alley theatre history

The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning theatre company in Houston, Texas. Finally in 2012, Smock Alley Theatre returned to its roots. Concrete is the material most widely associated with Brutalist architecture. Smock Alley’s beginnings in 1662 were a direct result of the Restoration monarchy’s reversal of the Cromwellian closure of the theatres under the Commonwealth. Offering cramped seating for only 87 people, the room featured an arena stage, a theatre in the round, and a sycamore tree that reached out through the roof. Hitchcock Holmes, A (1986). Copyright 2021 Alley Theatre. Flood improvements made by the Alley after Tropical Storm Allison in 2001, such as flood doors on the basement level, held. Teaching Artist Rain shares a persona poem about someone who has inspired her. Made her debut as an opera singer at Houston Grand Opera in "La Voix humaine.”. Those gates now reside on the third floor of the current Alley Theatre building near the elevators. Franzen designed the Alley in what is known as the Brutalist style, which was popular from the 1950s through the mid-1970s. [4], In 1962, the Houston Endowment gifted land worth $800,000 and grants worth $2.5 million were awarded to the Alley from the Ford Foundation for the new building at 615 Texas Ave. [18], Houston architect Preston Bolton wrote of Franzen and the Alley building, "I believe the architect, Ulrich Franzen, has created a most successful building for the Alley Theatre – one that will receive much recognition for the city, and enhance the excellent productions that are to come.”[19]. With more than 500 performances annually, the Alley produces more performances than all other performing arts organizations in the Houston Theater District combined. Picturesque as the sycamore tree was, there were gaps around it where it pierced the roof. By 1962 Nina Vance and her staff had conceived a larger dream – a new home for the Alley, in the downtown heart of Houston, a building designed and built as a theatre with two stages. In response to Harvey, the company commissioned a touring children's play that was performed throughout Houston area schools. New Jersey. ⭐ … The tension wire grid, which Izenour described as similar to a bedspring, was made of a couple miles of aircraft cable, which formed a mesh 19 feet above the stage, allowing lighting technicians to easily walk on it before shows to adjust lighting and eliminated the need for footlights, spotlights and curtains. Improvements included the installation of a new four-story fly loft, creation of a fully trapped stage floor allowing for an orchestra pit and actor and scenery entrances/exits, and a more intimate relationship between the audience’s seating area and the stage. There was no heat in the winter, no fans in the summer, and the nearest drinking water was three flights up. Memorabilia from Nina Vance Alley Theatre Papers Showcased at M.D. The theatre was flooded with 14 feet of water. Bring a brick and a buck!” And so it has remained for 60 years. "[2] In 1948, early paying members scouted Houston for a new location for the Alley, finally landing on an abandoned fan factory on Berry Avenue. To maintain the sense of the company’s name a small alleyway was created at the side of the property as the access between the lobby area and the stage with these gates, originally a set of old elevator doors, opening onto the alleyway. To celebrate the new theater building, both Houston newspapers (yes, there were two then) produced special sections on the day of the first performance in the new theater. The Alley then became a fully professional/Equity company. Women History Month 2021. “The Chronicle’s” seven column headline read: “Alley Drive Smashed Over Top,” and the news was flashed on the Times Square marquee in New York City. Published 4/30/2017. All rights reserved. 1 of 26 Butch Mach, board president, walks among the flood damage at the Alley Theatre, 510 Texas Ave., shown Friday, Sept. 1, 2017, in Houston. This marked the first time a Russian had been invited to the U.S. to recreate a play precisely as it appeared in the Soviet Union. The new theatre looked inviting, with its simple but pleasant façade and a set of old elevator doors, pressed into service as gates, opening onto the alleyway. The new Alley Theatre became “the most modern, elastic theatre house in the world for the dramatic arts” thanks to Yale University professor George Izenour’s first-of-its-kind light grid, adjustable walls and analogue recorder. Money, workers and supplies poured in. For a list of upcoming events at THE ALLEY … In June 2001, Tropical Storm Allison severely damaged the Neuhaus Stage located on the basement level of the theatre. An 8 ft bronze pig with Celtic swirls on its body, the statue is situated outside the Alley staring at the sky, and was commissioned to highlight the history of the Alley Theatre site, formerly the cattle and pig market for Strabane in the 18th and 19th century. Houston, Texas 77002. By opening night, November 26, 1968, more than 20,000 subscriptions had been sold, and it seemed the entire city was on hand to watch. Dedicated on October 13, 1968, this distinctive building fulfilled the dream of a permanent home for the then nearly 22-year-old theatre company, and the design proved an immediate magnet for comments from friends and critics alike. (November 24, 1968). The design represented an approach to staging, in fashion for a time, which emphasized costumes rather than scenery, as the primary element. The Alley is currently led by Artistic Director Rob Melrose and Managing Director Dean R. Gladden. These two linked plays were performed simultaneously in the Alley’s two theatres, by the same cast. Nina labeled it “a very adequate space,” and cast, crew, and volunteers set about turning it into their new home. “The Alley Theatre: Four Decades in Three Acts”, p. 51, (November 24, 1968). The Alley’s building at 615 Texas Ave. was designed by Ulrich Franzen,[14] who, along with Ms. Vance, wanted to create “a building that sings from any viewpoint.”[15] The theatre building has no right angles but does have wide bands and terraces and is “reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings.”[16] Franzen selected the concrete exterior because he was inspired by Houston’s location and the warm weather of the Southwest. In 1949 the Alley Theatre moved from its original home in a Dance Studio at 3617 Main Street to an abandoned fan factory on Berry Avenue. Under the leadership of Nina Eloise Whittington Vance (1914–1980),[1] the Alley Theatre was founded in 1947 in a "former dance studio with an opening on Main Street. A massive renovation was undertaken and the theatre re-opened 2 months later in time for its annual production of A Christmas Carol. While some quietly worried over the limitations on staging imposed by the architecture, supporters found it “distinctive” and pointed to the ingenious planning that placed the plumbing, elevators, and heating and air conditioning equipment in the four corner towers. You may like to visit the Smock Alley Theatre's own website here. Newsweek wrote about the new Alley Theatre, “the most striking theatre in the U.S. … another step along the road toward ending Broadway’s domination of the American theatre,” and Sydney Johnson of The Montreal Star wrote, "… it looks as though the new Alley Theatre is going to be one of the best – and probably the very best – in the U.S. at least, simply because the building has been designed to house a specified stage and auditorium instead of the other way round. Though it’s now a wide-open space that’s always clean and bustling with tourists and theatre folk, it was very similar to what we think of as an alley when it was first built. It was from this boxy, unprepossessing building that the Alley was to enjoy early success. First Performance of Alvin Ailey American Theater. To maintain the sense of the company’s name a small alleyway was created at the side of the property as the access between the lobby area and the stage with these gates, originally a set of old elevator doors, opening onto the alleyway. Title Accelerating fundraising at the Alley Theatre. Watch 2-minute video . “An Architect Looks at the Alley. The Alley re-opened on February 8, 1949, with a production of Lillian Helmann's The Children’s Hour. For thirteen years the Alley prospered at Berry Avenue. It’s not Revolution, It’s HBO w/ Toussaint Losier, Bradley Greene by The Antifada. The Alley re-opened on February 8, 1949, with a production of Lillian Helmann's The Children’s Hour. When the Alley moved into it's new downtown home in 1968 the original alleyway gates were installed in the Hubbard Theatre lobby. Ogilby, who was the first Irish Master of the Revels, had previously run the New Theatre in Werburgh Street, which had closed during the Puritan interregnum. It is adjacent to the main theatre building. ", The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, Regional Theatre: The Revolutionary Stage, "Houston's 'Alley': Arena Stage, in Its Tenth Year, Has Become a Theatre of Distinction", "The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds", "Photos: Alley Theatre destroyed by Harvey", "Harvard University Graduate School of Design Collections – The Architecture of Ulrich Franzen", Main Street/Market Square Historic District, Sam Houston Math, Science, and Technology Center, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alley_Theatre&oldid=1009010609, Articles with dead external links from May 2019, Articles with permanently dead external links, Infobox mapframe without OSM relation ID on Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 February 2021, at 06:37. The Abbey Theatre (Irish: Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland (Irish: Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions.First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the present day. [12], The opening of the new home of the Alley Theatre in November 1968 was a nationally chronicled event. Collections Categories. The first Theatre Royal was opened on the site by John Ogilby in 1662. Smock Alley Theatre offers full tours of its buildings during its own in-house productions. British actors Maggie Smith and Robert Stephens from the National Theatre were there as well to see the building as an inspiration for their own. The Alley Theatre’s historic renovation of the Hubbard Theatre will opened to the public on October 2, 2015 with One Man, Two Guvnors.[25]. Alley Theatre's History Celebrated at UH . ... First performer to ever win six competitive Tony Awards. Instead, the summit on Middle East relations lasted for 13 and changed the course of history. John Nova Lomax, the author of the list, commented "Yeah, yeah, I like the curves and all that, but this concrete hulk still looks like something Stalin’s favorite architect would have come up with on ‘shrooms."[24]. BY REQUEST is a virtual fundraiser featuring Farmers Alley talent (both local and from Broadway) performing songs and scenes from our theatre’s prolific history. 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