Exit Stage Right

Surprise exit: Alley Theatre's longtime artistic director abruptly departs

Gregory Boyd's tenure, which ends this week, has spanned nearly three decades with the Alley Theatre.

Courtesy photo

In shocking stage news — worthy of the second act reveal during one of their annual Summer Chills productions — the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre has announced that longtime artistic director, Gregory Boyd, will retire. Boyd will exit stage right on Thursday, January 11, though probably not pursued by a bear.

“Leading this extraordinary theatre company in this wonderful city for over a quarter century has been an artistic dream fulfilled," said Boyd in a statement to the press. "With the marvelous efforts of the artists, staff, and Board, we created a state of the art theatre-making complex with performance, production, and administration all in a brilliant, expansive space that welcomes theatre-goers in a unique and exciting way.”

According to a statement from the Alley, the 66 year-old Boyd had been contemplating stepping down from his position for some time and planned to announce his retirement in the fall of 2017. He decided to stay on after Harvey to help with the recovery effort. Leaving the Alley early in this new year allows the theater to prepare a new season, explained the press statement.

Still, for a master of timing, especially when directing Shakespeare comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream, Comedy of Errors and Twelfth Night, Boyd’s leaving two days after the late-afternoon announcement to the press certainly shows dramatic flair, to say the least.

James Black, a 30-year acting and directing veteran of the company, will now take on the complex role of interim artistic director of the Alley while a search for a new artistic director, led by theater executive search firm Albert Hall & Associates, commences. This search could take six to nine months.

“It has been an honor to work with Greg for twelve of his twenty-eight illustrious years at the Alley Theatre and we are forever grateful for his work in making the Theatre one of the flagship theater companies in the United States,” said Dean Gladden, managing director. “Through his creativity and passion for the theatre, Greg helped elevate the Alley’s visibility and reputation on a global scale.”

While it appeared nothing could top 2017 for Houston theater drama onstage and off, if this early January news is any indication, 2018 might just be a diva star in the making.

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And the Winner Is

Houston's Alley Theatre only Texas winner of prestigious new play award

Photo courtesy of Alley Theatre

Bring a friend to the theater for free.

The Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre has once again earned national recognition, becoming the only Texas theater selected for a 2025 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, a prestigious honor known for helping launch some of the most influential plays and musicals of the past two decades.

The award will support the Alley’s May 2026 world premiere of Dear Alien by Liz Duffy Adams, giving the production additional rehearsal time that has proven essential for shaping new work.

The Edgerton Awards have a powerful legacy behind them. Past recipients include phenomenon-level titles such as Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, The Prom, Next to Normal, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike — shows that went on to win Tony Awards, earn Pulitzer Prizes, and define contemporary American theater.

“I’m so grateful to the Edgerton Foundation for their support of Liz Duffy Adams’ play Dear Alien," says Alley artistic director Rob Melrose in a release. "Getting an additional week of rehearsal on a new play makes a tremendous difference. In Dear Alien, the titular role (played by resident acting company member Dylan Godwin) is onstage the entire show, and it is going to be quite a challenge. Supporting new plays is incredibly important for the health of the American theater. Four years ago, Alley Theatre premiered Liz’s play Born with Teeth, and it is currently having a run on the West End after gracing the stages of major theaters in the U.S. such as the Guthrie, Asolo Rep, and Oregon Shakespeare Festival."

Alley Theatre has a significant history with developing new work. In 1996, the Alley won the Regional Theatre Tony Award after debuting the world premiere of the musical Jekyll & Hyde, which went on to tour 40 cities and play for two years on Broadway (it lives on thanks to a DVD and VHS recording starring David Hasselhoff in the title roles).

In 1998, the Alley staged the American premiere of a rediscovered Tennessee Williams play, Not About Nightingales, which later enjoyed a successful Broadway run.

The Edgerton Foundation New Plays Program, directed by Brad and Louise Edgerton, was piloted in 2006 with Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles by offering two musicals in development an extended rehearsal period for the entire creative team, including the playwrights. The Edgertons launched the program nationally in 2007 and have supported 569 plays to date at over 50 different theaters across the country. Over the last 19 years, the Edgerton Foundation has awarded $19,670,534 to 569 productions.

Among the 2025 winners are pop-country star Jennifer Nettles' new musical Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo at Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York City; Claudia Shear's The Recipe, about the early life of Julia Child, at La Jolla Playhouse in California; and prolific playwright David Lindsay-Abaire's latest title, The Balusters, at Manhattan Theatre Club. See the complete list here.

awards alley theatre dear alien liz duffy adams edgerton foundation edgerton foundation new play award theater