Broadway’s Biggest Hits Start in Atlanta

Alliance Theatre Owns a Legacy of Premiering Tony-Nominated Musicals

By Mary Welch

Published June 20, 2025

“Maybe Happy Ending” received six Tony Awards at the recent 78th Tony Awards Ceremony. The awards the musical won are: Best New Musical, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Leading Actor in a Musical and Best Scenic Design of a Musical. While the New York theater community is celebrating this joyous musical, Atlantans knew it was a hit before it went to Broadway. Why? Because “Maybe Happy Ending” made its world debut at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, joining 140 other plays whose world premieres were held at the Alliance over the past 57 years. 

Among the shows that debuted at the Alliance are: “Water for Elephants,” which premiered in Atlanta in 2023 and went to Broadway the next year, where it was nominated for a Tony for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. It’s starting its national tour in 2025.

In 2011, when Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” fame wanted to premiere his play, “Bring It On: The Musical,” he headed to Peachtree Street, home of the Alliance, before opening in New York. 

Other plays that got their start at the Alliance include: “The Color Purple,” “Aida” (by one-time Atlanta resident Elton John), “Sister Act: The Musical,” and “So Long on Lonely Street.” 

Are you seeing a trend? Yes, Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre is the stage that the best playwrights, producers and directors select to showcase their work before it goes elsewhere — and more often than not — Broadway. 

Alliance Theatre, the Home for Successful Musicals

“The Alliance has become an ideal home for new musicals bound for a Broadway life for a variety of reasons,” says Christopher Moses, Jennings Hertz artistic director at the Alliance.  “First, the Alliance has a proven track record of success in exporting work for a successful commercial life.  Second, we have an unparalleled scene and costume shop with the chops to realize even the most ambitious vision for a show.  Third, the Coca-Cola Stage is large enough to accommodate any Broadway production while still providing an intimate audience experience.”   

Moses also points out that, perhaps “most importantly, the diversity of Atlanta audiences provides the perfect analog to the tourist-heavy Broadway audiences. Put all these together, and it’s no wonder that producers and artists actively seek out Atlanta and the Alliance as their first choice for birthing new musicals.”   

Gloria Estefan’s Production Debuts in Atlanta

Eight-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Estefan knows the importance of Atlanta to the theater world, and that’s why her play, “Basura,” will have its world premiere next year in Atlanta. The musical will debut on the Alliance’s Coca-Cola Stage on May 30, 2026, and will run through July 12. Estefan co-wrote the lyrics and music with her daughter, Emily. “Basura” tells the story of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra, where young artists turned scrap material into instruments and music into possibilities.  

“This is a story that has been close to my heart for several years since I first encountered the determination and ingenuity of the young people of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra,” says Gloria Estefan. “Emily and I are thrilled for our music to be a part of telling their story in this original musical. We could not be more excited for “Basura” to begin its theatrical life in a city as influential and diverse as Atlanta with a theater as consequential as the Alliance.” 

So when people say they saw a new play on Broadway, remember, you very well may be able to say, “Yes, I saw it last year at the Alliance.” 

Check out our calendar of events to see what’s playing next.

Mary Welch is an award-winning writer who has reported on the maturity off Atlanta’s culinary and hospitality scene as well as its growth as a sophisticated international city. Her byline has been seen in local and national outlets such as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Travelgirl, Global Atlanta, and American Lawyer covering topics such as travel, business, cars, law, hospitality and education. She co-authored a book with Chuck Leavell, the keyboardist for the Rolling Stones and a Georgia tree farmer, on the future of the American forest.