Works by John Logan, Conor McPherson, Theresa Rebeck, and More Set for Alley Theatre’s 2011-2012 Season

The Houston-based Alley Theatre has announced programming for its 2011-2012 season, which will open with the world premiere of Elizabeth Egloff’s Ether Dome (September 9 – October 9), directed by Michael Wilson. The play concerns Horace Wells and his student, William Morton, who in 1847 discovered Ether as anesthesia. Wilson will also be directing Horton Foote’s Dividing the Estate (October 7-30), a sharp satire about a Southern dynasty in crisis.

The Alley will present two holiday productions: A Christmas Carol – A Ghost Story of Christmas, by Charles Dickens, adapted and originally directed by Michael Wilson, directed by James Black (November 18 – December 27) and The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, directed by David Cromer, and featuring Todd Waite (November 30 – December 31).

In the new year, will be the musical The Toxic Avenger (January 13 – February 12), featuring book & lyrics by Joe DiPietro, music & lyrics by David Bryan, and direction by John Rando, who is reinventing his staging of the show’s Off-Broadway production.

The Alley’s artistic director, Gregory Boyd, will helm the theater’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull (February 3 – March 4), about the romantic entanglements of a group of actors, writers and artists gathered on a Russian estate. The cast will include James Black as the novelist Trigorin and Josie de Guzman as the actress Arkadina.

Jackson Gay will direct John Logan’s Red (March 2-25), which was the 2010 Tony Award winner for Best Play. The work centers on master abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, and his relationship with his young assistant. Boyd will direct Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer (April 6-29), set in Dublin on Christmas Eve and involving a card game with very, very high stakes.

Scott Schwartz will direct the rolling world premiere production of Theresa Rebeck’s new play, What We’re Up Against (May 4 – June 3), a black comedy about a female architect who finds that glass ceilings are not a thing of the past. The season will conclude with Boyd’s production of Michael Frayn’s farcical backstage comedy, Noises Off (May 25 – June 24).

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