Alley celebrates a very special ‘Christmas Carol’ homecoming
Mayor Sylvester Turner mentioned the Super Bowl, Hurricane Harvey and the city’s “pension crisis” during Friday night’s opening of “A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas” at the Alley Theatre in downtown Houston. It was the first show there since storms caused an estimated $18 million in damage to the theater.
The loudest response came when the mayor shouted out about the Astros winning the World Series.
It was indicative of the city’s spirit, a reminder that despite so many obstacles, Houston not only perseveres — but keeps on winning.
“This has been a very special year for the city of Houston,” Turner told the crowd. “Many thought this night would not happen.
“Tonight demonstrates that we are very much Houston strong. The Theater District represents the soul of our city. And
regardless of the storms, the show still must go on.”
It was bustling and busy throughout the
theater, and spirits were indeed bright. Just up the first red staircase, a quartet of carolers zipped through holiday tunes in front of several Christmas trees.
Turner counted down the lighting of approximately 40 trees located throughout the theater just before Friday’s performance of “A Christmas Carol” inside the Hubbard Theatre. It was part of the Alley’s annual Deck the Trees — A Season of Giving fundraiser, expanded this year to help cover renovations.
The most popular? An orange and blue, Astrosthemed tree, of course.
Butch Mach, Alley board president, said this year’s donations tripled previous efforts — “and, boy, do we need it.”
The Neuhaus Theatre, Mitchell Lobby, props storage and basement dressing rooms were flooded during Harvey. The water was so powerful that it knocked down a cement-block wall and pushed open locked doors. The theater took in approximately 4 million gallons of water.
The Hubbard Theatre and Long Lobby, where Friday’s events took place, were not damaged. They received the majority of the upgrades from a $46.5 million renovation in 2015. There were no signs of damage or ongoing work at Friday’s events.
The Alley temporarily moved productions to the University of Houston after Harvey. The smaller Neuhaus Theatre is expected to reopen by Valentine’s Day for the world premiere of Suzanne Vega’s and Duncan Sheik’s “Lover, Beloved.”
The work is still not done. Several calls for donations were included in the “Christmas Carol” playbill, including emotional letters from artistic director Gregory Boyd and managing director Dean Gladden — donate at alleytheatre.org/alleydays.
A spirit of giving, of course, is what ultimately helps Ebenezer Scrooge become a better man in “A Christmas Carol.” Jeffrey Bean, who plays the reformed miser, played on that theme during Friday night’s curtain call.
“You may have noticed that as a part of Scrooge’s redemption that he has an awareness of the community around him and the importance of that community to his own well-being and his responsibility back to that community,” Bean said.
“For us as a community to come together so that we can rebuild and become whole again, there are times when we must ask for help. And this is one of those times.”
Cast members then took to the lobby with buckets as people left the theater. And just as the city has done time and again this year, Houston reached into its pockets to give a little hope, spread a little love and give a bit of Christmas cheer.