Picture it, Alleyway Theatre in 2019, with some new staff members, and eight productions including a “The Golden Girls”  holiday shows where Blanche, Rose, Sophia, and Dorothy are played by men.

Welcome to Alleyway’s 40th season. It’s the oldest producing theatre company in Buffalo’s theatre district, and the 2019-20 season brings some significant changes.

Founder and executive and artistic director Neal Radice is retiring  from his positions (“not retiring from theatre,” he said at a recent press event).  This transition was thoughtful, strategic, and spanned almost three years: funding from the Cullen Foundation and the New York State Council on the Arts helped create a succession plan.  Veteran actor Chris J Handley was selected by Alleyway’s Board of Directors to become the Associate Artistic Director, effective immediately, and step into the Executive Artistic Director role in May of 2020. “I’ve always dreamed about running a theatre,” Handley said. He’s also the director of Alleyway’s Theatre School of WNY which provides year-round classes for adults and youth who are serious about studying theatre.

Neal Radice announced that Broadway playwright Gordon Farrell will become Alleyway’s Playwright-in-Residence next season. He’ll develop his own new scripts for Alleyway’s main seasons as well as take on the writing challenge of developing particularly themed plays on commission. Farrell is already familiar to Alleyway audiences.  His play ‘Girls Who Walked on Glass’ is onstage now through June 22. The theatrical event is based on true stories that intertwine to expose a dangerous world which has ill-prepared three young women to meet challenges and temptations. After this run, it will be performed for general audience and potential backers in New York City. Farrell’s work in Buffalo goes back as far as 1991 with ‘Voice Of America.’ He and Radice collaborated to create their highly acclaimed Sherlock Holmes musical trilogy in the late 1990s. ‘Lifespan Of A Fact,’ Farrell’s latest play, debuted to critical acclaim this season on Broadway at Roundabout’s Studio 54, and earned Farrell a nomination for the John Gassner Award (Presented For An American Play, Preferably By A New Playwright) by the Outer Circle Critics.

Another Farrell play, ‘Navigators,’ the 40th season on September 12 on the main stage. Local playwright John “Circ” Kane’s ‘My Life in the Basement’ – a one-man comedy –  runs November 8-16 in the Alleyway Cabaret. ‘The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes’ follows December 5-28, while one of Buffalo’s oldest and beloved holiday traditions ‘A Christmas Carol’ plays on the main stage December 6-22. Scott McCrea’s ‘Factory for Murderers’ plays on the main stage from January 16-February 8, followed by the world premiere of Tatiana Gelfand and Paul Jensen’s Scotch and Madness’ February 20-March 14. The 29th annual ‘Buffalo Quickies’ runs from March 26 to April 18. The main stage season closes with Radice’s reflections on 40 years of Buffalo theatre with ‘Imagine the World Made Over…’ a revue of his full length musicals, April 23 to May 16.

Find details and subscription information at http://www.alleyway.com.