Alley Theatre’s Resident Acting Company is a cornerstone of Alley Theatre’s artistic identity. Comprised of nine actors, the company brings a unique and vital element to the Alley’s productions. Resident Acting Companies are exceptionally rare in modern theater. The Alley is honored to have the only full-time, year-round Resident Acting Company in the United States.
We asked each of our actors what the Resident Acting Company means to them and this is what they had to say!
Elizabeth Bunch
“Being in the acting company is all the dreamy things I imagined. I play the most amazing roles in the theatrical canon, Rosalind, Desdemona, Olivia, Eliza Dolittle, Medea. I get to do Pulitzer Prize-winning plays like Sweat, Doubt, Proof, Clybourne Park, August Osage County. I work with other actors who dedicate every single day to the craft of acting. However, the gift that is the most exciting is who I perform for in Houston. As a freelance NYC actress, every performance was an audition for the next job. Audiences were filled with critics, directors, and playwrights who need to be impressed. At the Alley, I perform knowing that the audience is filled with my neighbors, my children’s teachers, the students, and future theater artists of Houston. As a company member, I get to be here for you, my community, not the industry. That’s the way it should be.”
Michelle Elaine
“As a member of the Resident Acting Company, I have the honor of growing alongside and gleaning from a group of actors that I truly admire! I love that I get an inside look at everyone’s process as I continue to mold and shape how I come to tell stories in the most authentic and dynamic way that I can. Being in the RAC allows me to serve my community through artistic expression and collaboration.“
Dylan Godwin
“Being a part of the Resident Acting Company is an experience that continues to shape me as an artist every day and in every way. Growing up I learned the value and nuance of participating in ensemble early, through community theatre, orchestra, and band. I think I spent much of my early career searching for this feeling and not really finding it. That feeling changed when I did my first show at Alley. The unbelievable feeling of calibrating, achieving, and working with a group of artists that you respect and admire is a level of safety and pride that is difficult to find anywhere else. My time in the Resident Acting Company has been a graduate school of sorts for me. My craft has grown and changed with my peers and the wonderful audiences we are so lucky to connect with each time we step onstage. Every day I consider how lucky I am to work for an organization that values this sense of ensemble as much as I do, with a group of artists (designers, directors, craftspeople, staff, and actors) who push me to step forward to something new every single moment. In an industry that can so notoriously be associated with being only as good as your last project, our unique situation allows me to focus on the bigger picture and the myriad ways our work contributes to our community as a whole.”
Chris Hutchison
“There was a moment early in my Alley tenure when a thought occurred to me: ‘if the same people are coming back to the Alley show after show year after year, aren’t they going to get tired of watching me?’ I soon realized the opposite was true. Seeing how audiences reacted to their ‘favorites’ as they stepped out onto the stage, show after show, and the enthusiasm as we stepped out of the stage door after a performance, I understood. We were building a relationship with one another, and they were invested in me, excited to see me in the next show, and the show after that. My way of repaying that beautiful reality is to always strive to be better and to rise to new challenges, and most of all to want to give our amazing audiences a reason to keep coming back and to cheer me on, hopefully for the next 18 years!”
Melissa Molano
“Growing up in Houston, Alley productions and the excellence of Alley’s resident acting company were a big source of inspiration to me. I have many memories of going to this theatre with my family or friends (or yes, dates..) and the conversations we’d have together after. Now as a resident actor being among a multitude of artists I admire and telling stories together full-time is a dream that’s become a reality. It’s so special to share this part of my journey with my family and loved ones in my hometown. I am so grateful that the RAC lives on, and I hope more theatres in more cities will invest in resident artists/companies. When things get dark, people turn to art in some form or other and I am very grateful we are keeping the light on for our community and continue to inspire conversations and people.”
David Rainey
“Being in a resident company is about relationships, with each other, our creative teams, our staff, and our audiences. We become very familiar with each other’s process and benefit from continued interactions with each other. While most theatre organizations are comprised of staff, not artists, we have a home, that we all work diligently to protect and prosper. We have an audience that gets to know us and that puts more onus on us to deliver work that’s unique and compelling each time. We’re constantly reinventing ourselves in ways that are different than those who might perform the same shows at six different theatres, with completely different casts for each play. It’s often rigorous, and challenging, and difficult. But there’s also a level of trust, shorthand, and support that we can depend on. And the security that being a resident provides, in both our personal and professional lives, is invaluable.”
Christopher Salazar
“What I value most is the familiarity borne out of working closely with a small group of artists. The art we are able to Generate is informed by knowing each other: By sharing meals and life events, by getting to know each other’s families, by discovering the way we each like to work, and by making plays throughout the years. A modern troupe of actors, in a tradition passed down over centuries, creates theatre together.”
