Todd Waite Will Retire From the Alley Theatre Acting Company

Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre has announced that after 25 years, Todd Waite will retire as a member of the Resident Acting Company. Waite’s final performance as a Resident Acting Company member will be in his signature role as Sherlock Holmes for the sixth and final time in Ken Ludwig’s Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery in April 2025. 

In 1999, Waite made his Alley debut in a production of As Bees in Honey Drown and was invited to join the Resident Acting Company the following season. After 25 years and 135 productions, there are almost too many highlights to name including his favorite role as Martin in the 2003 world premiere of Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia. Waite also became a Houston holiday staple with his one-man performance in The Santaland Diaries, which ran for eight years and in his current role of crowd-favorite Mr. Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol, which is running until December 29.

“Alley Theatre has been my home for what will be 25 years by the end of Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, an appropriate show for me to go out on,” shares Todd Waite. “Turning 65 felt like the right time to travel, relax and recover a little more between projects. It has been an absolute honor and pleasure, a challenge and a joy to be a part of this very rare company that has put theatre at the center of its mandate and maintains a permanent company of actors. I've met and worked with many incredible artists: James Black who directed my first show here (As Bees in Honey Drown), Eleanor Holdridge (who I am delighted will be directing my final show as a full-time company member), Rob Melrose, Brandon Weinbrenner, Hal Holbrook, Dixie Carter, Sandy Robbins, Richard Nelson, Mark Shanahan, Sharr White, Horton Foote, Tony Kushner, Rajiv Joseph, Kenneth Lin, Pam MacKinnon, and Theresa Rebeck, and many wonderful actors inside and outside of the company and from this amazing city of Houston. There are simply too many more wonderful people to thank individually without missing someone, but thank you to everyone from production to admin, box office, engineering, and of course the Resident Acting Company.”

“It has truly been an honor and a pleasure to work with Todd Waite in the Resident Acting Company these past six years at Alley Theatre,” shares Artistic Director Rob Melrose.“Todd is an artist of the highest order and has a deep love and respect for his craft. Watching him work is a joy, and the next generation of actors have benefitted from seeing Todd in action and being mentored by him. His 25-year legacy burns brightly at the Alley. I hope Houston shows up in force to see Todd once again as Sherlock Holmes in Baskerville… to celebrate his many years of service to the Alley. I also hope to tempt Todd back to the Alley from time to time so that we don't need to say goodbye.”

“The Alley has a long history of members of its Resident Acting Company, but Todd Waite stands out for his tenure and his range of acting skills,” shares Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. “Having performed in 135 productions in front of millions of people, he will be remembered as one of the Alley’s finest actors.”