Melissa Pritchett News

When it comes to describing Alan Ayckbourn's 1994 play COMMUNICATING DOORS, the Internet proudly boasts that the science fiction comedy exists at the crossroads of Back to the Future and Hitchcock. Does the Alley Theatre's stalwart and clever production live up to that assessment? In my opinion, not really. Nevertheless, it comes incredibly close to meeting that lofty mark.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for Alan Ayckbourn's science fiction comedy Communicating Doors. Eleven plays penned by Alan Ayckbourn have been produced by the Alley, including the American premiere of Henceforward, directed by Ayckbourn, in 1987 and House & Garden in 2002. Alan Ayckbourn has been inducted into the American Theatre's Hall of Fame, received the 2010 Critics' Circle Award for Services to the Arts, became the first British playwright to receive both Olivier and Tony Special Lifetime Achievement Awards and was knighted in 1997 for services to the theatre.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

Voting is now underway for Houston! We have a record number of votes in already, but if you haven't voted yet, click here to vote! If you have voted already, tell your friends.

While Thanksgiving is right around the corner, holiday festivities are commencing in full force. For many Houston theater goers, the highlight of the holiday season is the Alley Theatre's infamous production of A CHRISTMAS CAROL - A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS. Michael Wilson's imaginative stage adaptation of the Charles Dicken's classic A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, is celebrating its 24th year and continues to be a spectacle that is hauntingly delightful and heartwarming. With family-friendly thrills, chills, and a hearty dose of laughter, this festive production remains a holiday favorite.

Houston's seasonal favorite A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas returns to light up the Holiday Season downtown on the Hubbard Stage November 15 to December 26.

When it comes to American Theatre from the 1930s, one of the leading writing duos was George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. This pair is integral in the development of Modern American Theatre. They are often studied in survey courses that chart the progression of the art form, as most agree that together they wrote some of America's favorite comedies. Their hilarious and heartwarming 1936 play YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU premiered at the Booth Theater on December 14, 1936 and ran for 837 performances. It also won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. When it was adapted for film by Frank Capra and Robert Riskin in 1938, it won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. Now, in 2013, The Alley Theatre is reviving the classic and hysterical masterpiece about an eccentric family that is happily surviving the Great Depression. It's 1936, and their key to bliss is embrace the love they have for one another, their hobbies, and to find ways to simply enjoy the life they've got.

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd presents You Can't Take It With You. Sanford Robbins returns to direct this new production after directing last season's November. Robbins also directed the Alley Theatre's 2003 production of You Can't Take It with You. You Can't Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Sanford Robbins, opens tonight, September 25, and runs through October 20, 2013 on the Hubbard Stage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd presents You Can't Take It With You. Sanford Robbins returns to direct this new production after directing last season's November. Robbins also directed the Alley Theatre's 2003 production of You Can't Take It with You. You Can't Take It With You, by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, directed by Sanford Robbins, began performances Friday, September 20 opens officially Wednesday, September 25, and runs through October 20, 2013 on the Hubbard Stage. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Alley Theatre Artistic Director Gregory Boyd announces the cast and creative team for You Can't Take It With You. Sanford Robbins returns to direct this new production after directing last season's November. Robbins also directed the Alley Theatre's 2003 production of You Can't Take It with You.

Bayou City Concert Musicals will present the classic musical comedy, The Pajama Game, for five performances at the Heinen Theatre, 3517 Austin, September 12-15, 2013. The Thursday performance (9-12) will begin at 7:30 p.m. with the Friday (9-13) and Saturday (9-14) performances beginning at 8:00 p.m. There will be two performances on Sunday (9-15), a matinee at 2:00 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:30 p.m.

Tradition is often a beautiful thing, especially when it invites Houstonians and tourists alike out of the summer heat and into the splendors of air conditioning. Mix in delightful, sometimes even frightfully chilling, entertainment, and you've got the recipe for the Alley Theatre's annual ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. This summer's offering is Agatha Christie's ever-suspenseful and surprisingly humorous THE HOLLOW, which is the 22nd Agatha Christie show the Alley has produced in their 66-year history.

Bayou City Concert Musicals kicks off its 2013-14 season with a fully-staged concert version of the classic musical, The Pajama Game, for five performances at the Heinen Theatre, 3517 Austin, September 12-15, 2013. 'It's fitting,' says BCCM Artistic Director Paul Hope, 'that BCCM will begin a series of shows from the 1950s with the quintessential American musical comedy.'

Beginning in July 2013, the Alley Theatre will produce Agatha Christie's The Hollow during its popular ExxonMobil Summer Chills series. Under the direction of Gregory Boyd, the Alley's resident company of actors will bring to life the colorful cast of characters in Agatha Christie's The Hollow.

Alley Theatre presents Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club. Based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 'The Suicide Club' and featuring beloved characters created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeffrey Hatcher (Mrs. Mannerly, 2010) crafts a smart new Sherlock Holmes mystery. Having played Sherlock Holmes in The Crucifer of Blood (2009) and Sherlock Holmes (2003), Alley Theatre Company Artist Todd Waite will again play the iconic and illustrious detective in a spectacular, lavish production. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!