Photo: Kerwin Plevka, Staff Photo: handout Photo: John Everett, Staff Photo: MICHAEL STRAVATO, STR Photo: handout email Photo: Internal Photo: Gabriella Nissen, Gabriella Nissen Photography Photo: Alan Warren, Staff Photographer

The sudden departure of the Alley Theatre's artistic director Gregory Boyd, announced Tuesday and effective Thursday, leaves the most prominent theater in Houston facing an uncertain future.

Not only is the Alley witnessing a new path without the man who, for nearly three decades, guided it to become one of the most respected playhouses in America, it could have a difficult time trying to find a replacement as several notable theaters across the country have similar openings.

"At this point in time, there are more of these jobs open than any time I can remember in 25 years in the field. A few of the most prominent theaters in the country are looking for artistic leadership. Berkeley (Repertory Theatre), ACT (San Francisco), Louisville. It's a long list," said Kevin Moore, managing director of the Cleveland Play House, which co-produced "Freaky Friday" last year with the Alley.

"That being said, there's a wealth of talent in this field, too. If you said, 'We only want somebody who has run a theater before,' well then you're limiting your pool. But if you're willing to think in terms of potential and possibility, there are great artists everywhere you look. The Alley is fortunate because there's great structure there on the management side."

Alley administrators, Boyd, 66, and several board members refused to respond to requests for interviews about the surprising departure, which comes after Boyd signed a five-year contract in 2016 and was weeks away from the Alley's first production of 2018.

The Alley management is planning for a nine-month search process, according to a Tuesday press release, which also stated that longtime Alley actor and director James Black will serve as interim artistic director.

'Mansion on the hill'

Even though those with the Alley aren't talking, the Houston theater community certainly is. They see this as an opportunity for the Alley, with its $18.5 million budget, to remake itself and amplify the Bayou City's reputation for being hospitable to the arts. They're seeing this as an unexpected, if late, Christmas gift.

"I'm so excited that he's retiring," said Kim Tobin-Lehl, co-artistic director of Houston's 4th Wall Theatre Company. "What was problematic for me with the leadership of Mr. Boyd was I didn't feel like it was very visionary for the community of Houston as a whole. ... (The Alley Theatre is) very insular. They don't reach out. They don't support the artistic community outside their own base.

"If we're going to build this community and make people from New York and all the great schools move here, we have to offer them a big experience, not just The Alley," Lehl said. "We don't have that reciprocal relationship with our large flagship, which should be our example, what we aspire to be. Instead of being like this mansion on the hill ... and nobody can go there."

There's hope in the city's theater community that Boyd's eventual replacement could facilitate a better relationship. "I would like more than anything for the person in this position to see himself or herself as the leader of the entire Houston theater community," said Rebecca Greene Udden, artistic director of Main Street Theater. "I think Greg's kind of a shy guy, but that's in contrast to other cities where the artistic head of the major company really knew who else was working in town and what their work was like. ... It would be great if the Alley acknowledged the rest of us were around."

Such recognition is more than a social nicety. By fostering collaboration or tapping into local directors, actors, designers and others involved in the production process, many feel that such reciprocity would strengthen both The Alley and the smaller houses.

"A great deal of their casting and production staffing, almost all of them were not local," said John Johnston, executive artistic director of the Classical Theatre Company. "They have, up to this point, done a disservice to Houston because of that."

A Tony and other accolades

Still, under Boyd's leadership, the national reputation of The Alley and the Houston theater community blossomed.

During Boyd's tenure, which began in 1989, he brought prestige actors such as Vanessa Redgrave and Marisa Tomei, to town to star in Alley productions, and he produced premiere plays that went on to New York and elsewhere while leading the organization's financial and artistic growth. Boyd also directed numerous productions and in 1996, the Alley earned a special Tony Award for outstanding regional theatre. Since then, the Alley has seen a major building renovation and a new play festival.

His sudden decision even surprised board members. Boyd had called one of them, socialite and philanthropist Lynn Wyatt, on Tuesday to tell her he was retiring, but she didn't realize he meant immediately, she said.

In the news release the Alley said, "Boyd decided to make the announcement early in 2018 in order to give the Alley time to prepare for a new season."

Some in the Houston theater community expressed hope that small changes might happen under the watch of Black, the interim director and a Houston native, who has been with the theater for many years.

"He is someone who has connections to the city," Johnston said. "It's entirely possible that he opens that up a bit more."

"He came up from the smaller companies, so he's much more aware," Udden said. "He's going to have a lot on his plate. I don't expect an overnight transformation."

A giant presence, gone

Whatever happens, there could be reverberations beyond Houston as Boyd is a nationally known figure in the theater community. Rob Weinert-Kendt, editor of the New York-based American Theater Magazine, gasped when he heard the news about Boyd's unexpected departure.

"It's a shocking thing," he said.

Moore, from the Cleveland Playhouse, cautions that the board shouldn't make a hasty replacement.

"If you put a make-or-break emphasis on a hire, or anything, you're destined to make yourself go nuts," Moore said. "Take your time. Look in front of you and where you want to be as an organization .... You have to look to the future. It's less about measuring a great tenure and more about where you want to go as a company."

Whichever direction the Alley goes, it's certain to affect other Houston stages.

With Boyd's departure everyone involved in the theater scene is stepping from the familiar into the unknown.

"We in the community have been waiting for this shoe to drop for awhile now, and, frankly, almost all of us have no recollection of what theater was like in Houston before he was artistic director at the Alley," Johnston said. "We're not really sure what to expect."

Andrew Dansby, Molly Glentzer, Wei Huan-Chen and Maggie Gordon contributed to this report.