A memorial service was held in Sister Bay, Wis., May 7 for actor, singer, and writer Fred Alley, who died of a previously undiagnosed heart condition May 1 while jogging. His body was found about a half mile from his home in Door County, Wis., a popular Midwest-ern artist colony and vacation destination.
The 38-year-old Alley wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the book for the musical theater adaptation of the film "The Spitfire Grill," which received its world premiere at the George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, N.J. last November. "The Spitfire Grill," with music composed by James Valcq, won the Academy of Arts and Letters 2001 Richard Rodgers Production Award and is scheduled to open this fall at Playwrights Horizon.
Alley was co-founder and artist-in-residence at the American Folklore Theatre, a company that performs original musicals during the summer on an outdoor stage in a state park in Door County. His collaborations with AFT resident composer James Kaplan were a driving force in the company's rapid growth during the 1990s. The AFT played to about 50,000 persons last season.
Several Kaplan-Alley shows became big hits in Milwaukee when produced by the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. "Guys on Ice," a musical about two ice fishermen starring Alley, was so popular it was presented four times by the Rep, and the pair's new musical, "The Bachelors," is on track to become the largest grossing show of all time in the Rep's Stackner Cabaret by the time it closes May 20.