The Alliance Theatre is a theater company in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton County, the mos ...

, based at the Alliance Theatre, part of the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center, and is the winner of the 2007

Regional Theatre Tony Award The Regional Theatre Tony Award is a special recognition Tony Award given annually to a regional theater company in the United States. The winner is recommended by a committee of drama critics. Background Initially presented in 1948 to Robert ...

. The company, originally the Atlanta Municipal Theatre, staged its first production (''

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as ...

'') at the Alliance in 1968. The following year the company became the Alliance Theatre Company. Within a decade, the company had grown tremendously and staged the world premiere of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...

' '' Tiger Tail'' and was casting such well-known actors as

Richard Dreyfuss Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including '' American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), '' Close Encounters of the ...

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 19 ...

, Paul Winfield,

Robert Foxworth Robert Heath Foxworth (born November 1, 1941) is an American film, stage, and television actor. Early life Foxworth was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Erna Beth (née Seamman), a writer, and John Howard Foxworth, a roofing contractor. He at ...

, Jo Van Fleet and

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

. Other world premieres included Ed Graczyk's '' Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean''. With the arrival of

Kenny Leon Kenny Leon is an American director, producer, actor, and author, notable for his work on Broadway, on television, and in regional theater. In 2014, he won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play for ''A Raisin in the Sun''. Career He gaine ...

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since th ...

in 1988, the company began a period of diversification and growth. Leon's work attracted a larger

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

audience by staging a more diverse selection of productions. During Leon's tenure, the company staged premieres of

Pearl Cleage Pearl Cleage (December 7, 1948) (pronounced: “cleg”) is an African-American playwright, essayist, novelist, poet and political activist.Spratling, Cassandra. "Pearl Cleage's Storied Life Cover Story." Detroit Free Press, Feb 21, 2010. ProQue ...

's ''Blues for an Alabama Sky'', Alfred Uhry's '' The Last Night of Ballyhoo'', and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 Decemb ...

'' which went on to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and won the

Tony award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

for Best Original Musical Score. When Leon resigned from the company in 2000, Susan V. Booth became artistic director. Under her direction, the company produced the Broadway-bound production of the musical ''

The Color Purple ''The Color Purple'' is a 1982 epistolary novel by American author Alice Walker which won the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award for Fiction.

'', and in 2007 presented '' Sister Act the Musical''. More recent Alliance musical premieres to transfer to Broadway include '' Bring It On: The Musical, Tuck Everlasting, and The Prom.'' The Alliance Theatre offers 10 productions annually, with performances in the 770-seat Alliance Stage and the 200-seat Hertz Stage (formerly Studio Theatre), as well as

Theatre for Young Audiences Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), also youth theatre, theatre for children, and children's theatre is a branch of theatre arts that encompasses all forms of theatre that are attended by or created for younger audiences. It blankets many differen ...

offerings. In June 2022, the venue staged the premiere of "Trading Places: The Musical!" directed by Leon and written by Thomas Lennon.ArtsATL.org (June 1, 2022) https://www.artsatl.org/alliances-trading-places-musical-trades-some-dated-plotlines-for-inclusiveness/

References

External links

Alliance Theatre official website
*
''Encore Atlanta''
the official show program of the Alliance Theatre {{authority control Performing groups established in 1968 Theatre in Atlanta League of Resident Theatres Regional theatre in the United States Theatre companies in Georgia (U.S. state) Tony Award winners