New season full of laughs, diversity, world premieres and classic plays
laughter is the best medicine, then the Alley Theatre’s upcoming season is essentially a cure-all. For what, exactly?
Doldrums, according to the Tony Award-winning performing arts theatre company’s artistic director Rob Melrose.
“So many of us gave gotten in the habit of settling for whatever is streaming from our couch, but we are missing out on the human interactions, the community, the comradery, the laughing and breathing together that you only get in a theater with other people,” he said via statement.
The phrase “something for everyone” gets thrown around pretty liberally these days. Though to its credit, the Alley’s 2023-24 repertoire does boast a robust and diverse offering of comedies, a worldpremiere musical, murder mystery, five world-premiere plays and classic works from well-known authors, including Anton Chekhov, Thornton Wilder, Charlotte Brönte, Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens.
Despite the familiarity of those five big names, most of what the Alley has planned for the stage at the Meredith J. Long Theatre Center reflects a deeply personal connection for Melrose.
“I’m always somewhat personally wrapped up in everything we do,” he said. “Everything is very close to my heart. Everything is like good home cooking.”
In terms of appetite, should a theater fan only have room, for say, one or two main courses, Melrose has some suggestions. “If I were to say what’s a good starter pack, I would probably say ‘The Nerd’ and ‘Ella.’ One’s really fun and one’s really a Broadway show about Ella Fitzgerald.”
He’s referring to a sidesplitting comedy written by Larry Shue and directed by the Alley’s own associate producer and casting director Brandon Weinbrenner. “The Nerd” is the first show Melrose ever saw on Broadway; it’s also the first production he and wife Paige Rogers programmed together. “I played ‘The Nerd,’ so it’s a play I know well. We quoted it our entire relationship,” he said.
And “Ella,” a world-premiere musical by Anna Deveare Smith and directed by Philip William McKinley featuring music from the Ella Fitzgerald songbook.
“Anna is famous for her documentary theater (style) where she takes people’s interviews word for word. Instead, this is all of Anna’s really, really deep research,” Melrose said. “She has become so knowledgeable about every aspect of Ella’s life, like her friendships with all different kind of people, including Marilyn Monroe.”
He adds that the production hopes for a Broadway run after the Alley. Houston audiences are fortunate to see it first.
For patrons with a little more room on their plates, Melrose would throw in “PicIf tures From Home” for dessert. It’s more artistically challenging, an advanced depiction of Larry Sultan’s photo memoir of the same name.
“What’s cool about ‘Pictures From Home’ is that Sharr White, who wrote it, came to Houston with this play he’d adopted from Sultan’s book of photographs but wasn’t sure that he had a solid play,” said Melrose, who will direct the production. “Then we did a reading and people were laughing. People were in tears in the end, and we realized we really had something.”
He’s also excited about “American Mariachi” by José Cruz González, because it’s indicative of work the Alley has done to cultivate relationships with the local Latino community over the past four years. The same goes for “The World Is Not Silent,” a heartwarming tale by Don X that’s partially about a father and son learning sign language together as the elder goes deaf and part love story. It’s both funny and filling, like most of the Alley’s upcoming season. Come hungry.