Curtain up

Houston's Alley Theatre presents new season of world premieres and old favorites

A photo of the members of the Alley Theatre's resident company

The Alley Theatre's 2023-24 season offers something for everyone.

Photo by Lynn Lane

From a summer murder mystery to a world premiere musical, the Alley Theatre's 2023 - 2024 season brings an eclectic and diverse set of works to the stage.

“Our 2023-2024 is designed to welcome people to the theatre,” Alley Theatre artistic director Rob Melrose said in a statement. “There is something for everyone but if you see them all then you won’t risk missing the play that changes your life!"

Five world premieres sit alongside beloved classics like A Christmas Carol and works by Chekov and Christie.

The season begins with the Alley's popular Summer Chills production of Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, adapted from her novel of the same name — voted the best crime novel ever by the British Crime Writers' Association. This new adaptation finds a group of extraordinary characters hiding myriad secrets that only detective mastermind Hercule Poirot can untangle. Alley resident company members Shawn Hamilton portrays the title character; David Sinaiko joins the resident company for this production playing Poirot. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd runs from July 21 through August 27.

Fall opens with American Mariachi, a story of family and following your dreams. The play takes place in the 1970s and finds Lucha and her cousin searching for bandmates to form a new mariachi ensemble, despite the fact that girls can't be mariachis. Or can they? The show runs September 22 to October 22.

Anton Chekov's Little Comedies is an Alley commission and world premiere. The show takes the writer's one-act comedies Swan Song, The Bear, The Proposal, The Wedding, and The Harmfulness of Tobacco and brings them to the stage in a new production directed by Tony Award-winning playwright and director Richard Nelson. Alley resident company members Tom Waite, Elizabeth Bunch, David Rainey, and Melissa Pritchett are among the cast. Little Comedies runs October 6 through 29.

The much-loved A Christmas Carol returns for the holidays, from November 16 through December 30, in a production adapted and directed by Melrose. David Rainey plays Ebenezer Scrooge.

Pictures from Home kicks off 2024. The play, based on the photo memoir of the same name by Larry Sultan, was part of the 2020 Alley All New Festival. It chronicles what happened when photographer Sultan turned his lens on his parents to explore the truth behind their home movies. Pictures from Home runs January 19 through February 11, 2024.

Larry Shue's comedy The Nerd runs February 23 through March 17, 2024. The action follows an up-and-coming architect who invites the hero who saved his life into his home. Turns out that hero is a total nerd who not only winds up outstaying his welcome but also entangles everyone around him in chaos. Resident company members Melissa Molano, Chris Hutchison, Shawn Hamilton, Melissa Pritchett, David Raniey, and Christopher Salazar bring the side-splitting comedy to life.

Up next in the season is the world premiere of The World is Not Silent, part of the 2022 Alley All New Festival. It's the story of a son and his estranged father attempting to reconnect in the face of the father's hearing loss. The show runs March 22 through April 14, 2024.

Elizabeth Williamson's adaption of Jane Eyre follows the titular heroine as she searches for fulfillment and freedom, rising above her orphan roots and struggling to stay true to herself. Melissa Molano plays Jane. The show runs April 12 to May 5.

Melrose directs The Emporium, a world premiere adapted from Thornton Wilder's unfinished script and completed by Kirk Lynn. It follows a young man, adopted by a farmer, who runs away to the city only to discover that life may be an elaborate job interview to determine if we qualify for our own existence. The show runs May 10 to June 2, 2024.

Closing the year is the world premiere of Ella, chronicling the life of the iconic Ella Fitzgerald. Written by Anna Deavere Smith and featuring music from the Great American Songbook, it charts the rise of the legendary singer who left an indelible mark upon genres from jazz to blues and beyond. Ella runs May 31 to June 23, 2024.

Alley Theatre theater

Mags Move In

Shuttered Houston magazine stand finds new home at Austin coffee shop

Tomo Mags bus outside of brick-and-mortar Austin store

Photo courtesy of the Downtown Austin Alliance

Tomo Mags is driving into a new era.

Austin's roaming newsstand Tomo Mags — which sells books out of a signature blue bus — is moving up in the world. Its new brick-and-mortar bookstore and partner coffee shop, Cielito Lindo, are celebrating their grand opening Thursday, January 22, at 411 Brazos Street, #101. A ribbon-cutting ceremony from 10-11 am with the Downtown Austin Alliance and the Austin Chamber of Commerce will mark the occasion.

Tomo Mags started in 2015 in Houston, on a decommissioned school bus. Founder Vico Puentes hit the ground running — or driving — visiting shopping centers, galleries, universities, cafés, and more. It toted artsy independent magazines about fashion, photography, design, erotica, and even some comparatively normie selections like The Economist and New York Magazine.

The journey so far has included an earlier stationary space that later closed (and another one that reopened), a pause for several years, and a "bittersweet" move to Austin in 2025.

Tomo Mags Austin interior The collection has a lot more room to expand in this new space.Photo courtesy of the Downtown Austin Alliance

The new shop offers more of the same: a wide selection of magazines and art books alongside studio tools like pens and notebooks, merch, and fashionable accessories. It's been in a soft-opening phase since mid-December. Cielito Lindo, which opened in a coffee pot-shaped trailer in Manor in spring 2025, also kicked off its soft opening in the space a few days. Both the Tomo bus and Cielito's trailer will continue operating.

Even though both businesses are relatively new to Austin, Puentes has deep personal connections with the city.

“Before opening TOMO mags, I worked in downtown Austin for the last six years, and I’ve seen such an incredible evolution in what it feels like for the people who work and live here, as well as the visitors passing through,” said Puentes in a press release.

Tomo Mags Austin interior Cafe tables are great for flipping through new finds with Cielito Lindo's signature horchata latte.Photo courtesy of the Downtown Austin Alliance

Driving around town to make sales may sound like a fast-paced existence, but Puentes hopes visitors to Tomo can slow down when they visit, enjoying the physical experience and maybe even creating a personal art archive over time. Part of that includes getting to know the artists filling the shelves.

"With TOMO mags, our goal is to create a place people can come back to regularly to slow down, find inspiration, and leave with something special, or a gift that actually feels thoughtful," he said. "We’re already meeting people from all over the world, and we’re proud to host them and share recommendations that help them experience Austin beyond just downtown, while also spotlighting the creative community and local businesses that make this city so special.”

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