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Dean R. Gladden

Dean R. Gladden

Managing Director

Dean R. Gladden is in his 18th season with the Alley Theatre where he is responsible for the administrative, financial, marketing, facilities, and development aspects of the Theatre. His career in the performing arts spans over 40 years. Prior to joining the Alley, he was Managing Director at the Cleveland Play House for 19 years and was the Director of the Arts Management Graduate Program at the University of Akron. He has also lectured at Case Western Reserve University, University of Houston, and Bowling Green State University. During his career, he has overseen the production of over 300 plays nationally. Mr. Gladden holds a BA in Music from Miami University, an MA in Urban Arts Administration from Drexel University, and  graduated from the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management. He is currently a board member and immediate past Chairman of the Board for the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, Treasurer of the Board of the Theater District Houston, serves on the Houston First Operations Committee, and is an American Leadership Forum Fellow.

Rob Melrose

Rob Melrose

Artistic Director

Rob Melrose is the Artistic Director of the Alley Theatre where he has directed productions of The Servant of Two Masters, Born with Teeth, Sweat, The Winter’s Tale, 1984, and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and adapted and directed A Christmas Carol. He was formerly the Artistic Director and co-founder of the Cutting Ball Theater. He has directed at The Public Theater, The Guthrie Theater, The Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Magic Theatre, The Old Globe, PlayMakers Rep, Black Box Theatre, as well as Actors’ Collective, The Gamm Theatre, and Crowded Fire, among others. He has taught at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, USF, the University of Rhode Island, and Marin Academy. He has a BA in English and Theater from Princeton University and an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama. Rob directed Strindberg’s Svarta Handsken (The Black Glove) in Stockholm, Sweden at Strindberg’s Intimate Theater. His translations of Woyzeck, Ubu Roi, and Pelleas & Melisande have been published by EXIT Press. He has written a number of plays including: Helen of Troy, The Flat Earth, Divorsosaurus, When Human Voices Wake Us, Asylum, and Serpentyne and has written a rock musical adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s Ozma of Oz.