HOUSTON: Alley Theatre has announced its 2017-18 season, which will include three world premieres.
The season will open with the world premiere of Rajiv Joseph’s Describe the Night (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), which was commissioned by the Alley. Set across several time periods, the play follows the interconnected lives of seven men and women. Giovanna Sardelli will direct.
Next up will be the world premiere of Cleo (Sept. 29-Oct. 22) by Lawrence Wright. Set during the filming of the 1963 film Cleopatra, the play follows the romance between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Bob Balaban will direct.
For the holidays, A Christmas Carol—A Ghost Story of Christmas (Nov. 17-Dec. 30), adapted by Michael Wilson from Charles Dickens, will return. James Black will direct.
Also for the holidays, the theatre will bring back The Santaland Diaries (Nov. 30-Dec. 31), adapted by Joe Mantello from David Sedaris. The one-man comedy follows a disgruntled elf working at Macy’s during the holiday season. Todd Waite will star, and David Cromer will direct.
Next up will be Robert Schenkkan’s The Great Society (Jan. 26-Feb. 18, 2018), a coproduction with Dallas Theater Center, which follows Lyndon B. Johnson’s presidency from 1965-68, as the former president fights the war on poverty and the Vietnam War. Kevin Moriarty will direct.
The following show will be the world premiere of Lover, Beloved (Feb. 9-March 11), written and performed by Suzanne Vega with songs by Vega and Duncan Sheik. The play with music pays homage to the life of Southern writer Carson McCullers. Jackson Gay will direct.
Terry Teachout’s Satchmo at the Waldorf (March 2-25, 2018) will be next. Set backstage at the Waldorf Astoria in 1971, the play centers on Louis Armstrong in his dressing room as he prepares to do one final show. Gordon Edelstein will direct.
Next up will be Steve Martin’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile (April 20-May 13, 2018), an imagined interaction between Picasso and Einstein in Paris in 1904. Artistic director Gregory Boyd will direct.
Jeffrey Hatcher’s Holmes and Watson (May 25-June 24, 2018) will follow. When Dr. John Watson receives mysterious notes that detective Sherlock Holmes may still be alive, he goes on a quest to find out. Mark Shanahan will direct.
The final show of the season will be Bekah Brunstetter’s The Cake (June 15-July 15, 2018), about a lesbian couple who want to get married in North Carolina and ask a family friend to bake their wedding cake. Their friend, though, is about to compete on a reality cooking show and has a moral quandary.
Alley Theatre is committed to creating theatre at the highest level and sharing it with the widest audience.
