THEATRE + COMEDY

This season, along with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas, which runs on the Hubbard Stage, the Alley Theatre will once again present a second holiday production, David Sedaris' The Santaland Diaries on the Neuhaus Stage. Alley Artist Todd Waite will reprise his role as "Crumpet the Elf" in the outlandish, and true, chronicles of David Sedaris' experience as a worker in Macy's SantaLand display. Also this season, for select performances Alley Artist Paul Hope will appear as "Crumpet the Elf" : December 6 at 7:30 PM; December 7 at 7:30 PM; December 8 at 7:30 PM, December 28 at 7:30 PM and December 29 at 2:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

Company Artist Todd Waite reprises his role as "Crumpet the Elf" in the outlandish, and true, chronicles of David Sedaris' experience as a worker in Macy's SantaLand display. This compact, one-character comedy is an 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.

The Santaland Diaries, by David Sedaris, adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello and directed by David Cromer, begins previews Friday, November 25, opens Wednesday, November 30 and runs through Saturday, December 31 on the Neuhaus Stage.

Todd Waite is in his 11th season as an Alley Company Artist, appearing in over 40 productions including Dr. Augustus Gould in Ether Dome, Philip Lombardin And Then There Were None, Henry Higgins in Pygmalion, Sheriff Deon Gilbeau in August: Osage County, Christopher Wren in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, Hermann Pister in Intelligence-Slave, Richard Hannay in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps, Mr. Webb in Our Town, Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes and The Crucifer of Blood, Jan in Rock 'n' Roll, Sir George Crofts in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Martin in The Goat or Who is Sylvia? , Mortimer Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, Kerner in Hapgood, Sydney in Deathtrap, Ivan in Art, Jake in Stones in His Pockets and Burgoyne in The Devil's Disciple.

Previously, Mr. Waite spent six seasons with the renowned Shaw Festival, was the Enjolras in the Canadian premiere of Les Miserables and has guest-starred on all major U.S. and Canadian networks. Awards include the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship, a Best Actor nomination for the world premiere of The Coronation Voyage and the Critic's Choice Award for Intimate Exchanges at Dallas Theater Center. He has directed several Canadian premieres, and was the resident director for Cirque du Soleil's "O" in Las Vegas.

Mr. Waite is an adjunct professor for the University of Houston's Graduate Program in Theatre Education and is currently teaching at the High School for the Performing Arts. His private students attend Stage Door, Interlochen, Juilliard, DePaul, Yale and The Royal Scottish Academy.

Paul Hope is a native Houstonian and an Alley Company Artist, who has appeared on the Alley stages for 17 seasons in a wide range of roles, including Beverly Carlton in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Officer O'Hara in Arsenic and Old Lace, Charles in The Clean House, Gavin in House and Garden, Richard in Hay Fever, Arthur in Love! Valour! Compassion!, Serge in Art, Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Barrymore in I Hate Hamlet, Frederick in Noises Off and Sgt. "Froggy" Le Seuer in The Foreigner, among many others.

His musical theatre roles include Rohna in Grand Hotel, with Cyd Charisse and Liliane Montevecchi, and Col. Lockert in Dodsworth, with Hal Linden, both at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth. He has appeared at Theater Under the Stars as Beauregard in Mame with Juliet Prowse, Bienstock in Sugar with Robert Morse, and M. Renaud in La Cage with Lee Roy Reams. He has also performed as Steve Baker in Showboat, with Eddie Bracken, at Houston Grand Opera and most recently took over for John Lithgow as the narrator of Carnival of the Animals for Houston Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet.

He is the Artistic Director for Bayou City Concert Musicals, which has presented concert stagings of Follies, Falsettos, A Little Night Music, She Loves Me, 70 Girls 70, Assassins, Fiorello, The Secret Garden, Pal Joey, On the Town and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He has directed The Rocky Horror Show and Zombie Prom for the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee for Rice University.

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 Intelligence-Slave, Mrs. Mannerly, Underneath the Lintel). Lighting design is by Kevin Rigdon (Alley's The Monster at the Door, August: Osage County, A Behanding in Spokane,) with sound design by Pierre Dupree (Alley's August: Osage County, A Behanding in Spokane, Intelligence-Slave).

Recommended for mature audiences due to language and subject matter.