Knoxville Mercury 2016 "Top Knox" Reader's Poll Popular Pick:
"TOP ACTOR
David Keith
From An Officer and a Gentlemen to striding the sidelines at University of Tennessee home football games—it’s been quite a ride for this local boy made good. (M.E.)
Popular Picks: David Brian Alley, Dale Dickey"
--Knoxville Mercury, October 20, 2016 Issue
Reviews:
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
"If Diamond has become one’s favorite Scrooge, David Brian Alley has seized that accolade in the role of Jacob Marley. To the delight of audiences, Alley’s Marley emerges from the depths, clad in chains and dripping with green light and smoke. Interestingly, Alley seems to have taken a re-vitalized approach to his lament, one that takes the role well beyond special effects or off-the-wall delivery. In a separate role of Old Joe, the “estate goods dealer,” the actor demonstrates the notable range of portrayals he is famous for at CBT."
--Alan Sherrod, Arts Knoxville
HAMLET
"Ophelia’s father is the tedious and irksome Polonius, taken here by the appropriately all-gray David Brian Alley in another of his many marvelous serio-comic turns. Polonius’ instruction to his son Laertes (Collin Andrews) as he goes off to France is one of the classics of Shakespeare’s quotables—and Alley made it memorable."
--Alan Sherrod, Arts Knoxville
THE CRUCIBLE
"The most stunning transformation, though, is that of...David Brian Alley"
--Alan Sherrod, Knoxville Mercury
TITUS ANDRONICUS
"Left standing at the final curtain were the always solid CBT regulars Terry Weber, as Marcus Andronicus, and David Brian Alley, as Lucius"
--Alan Sherrod, Knoxville Mercury
"The crowd favorite was David Brian Alley, who plays Titus’ only survivor (Lucius)"
--Sandra Clark, Knoxville ShopperNews
THE SANTALAND DIARIES
"Physical comedy and an energetic delivery seem to flow in Alley’s bloodstream—he is a master at delivering a punch line with a visible punctuation mark...Alley’s brilliance as a comic artist was fully employed in the portrayal of the various workers and SantaLand visitors"
--Alan Sherrod, Knoxville Mercury
"It's tough to decide the funniest bit. It might be Alley's Cher impression or his singing 'Away in a Manger' Billie Holiday style"
--Amy McCrary, Knoxville News-Sentinel
THE 39 STEPS
"Playing literally every other character on stage are CBT regulars David Brian Alley and David Kortemeier. The two possess the brilliant comic timing and inventiveness necessary to weave theatrical magic from the continuous character and scene shifts. One amazing scene in particular involves a split-second hat-changing sequence of character differentiation by the pair that simply defies description"
--Alan Sherrod, Knoxville Mercury
MOONLIGHT AND MAGNOLIAS
"David Brian Alley’s performance is a brilliant comic turn. He plays his character with a reckless abandon that makes every joke work even harder, and the payoff is worth the effort"
--TImothy Hankins, Maryville Daily Times