CAST

JEFFREY BEAN (Major Alistair Ross) is in his 14th season as an Alley Company member, and he has performed in over 80 Alley productions since 1989. Recently he has appeared in The Farnsworth Invention (David Sarnoff), Mauritius (Philip), A Christmas Carol (Ebenezer Scrooge) Cyrano de Bergerac (Cyrano), The Unexpected Guest (Sergeant Cadwallader), Othello (Lodovico), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Brendan), The Scene (Charlie) and Doubt (Father Flynn). Previous Alley highlights include Subject to Fits (Prince Myshkin), Much Ado About Nothing (Benedick), Journey’s End (2nd Lieutenant Trotter), The Pillowman (Michal), Hapgood (Ridley), Twelfth Night (Feste), The Importance of Being Earnest (Algernon), Billy Bishop Goes to War (Billy Bishop), Gross Indecency (Oscar Wilde), Arms & the Man (Bluntschli), The Crucible (Deputy Gov. Danforth), The Foreigner (Charlie Baker) and Stones in His Pockets (Charlie Conlon, et al). Broadway credits include Bells Are Ringing (Francis) and Amadeus (Kappelmeister Bono). Television credits include Law & Order; Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and All My Children. He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and a Princess Grace Award winner. www.jeffreybean.com.

JAMES BELCHER (Mohammed Singh/ Hopkins/ Mordecai Smith) is in his 20th season. As a member of the Alley Company, he has appeared as Leslie Gorrell in The Farnsworth Invention, Milan/Waiter in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Mr. Stanley in The Man Who Came to Dinner, The Rev. Samuel Gardner in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Ligniere and The Capuchin in Cyrano de Bergerac, Brabantio in Othello, Teddy Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace, Squire Trelawney/Bailiff/Job O'Brien in Treasure Island, Heck Tate in To Kill a Mockingbird, Lebedev in Subject to Fits, Antonio in Much Ado About Nothing, Sir Wilfred Robarts in Witness for the Prosecution, The Colonel in Journey's End, Dave Moss in Glengarry Glen Ross, Judge Hathorne in The Crucible, Sir Claud Amory in Black Coffee, Captain Lesgate in, Dial "M" for Murder, Victor in Our Lady of 121st Street, Antonio in Twelfth Night and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (five seasons). A native of Delaware, he has taught at Prairie View A&M University, Tomball College, San Jacinto College, Houston Community College, University of Houston, and is a private acting coach. He has a BFA in Drama Production from the University of Texas at Austin and a MFA in Directing from the University of Houston. In 1999, he received a BackStage West Garland Award for his role as Peter in the Alley's production of The Zoo Story.

JAMES BLACK (Captain Neville St. Claire) is proud to be celebrating his 21st consecutive season at the Alley where as an actor and occasional director, he has been involved in over one hundred productions. Recent appearances include The Farnsworth Invention, Rock ‘n’ Roll (Max), The Man Who Came to Dinner (Sheridan Whiteside), A Christmas Carol (Mrs. Dilber/Jacob Marley), Cyrano de Bergerac (Le Bret), Othello (Iago), Arsenic and Old Lace (Jonathan Brewster), Treasure Island (Long John Silver), Hitchcock Blonde (Hitch), A Moon for the Misbegotten (James Tyrone Jr.), Orson’s Shadow (Olivier), Journey’s End (Lieutenant Osborne), A Christmas Carol (Scrooge), The Crucible (Proctor), After the Fall (Quentin), Black Coffee (Hercule Poirot), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Marcus Lycus), Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch), Sherlock Holmes (Moriarty), Hamlet (Claudius), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (George), One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (McMurphy), How I Learned to Drive (Uncle Peck), View From the Bridge (Eddie Carbone), and Not About Nightingales (Butch O’Fallon) among others. He has also directed Doubt, Death on the Nile, Glengarry Glen Ross, Deathtrap, Dial “M” for Murder, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Foreigner, Of Mice and Men and As Bees in Honey Drown. His film and television credits include Olympia, The Man with the Perfect Swing, Houston: The Legend of Texas, Fire and Rain, Challenger, Night Game, and Killing in a Small Town. He received a Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut and a Drama Desk nomination for Best Actor for Not About Nightingales, and a BackStage West Garland Award for his appearance as Eddie Carbone in the Alley’s production of A View from the Bridge.

JUSTIN DORAN (Wali Dad/Birdy Johnson) is a 2008 – 2009 Alley Company member. Recent Alley appearances include Wachtel in The Farnsworth Invention, Ferdinand in Rock ‘n’ Roll, Big Stone in Eurydice, Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac, James in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Mr. Gilmer in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Conrade in Much Ado About Nothing. Other Houston credits include Joseph Cantwell in The Best Man, Brandt in the regional premiere of The Busy World is Hushed, Michael in Rounding Third and the title role in Mr. Marmalade. Justin also recently reprised his role as the Night Watchman in The Houston Ballet's production of Carnival of the Animals at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Before coming to Houston, Justin had performed extensively as a company member at the Will Geer Theatre in Los Angeles. Other Los Angeles stage credits include appearances at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, Kingsmen Shakespeare and L.A. Shakespeare. Television credits include E.R., Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Movie Stars, The In-Laws and According to Jim. He earned a B.F.A. in Acting from Southern Methodist University, and an M.F.A. in Theatre/Film/Television from the University of California-Los Angeles. Justin is also an adjunct faculty member at Rice University.

CHRIS HUTCHISON (John Watson M.D.) is in his third season as a Company member. This is his 17th production since first appearing here as Hal in Proof in 2004. Other favorite roles include Dennis in Mauritius, Padraic in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Ippolit in Subject to Fits, Boo Radley in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Borachio in Much Ado About Nothing. Off-Broadway credits include a Romulus Linney premiere at EST Marathon and revivals of The Second Man, Museum and The Hasty Heart with Obie award-winning Keen Co. Chris's solo show TRIP was selected for production by Here Arts Center in SoHo. Regionally he has appeared at The Guthrie, Pasadena Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Milwaukee Rep, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Hartford TheatreWorks and Capital Rep, among others. Film and television: Kill the Poor, Ed, Chappelle's Show, All My Children, Guiding Light, and some Movies of the Week. He holds an M.F.A. from the University of Washington and a B.A. in English from Lafayette College, where he has occasionally returned to direct and teach.

PHILIP LEHL (Jonathan Small) is a 2008 – 2009 Alley Company member. He has appeared regularly at the Alley since arriving in Texas in 2001, where he was last seen in the ensembles of The Farnsworth Invention, Rock ‘n’ Roll, A Christmas Carol and Cyrano de Bergerac. Favorite roles at the Alley include Rev. Hale in The Crucible, Kerry Max Cook in The Exonerated,  Max in Dial ‘M’ for Murder, Gail in Our Lady of 121st Street, Christopher Wren in The Mousetrap, Horatio in Hamlet and Young Housman in The Invention of Love. Broadway credits include Mickey in Blood Brothers, and Ensemble in The Kentucky Cycle. Off-Broadway, he was seen in Hundreds of Hats and toured the nation as Charles Clarke in Titanic. Locally, he has appeared at Stages Repertory Theatre (I Am My Own Wife, Mr. Marmalade, Lady, Souvenir, Amy’s View, The Pavilion, Dirty Blonde), Houston Shakespeare Festival (Bastard in King John, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Berowne in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Marc Antony in Julius Caesar, Cymbeline in Cymbeline) and TUTS (Wonderful Life, one memorable performance of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady). Lehl also shows up from time to time as Ludwig Van Beethoven for the Houston Symphony, and has appeared in several concert stagings for Paul Hope's BCCM. He has performed at theatres across the U.S. including St. Louis Repertory, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Missouri Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The New Harmony Theatre and Weston Playhouse. His film and television credits include Tripwire, The Nanny, Martial Law and Hollywood Off-Ramp. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School and Drake University. Lehl is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association.

 

MELVIN LUM (Fung Tching) is making his Alley debut. He has appeared in the Bay Street productions of Sleuth and The Unseen, and in several seasons of productions in the Washington DC area, including Harvey, Waiting for Godot, Thirteen Angry Men, and many others. He is happy to be appearing in The Crucifer of Blood, since he is a great Holmes fan, having previously appeared as the character Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock’s brother) in the musical Baker Street. In his native Vancouver, he has appeared in both A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) and The Santaland Diaries.

JOHN TYSON (Durga Dass/Inspector Lestrade) has appeared at the Alley in a wide variety of roles in his ten seasons. Recent credits include George Everson in The Farnsworth Invention, Professor Metz/ Banjo in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Praed in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Ragueneau in Cyrano de Bergerac, Inspector Thomas in The Unexpected Guest, The Librarian in Underneath the Lintel, Donny in The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Dr. Einstein in Arsenic and Old Lace, Canon Pennefather in Death on the Nile, Israel Hands and Blind Pew in Treasure Island, Ganya Ivoglin in Subject to Fits, Harry Roat Jr. in Wait Until Dark, Colonel Melkett in Black Comedy, Tupolski in The Pillowman, and Blair in Hapgood. Notable performances include Shelly Levene in Glengarry Glen Ross, Theo Maske in The Underpants, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, Polonius in Hamlet, Robert in Proof, Boris Kolenkhov in You Can’t Take It With You, AEH in The Invention of Love, both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors and Henry Carr in Travesties. At the Alley he directed The Woman in Black and his own play, Act Of Passion. He has also written an adaptation of Christmas Carol and, with Santry Rush, written the musical Happy Ending.

TODD WAITE (Sherlock Holmes) is in his eighth season with the Alley Theatre. He has appeared in over 35 productions including: The Farnsworth Invention, Rock ‘n’ Roll (Jan), The Man Who Came to Dinner (Bert Jefferson), Mrs. Warren's Profession (Sir George Crofts), The Santaland Diaries (Crumpet), Cyrano de Bergerac (De Guiche), The Unexpected Guest  (Henry Angell), Othello (Roderigo), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Christy), Arsenic and Old Lace (Mortimer Brewster),  Hapgood (Kerner), Deathtrap (Sydney), Twelfth Night (Orsino), The Goat or Who is Sylvia? (Martin), Art (Ivan), Stones in His Pockets (Jake), Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock), The Devil’s Disciple (Burgoyne), The Invention of Love, and House and Garden. Prior to joining the Alley, he spent six seasons with the world-renowned Shaw Festival. Regionally, he received a Best Actor nomination for The Coronation Voyage (world premiere), Critic’s Choice Award for Best Actor in Ayckbourne’s Intimate Exchanges at The Dallas Theatre Center, and was the original Enjolras in the Canadian premiere of Les Miserables. Television: Guest-starring roles on all major US and Canadian networks.  He has also directed several Canadian premieres, and was the resident director for Cirque du Soleil's "O" in Las Vegas. He has directed at Arbor Theatre, The Belfry Theatre, Stagedoor and The Shaw Festival Academy. A highly regarded teacher of acting, his local students are currently attending Juilliard, DePaul, Yale and The Royal Scottish Academy. Education: BFA (Acting)/ MFA (Directing).