The Alley, which served as the birthplace of Wildhorn's pop hit Jekyll & Hyde, will team with the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to produce the premiere of the Lewis Carroll-inspired musical. Wonderland will first premiere in Tampa in late 2009 prior to its 2010 Houston bow.
World premiere plays by Kenneth Lin and Rajiv Joseph will round-out a season that also includes resident stagings of Our Town and Harvey and the regional debut of Jeffrey Hatcher's contemporary comedy, Mrs. Mannerly.
"The season has the widest range of imagination and is filled with thrilling theatricality – and tour de force writing. The combination of the startlingly new and the re-imagined classic offers our audiences a depth of passion and excitement, and our artists wonderful opportunities to make us laugh and bring us together," said Alley artistic director Gregory Boyd in a statement.
The 2009-2010 Alley season follows:
Oct. 2-Nov. 1 on the Hubbard Stage
"Our Town follows the courtship and marriage of George and Emily, and in following the two, reveals the hidden mystery behind the everyday. Wilder’s portrait of life, love and death is set in Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, a fictional New England town at the start of the 20th century."
Oct. 16-Nov. 15 on the Neuhaus Stage
"Gruesome Playground Injuries charts two lives, using scars, injuries and calamity as the mile markers. An imaginative tour de force for actors and audiences, the play explores why people hurt themselves to gain another's love, and the cumulative effect of such damage, of such demands."
Jan. 9-Feb. 14, 2010 on the Hubbard Stage
"A delightful new musical that updates Alice's adventures through an amazing pop score. Alley audiences will be among the first to see this new production filled with extraordinary songs, fantastic characters, and lots of heart."
Jan. 22-Feb. 21, 2010 on the Neuhaus Stage
"Intelligence-Slave tells the story of Curt Herzstark, a concentration camp prisoner who was kept alive by the Nazis because he was rumored to have invented the world's first hand-held four function calculator – a great prize if it could be re-created. Caught between the thrill of technological discovery and the fear of rendering himself obsolete if he produces a working device, Curt's survival plan takes a turn when the Nazis introduce him to a wunderkind member of the Hitler Youth with a soul that might be salvageable."
March 5-28, 2010 on the Hubbard Stage
"Affable Elwood P. Dowd has a kind word for everyone he meets. He lives a quiet life with his social-climbing sister and her daughter and is devoted to his loyal and trustworthy friend and constant companion, Harvey. The fact that Harvey happens to be a six-foot invisible rabbit doesn't seem to bother Elwood but is an ongoing embarrassment to his family who decides to have him committed."
April 16-May 9, 2010 on the Hubbard Stage
"In The 39 Steps, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called 'The 39 Steps' is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale. A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps amounts to an unforgettable evening of pure pleasure."
May 21-June 20, 2010 on the Neuhaus Stage
"Inspired by a childhood memory of etiquette class, playwright Jeffrey Hatcher conjures up the world of a seven-year-old studying manners from the title character. Mrs. Mannerly is a demanding teacher, and no student in her 36 years of etiquette classes has achieved a perfect score. But when he discovers her secret past, Young Jeffrey is determined to be the first."
June 4-27, 2010 on the Hubbard Stage
"Bernard, a successful American architect living in a posh Paris apartment, has been deftly juggling three fiancées who are all flight attendants. It's easy, with good timing and a bit of assistance from his reluctant housekeeper who plays romantic air-traffic controller. But, this supersonic lifestyle hits turbulence when his old college friend visits and each of his three fiancées change their flight schedule." The Alley will also offer a return engagement of David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries, starring Todd Waite (Nov. 27-Dec. 27 on the Neuhaus Stage); and the annual presentation of Dickens' A Christmas Carol (Nov. 20-Dec. 27 on the Hubbard Stage).
Casting and additional creative duties for the Alley's 2009-2010 season will be announced at a later date.
Subscriptions are currently on sale. For more information visit AlleyTheatre or call (713) 220-5700.
The Alley Theatre is located at 615 Texas Avenue in Houston, TX.
