk of her academic career – from 1984 to 2008 – at Bro ...
, 1992
* ''Hamlet: A Monologue'' by Robert Wilson, 1995
* ''Hydriotaphia or the Death of Dr. Brown'' by
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...
, 1998
* ''
Not About Nightingales
''Not About Nightingales'' is a three-act play by Tennessee Williams in 1938. He wrote the play late in 1938, after reading in a newspaper about striking inmates of a Holmesburg, Pennsylvania, prison in August 1938, who had been placed in "an is ...
'' by
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
, 1998
* ''The Civil War'' by Frank Wildhorn, Gregory Boyd, and Jack Murphy, 1998*
* ''Lemonade'' by Eve Ensler, 1999
* ''Synergy'' by Keith Reddin, 2001
* ''The Carpetbagger's Children'' by
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...
, 2001*
* ''
Leading Ladies'' by
Ken Ludwig
Ken Ludwig is an American playwright and theatre director whose work has been performed in more than 30 countries in over 20 languages.
Personal life
Ken Ludwig was born in York, Pennsylvania. His father was a doctor and his mother was a former B ...
, 2004
* ''
Be My Baby
"Be My Baby" is a song by American girl group the Ronettes that was released as a single on Philles Records in August 1963. Written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, the song was the Ronettes' biggest hit, reaching number 2 in ...
'' by Ken Ludwig, 2005
* ''Treasure Island'' by Ken Ludwig, 2007
* ''The Gershwins' An American in Paris'' by Ken Ludwig, 2008
* ''Gruesome Playground Injuries'' by Rajiv Joseph, 2009
* ''
Wonderland'', book by Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy, lyrics by Jack Murphy and music by Frank Wildhorn, 2010
* ''Intelligence-Slave'' by Kenneth Lin, 2010
* ''The Monster at the Door'' by
Rajiv Joseph
Rajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play ''Descri ...
, 2011
* ''A Weekend with Pablo Picasso'' by Herbert Siguenza, 2011
* ''Ether Dome'' by Elizabeth Egloff, 2011
* ''Fool'' by Theresa Rebeck, 2014
* ''Syncing Ink'' by NSangou Njikam, 2017
* ''Describe the Night'' by
Rajiv Joseph
Rajiv Joseph (born June 16, 1974) is an American playwright. He was named a finalist for the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play ''Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo'', and he won an Obie Award for Best New American Play for his play ''Descri ...
, 2017*
* ''Lover, Beloved: An Evening with Carson McCullers'' by Suzanne Vega and Duncan Sheik, 2018
* ''
Cleo Cleo may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Cleo'' (magazine), an Australian magazine established in 1972, now active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand
* Cleo (group), a South Korean girl group formed in 1999
* ''Cleo'' (play), by Lawren ...
'' by
Lawrence Wright
Lawrence Wright (born August 2, 1947) is an American writer and journalist, who is a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'' magazine, and fellow at the Center for Law and Security at the New York University School of Law. Wright is best known as th ...
, 2018
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
Performing groups established in 1947
League of Resident Theatres
Theatres in Houston
Theatre companies in Houston
Regional theatre in the United States
Tony Award winners
1947 establishments in Texas
Brutalist architecture in Texas