Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre’s upcoming season will feature several classics and new works, including the world premiere of a musical cowritten by music legend Gloria Estefan.
The 2025-26 season, the theater’s 57th, will kick off this summer with “Milo Imagines the World,” a musical for young audiences based on the book by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson. The musical’s songs come from Christian Magby and Christian Albright, with a book by Atlanta native Terry Guest.
In the fall on The Coca-Cola Stage, the Alliance will coproduce with the Atlanta Opera a staging of the classic musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” with direction by Tomer Zvulun, Atlanta Opera’s artistic director.
On the Hertz Stage, Alliance will produce the Atlanta premiere of “Covenant,” which “explores the gripping power of belief and the thin veil between rumor and truth,” according to a press release.
Leading up to the winter holidays, the theater will stage the Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol,” on The Coca-Cola Stage.
Credit: (Courtesy of Alliance Theatre)
Credit: (Courtesy of Alliance Theatre)
The Alliance will then present “Duel Reality,” a performance inspired by “Romeo and Juliet” featuring a mix of circus, storytelling, magic, dance and acrobatics. The show comes from the 7 Fingers, the aerial troupe behind the stunts in the Alliance’s Broadway musical “Water for Elephants.”
The season will close with the world premiere musical “Basura,’ with music and lyrics from nine-time Grammy Award winner Gloria Estefan and her daughter, Emily. “Basura” was inspired by the true story of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra, featured in the documentary “Landfill Harmonic,” where young artists turn scrap material into instruments.
The musical is directed by Michael Greif (“Rent,” “Dear Evan Hansen”) and written by National Latino Playwriting Award winner Karen Zacarías. Grammy Award- and Tony Award-winner Alex Lacamoire is the musical supervisor, orchestrator and arranger.
In addition, in January 2026, the Alliance will celebrate the opening of the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families with a yet-to-be-named musical.
Credit: SPECIAL
Credit: SPECIAL
The stage will feature year-round programming by the Alliance Theatre and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra on the campus of the Woodruff Arts Center. Alliance Theatre programming on the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families will be supported by the Imagine Endowment, a permanent fund which will keep ticket prices accessible, provide field trip resources for Georgia schools, and support streaming for classrooms.
Also, on the Hertz Stage, the Alliance will produce the world premiere of the 22nd winner of its Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition, “Fires, Ohio.” Written by Beth Hyland from the University of California San Diego, the musical is inspired by the classic family drama “Uncle Vanya.”
This year’s four Alliance/Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition finalists will receive developmental workshops and staged readings as part of Alliance/Kendeda Week celebrating new works in 2026. “Reservoir,” a 2023-24 Kendeda finalist, is being performed at the Alliance through May 4.
The Alliance will also present three Reiser Lab projects from its Round 10 at the 2025 Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab Festival from May 15–17, 2025, and three projects from Round 11 will be presented in free performances in spring 2026. The projects have received resources for further development and access to Alliance staff and rehearsal spaces.
Credit: Leonid Furmansky Trahan Architecture
Credit: Leonid Furmansky Trahan Architecture
The Alliance also announces the three projects selected for development in Round 11 of the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab. These lab projects will be presented in free performances in the Spring of 2026.
Additionally, Alliance Theatre’s Bernhardt Theatre for the Very Young will produce four plays developed specifically for children under 5, including “Rhythm & Thread,” celebrating storytelling through the art of quilting; “The Birthday of the World,” a world premiere inspired by the book by Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen; the holiday celebration “Knock, Knock;” and the dino-themed “Dinosaur.”
Production for elementary and middle school audiences that will tour to metro Atlanta schools include “Roob and Noob,” about two scientists who build machines from simple objects and “The Melvin Invention” which tells the story of two brainy students who use their 3D printer to invent Melvin, a cool, confident 7th grader.
“We’re delighted to share such profoundly moving stories with our community next season – a mixture of beloved classics, vital new plays from emerging artists, multidisciplinary collaborations, and a massive new musical by a global icon, produced in tandem with world-class theater for young audiences on the brand new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families,” said Jennings Hertz artistic directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses in a joint statement. “These shows and these artists triumphantly remind us of our shared humanity in entertaining, joyful, and heartbreaking ways.”
Memberships and individual performance tickets for the Alliance’s 57th season are on sale now. Visit alliancetheatre.org/next for details.
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