Theater News

Ever After Musical Joins the Alliance Theatre's 50th Anniversary Season

”Ride the Cyclone” will also make its regional premiere at the Atlanta theater.

Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler will present their musical adaptation of Ever After at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta during its 50th anniversary season.
Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler will present their musical adaptation of Ever After at Alliance Theatre during its 50th anniversary season.
(© Joey Stocks)

Atlanta's Alliance Theatre has announced the productions set for its 50th anniversary season, which will also mark the opening of the theater's brand-new space — Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre.

The Alliance season will kick off with David Catlin's world-premiere adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Atlanta Botanical Garden (September 5-October 21). Also this fall, Alliance will produce two world premieres by Atlanta Playwrights in its 200-seat Hertz Theatre, starting with Nick's Flamingo Grill by playwright and songwriter, Phillip DePoy. Inspired by the true story of the first integrated nightclub in Atlanta and featuring 10 original jazz songs in the style of the era, Nick's Flamingo Grill is a story of hope and brotherly love. The second premiere is Knead, written and performed by Mary Lynn Owen. Originally developed as a project from the Alliance's third Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab and a semifinalist for the 2017 O'Neill National Playwright's Conference, Knead is a journey through memory and accepting the unpredictability of life.

The first production on the Coca-Cola Stage will be Ever After (January 19, 2019-February 17, 2019), the musical adaptation of the hit film, which had its world premiere at Paper Mill Playhouse in 2015. The show is penned by songwriting partners Zina Goldrich and Marcy Heisler, and will feature direction by Susan V. Booth and choreography by JoAnn M. Hunter.

Also on the new Coca-Cola Stage this season will be Angry, Raucous and Shamelessly Gorgeous (March 20, 2019-April 14, 2019), a world premiere by Atlanta-based playwright Pearl Cleage, as well as Ride the Cyclone (May 1-26, 2019), a new musical by Brooke Maxwell and Jacob Richmond, which made its off-Broadway debut at MCC in 2016.

This season's winner of the Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, which will receive its world premiere on the Hertz Stage in February 2019, is Goodnight, Tyler (February 16, 2019-March 10, 2019), by B.J. Tindal. In Goodnight, Tyler, Tyler Evans haunts his best friend in a desperate attempt to control the contradicting narratives of his untimely passing.

The final production on the Hertz Stage will be the world premiere of Approval Junkie (April 5, 2019-28, 2019), written by and starring Faith Salie.

The Alliance Theatre will additionally produce four productions for youth and families, including Winnie-the-Pooh, Paige in Full, the Alliance's 29th annual production of A Christmas Carol, and The Wizard of Oz. These join three Kathy & Ken Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young productions, which include Little Raindrop Songs, La Tortuga and the Hare, and Gimme Please. One Acre Wood, inspired by the setting of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories by A.A. Milne, will also serve as this season's interactive play space at the Woodruff Arts Center.

For more information about the 2018-19 Alliance Theatre season, click here.