THE SANTALAND DIARIES to Return to Alley Theatre this Holiday Season, Begin. 11/29

Back by popular demand, Todd Waite reprises his role as Houston's favorite holiday elf. A compact, one-character comedy, The Santaland Diaries is a hilarious cult classic featuring comic encounters during the height of the holiday crunch. NPR humorist and best-selling author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humor writers. Recommended for mature audiences due to language and subject matter.

"We didn't offer The Santaland Diaries as part of our season," said Alley Theatre Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. "But when Houstonians called and wrote to us during our Christmas in July sale asking how they could get their tickets for The Santaland Diaries, we knew we had to bring this show back for one more season. We're delighted that Todd Waite will reprise this role."

The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello and directed by David Cromer, begins previews Friday, November 29, opens Sunday, December 1 and runs through Tuesday, December 31 on the Neuhaus Stage.

Todd Waite (Crumpet) is in his 13th season as an Alley Company Artist. Most recently seen in Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club as Sherlock Holmes,The Elephant Man as Carr Gomm/Belgian Policeman/London Policeman, A Few Good Men as Capt. Isaac Whitaker, Death of a Salesman as Uncle Ben, and November as Archer Brown, he has appeared in over 60 productions including five Christmas seasons of the one-man show, The Santaland Diaries. Other shows include Noises Off as Frederick Fellowes, Pygmalion as Henry Higgins, Sherlock Holmes as Sherlock Holmes, Rock 'n' Roll as Jan, The Goat or Who is Sylvia? as Martin, Arsenic and Old Lace as Mortimer Brewster, Hapgood as Kerner, Deathtrap as Sydney, Art as Ivan, Stones in His Pockets as Jake, The Devil's Disciple as Burgoyne, The Mousetrap as Christopher Wren and The 39 Steps as Richard Hannay. Previously, Mr. Waite spent six seasons with the renowned Shaw Festival, played Enjolras in the Canadian premiere of Les Miserables and guest-starred on all major U.S. and Canadian networks. Awards include the Critic's Choice Award for Intimate Exchanges at Dallas Theater Center and a Best Actor nomination for his performance in the world premiere of The Coronation Voyage. He has directed several Canadian premieres and was the resident director for Cirque du Soleil's 'O' in Las Vegas. A recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship for master actor/teachers, Mr. Waite holds a BFA in Acting and an MFA in Directing and is currently an adjunct professor for both the University of Houston's Graduate Program in Theatre Education and BFA Theatre Program. His private students attend Juilliard, Yale, The Royal Scottish Academy, The Stella Adler School, as well as Stage Door, Interlochen, and Houston's High School for the Performing Arts.

David Cromer (Director) reinvigorates classic American plays with a spirit and urgency that eschews nostalgia providing unexpectedly fresh and compelling theatrical experiences. In addition to this production of The Santaland Diaries, he has directed Alley Theatre productions of The Clean House and The Farnsworth Invention. Recent productions include Sweet Bird of Youth, now running at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, Tribes at Barrow Street Theatre in NYC, John Guare's House of Blue Leaves on Broadway, When the Rain Stops Falling which received a 2010 Lortel Award at Lincoln Center Theatre and A Streetcar Named Desire at Williamstown Theatre Festival and the Writers Theatre in Chicago. His critically acclaimed production of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, ran for over a year at the Barrow Street Theatre, and he received the 2009 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Revival, as well as a 2009 Obie Award for Best Director. His New York production of Adding Machine: A Chamber Musical, based on the play by Elmer Rice, garnered him an Obie Award for Best Director, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Direction and ran at the Minetta Lane Theatre. In his former home town of Chicago, David directed many award-winning productions including Picnic, Our Town, and the world premiere of Orson's Shadow at Steppenwolf Theatre. He was Artistic Director of Big Game Theatre from 1991-93. His productions in Chicago have won a total of 16 Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production and Best Director for The Cider House Rules, The Price, and Angels in America. His regional credits include The Grapes of Wrath at Ford's Theatre in Washington DC. David is a 2010 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship.

The design team of The Santaland Diaries includes scenic design by Karin Rabe (Alley Theatre Properties Master) and costume design by Blair Gulledge (Alley's November, Intelligence-Slave, Mrs. Mannerly). Lighting design is by Kevin Rigdon (Alley's Clybourne Park, November, What We're Up Against) with sound design by Pierre Dupree (Alley's Clybourne Park, November, August: Osage County).

Tickets to The Santaland Diaries will go on sale to the public at Theater District Open House on August. 25. Subscribers to the 13-14 season can purchase priority tickets now for $45 by contacting the box office at 713.220.5700, visiting www.alleytheatre.org or at the Alley Theatre Box Office, 615 Texas Avenue. Groups of 10 or more can receive special concierge services and select discounts by calling 713.220.5700 and asking for the group sales department.

To post a comment, you must register and login.