By Adam Hetrick
28 Nov 2009

Director David Cromer

Alley Theatre resident actor Todd Waite discovers the dark side of the holidays in David Sedaris' biting holiday comedy, The Santaland Diaries, beginning Nov. 28 in Houston.

For the second season, Alley Theatre resident company member Waite (Our Town, The Lieutenant of Inishmore) offers Houston audiences his performance as Crumpet, the disenchanted Macy's Elf who shares his experiences of working the holiday Santaland display.

David Cromer, who staged Our Town Off-Broadway and the short-lived Broadway revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs, helms the production that will run through Dec. 27 on the Neuhaus Stage.

Waite has appeared in the Alley productions of Cyrano de Bergerac, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Arsenic and Old Lace, Hapgood, Deathtrap, Twelfth Night, The Goat, Art, Stones in His Pockets and The Invention of Love.

The Santaland Diaries has scenic design by Karin Rabe, costume design by Blair Gulledge, lighting design by Kevin Rigdon and sound design by Pierre Dupree.

Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello adapted Sedaris' original essay, "The Santaland Diaries," as a brief one-man play for the stage in 1996. Sedaris has also penned The Book of Liz for the stage.

Sedaris, a regular commentator on National Public Radio, is the author of the best-selling books "Barrel Fever," "Naked," "Holidays on Ice," "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim."

Tickets are available by visiting AlleyTheatre. The Alley Theatre is located at 615 Texas Avenue in Houston, TX.