A winner of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for excellence in programming, community engagement, and education, the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, is the premier theater in the Southeastern United States. Founded in 1968, the Alliance reaches 165,000 people each year and has hosted several renowned American musicals, some of which, such as The Color Purple and The Last Night of Ballyhoo, have gone on to become Tony Award-winning Broadway productions.
The Alliance is celebrating its 55th season in 2023-24 and recently announced its schedule for the landmark season. The season begins with a family-friendly musical, The Incredible Book Eating Boy, which will be shown at Kennesaw State University from July 1 to 23. Other productions scheduled for the fall and winter include English, Into the Burrow: A Peter Rabbit Tale, and The Shining.
“We selected a variety of stories that honor the diverse and aspirational quality of this extraordinary city—new stories from new voices, familiar stories told in new & surprising ways, and new partnerships with local and national arts organizations,” explained associate artistic director Christopher Moses. “It’s a season tied together by the promise of hope—hope that this art form remains essential, hope that our community sees itself on our stage, and most of all, the increased sense of hope that comes from experiencing powerful stories created by our country’s finest artists.”
The following is a look at five plays and musicals scheduled for Alliance’s 2023-24 season.
The Shining
One of Stephen King’s most well-known books, The Shining, will play out on stage as an opera at the Alliance’s Coca-Cola Stage from September 15 to October 1, 2023. Paul Moravec composed the music and Mark Campbell wrote the lyrics for the supernatural thriller, which follows Jack Torrance who, along with his family, is tasked with caring for the Overlook Hotel during the winter. It’s not long before Jack is possessed by and acting on behalf of the demonic spirits within the hotel. The Atlanta Opera is co-producing The Shining for its limited engagement.
The Preacher’s Wife
Tituss Burgess, best known for his role on the Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, is bringing The Preacher’s Wife to the Alliance at the Coca-Cola Stage from May 11 to June 9, 2024, for a world-premiere musical event. Burgess, along with actor and writer Azie Dungey, wrote the book for the musical, which is based on a film of the same name. Burgess also wrote the original, gospel-infused score.
Billed as a story of faith and family, The Preacher’s Wife takes place in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood, where preacher Henry and his wife, Julia, are having trouble maintaining their congregation due to the gentrification and development of the area. Henry’s prayers for help are answered by an angel, but there are questions about the mysterious newcomer’s intent.
Burgess earned five Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt but primarily performed in Broadway plays and musicals before that. His stage credits include Good Vibrations (2005), Jersey Boys (2005), The Little Mermaid (2008), and Guys and Dolls (2009).
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens’ classic A Tale of Two Cities will be shown on the Coca-Cola Stage February 21-March 17, 2024. The reimagined story, which takes place in Paris and London in 1787, details the deepening divide between the affluent and the disadvantaged during the French Revolution. Brendan Pelsue adapted the classic tale for the stage.
Fat Ham
While the Alliance has debuted several productions that have gone on to be featured on Broadway, Fat Ham is coming to the Alliance after a successful Broadway run. A humorous, reimagined take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Fat Ham opened on Broadway on April 12 at the American Airlines Theatre. Written by James Ijames and directed by Saheem Ali, the play is a New York Times Critic’s Pick and received the Pulitzer Prize for drama while still in dress rehearsals.
The play’s protagonist, Juicy, a queer college student described as “a kind of Hamlet,” lives in the Southern US and is grappling with identity issues. His uncle killed his father and is married to his mother, but his dad returns as a ghost and asks him to avenge him and murder his uncle. However, the similarities with Shakespeare’s Hamlet end there. Juicy—and the other characters—seek to unburden themselves of family expectations and try to be their true selves.
Fat Ham will run from April 3 to May 12, 2024, on the Hertz Stage at the Alliance.
Furlough’s Paradise
Furlough’s Paradise is an original play created by a.k. payne, a student at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale who won the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition. The play, which is about a pair of cousins returning to their hometown for their mother/aunt’s funeral, is a story about love, kinship, and overcoming grief and trauma. It will be shown on the Hertz Stage from January 31 to March 3, 2024.