On the Alley Theatre's Neuhaus Arena Stage, Travesties, perhaps Tom Stoppard's headiest historical and theoretical soup, imagines Communist leader Lenin, novelist James Joyce and Dadaism founder Tristin Tzara intermingling in 1917 Zurich society. They collide in the faulty memory of insignificant, self-aggrandizing diplomat Henry Carr. Artistic director Gregory Boyd directs the comedy, opening May 26 after May 21 previews for a run through June 13 at the Houston venue.
Other Stoppard works include Arcadia, Jumpers and the script for the Oscar winning film, "Shakespeare In Love."
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At the same time as Travesties, George Bernard Shaw's Misalliance is finishing up the Large Stage season at the Alley. Previews began May 14 for a May 19 opening and a run through June 13.
Shaw's Misalliance is between Hypatia Tarleton, the daughter of an underwear magnate and obsessive bibliophile John Tarleton, and Bentley Summerhays, the callow scion of a cash-poor aristocratic family. Hypatia endlessly yearns for something to happen to her, and she finally gets her wish when an airplane, carrying a rakish pilot and a Polish acrobat, crashes into the Tarleton family estate, revealing and/or generating a half a dozen other romantic misalliances. Misalliance stars Michael Balcanoff (Lord Summerhays), Curtis Billings (Bentley Summerhays), Judith Lightfoot Clarke (Hypatia), Bettye Fitspatrick (Mrs. Tarleton), Elizabeth Heflin (Lina Szczepanowska), Dennis Parlato (John Tarleton), Robert Parsons (John Tarleton, Jr), actor playwright Kevin Reddin ("Gunner") and Kevin Waldron (Joseph Percival).
David Wheeler directs the classic comedy, which received a recent Broadway staging with Elizabeth Marvel, Brian Murray and Joanna Going. Other Shaw plays include Pygmalion, Candida and Man and Superman.
For information on both shows, call (713) 228-8421.
-- By Robert Simonson and Christine Ehren
