Beyond a 'Shadow of a Doubt', Hitchcock-Themed Alley Ball Is Spellbinding Soiree

Jacob Power & Wilson Parish
Beyond a 'Shadow of a Doubt', Hitchcock-Themed Alley Ball Is Spellbinding Soiree

Laura Anne Day

AN APPROPRIATELY DRAMATIC event, this year’s Alley Ball transformed the Post Oak Hotel into an old-Hollywood-themed tribute to Alfred Hitchcock. Bold red curtains framed large screens playing black and white clips of classic Hitchcock films, and the centerpieces made of dark red roses had crows hidden in them! This was the backdrop for a spellbinding night that raised $1.22 mil for the theater.


During cocktail hour, a large bar designed to look like a ‘50s-era movie-theater concessions stand occupied the main reception area. On the bar were curious boxes emanating smoke; guests who dared open them were surprised with a martini!

Before dinner was served, guests heard from the man himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Well, Alley actor Chris Salazar dressed as Hitchcock welcomed guests alongside fellow company members portraying some of the filmmaker’s most beloved characters from The Birds, Psycho, and Rear Window.

The live auction was a theater-lover’s dream, boasting a walk-on roll in the Alley’s beloved Christmas Carol and a luxury trip to enjoy The Devil Wears Prada on London’s West End up for grabs! The party progressed onto the hypnotic black-and-white dancefloor — a nod to the movie Vertigo — where revelers danced until after midnight to The Big Beyond.

Alley Theatre stages Hitchcock’s Dial M for Murder this summer as part of its Summer Chills programming.

Dean Gladden, Roger & Connie Plank, Angela & Craig Jarchow, Rob Melrose

Scarlett Hankey & Ryan Arnoult

Kelly Noel, Valerie Jalufka, Gayle Delahunt

Tony & Cynthia Petrello

Vertigo on the dancefloor!

Hector and Victoria Longoria, Carly Standley, Arturo Chavez

Health LaPray & Travis Torrence

Ford Hubbard & Renee Lewis

Derrick Shope & Brandon Bourque

Sofia & Nadeem Sheikh

Oscar Brown & Sarah Morgan

Betty Hrncir, Sidney Faust, John Hrncir

Kelly Somoza, Brandon Weinbrenner & Beth Madison

Alex and Victoria Lazar

Roger and Connie Plank

Parties

Ellington and Gardner

ON DEC. 12 at Jones Hall, the Houston Symphony Orchestra teams up with the 15-member Jazz Houston Orchestra for a special performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker Suite and Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s witty, re-imagined big band version of the ubiquitous, 19th-century classic.

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Art + Entertainment

Leisa Holland-Nelson Bowman, Frann Lichtenstein, Monica Hartland, Roslyn Bazzelle Mitchell

IN WHAT HAS been described as a friend-raiser — as opposed to a fundraiser, since the intimate group of VIP guests weren’t asked to pay to be there — Children’s Memorial Hermann took over a big swath of Memorial Park’s verdant, still new Clay Family Eastern Glades for an over-the-top evening promoting the hospital’s mission and its “world-class orchestra of pediatric specialists,” per a rep. Dubbed Faire la Fête, the fabulous to-do boasted French theme.

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Parties