Alliance Theatre in Atlanta

What draw me into wanting to discuss the Alliance Theater of Atlanta were the reviews, the shows that were performed and the snapshots of the inside of their building. The inside of the building looks huge and resembles theaters you see on television where operas take place. I would not mind visiting the Alliance Theater if I ever had the opportunity.

The Alliance Theater was created in 1968 and ever since their showing of _ they have been going strong, winning a Tony Award for top Regional Theatre four decades later. The Alliance Theater is known for their diverse audience, having shows for every age group; from kids to adults. Not only are the good at opening their horizons to younger age levels, but the company is so good, they were able to launch three Tony Award-winning hits to Broadway: Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, Elton John and Tim Rice’s Aida and Alfred Uhry’s The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Impressive I’ll say. This proves the magnitude of the Alliance Theater.

The Alliance Theater believes in quality. Their focus is on what the audience wants. They also focuses on their community and the idea of helping up and coming inspired playwrights to show their work. There is a competition called the National Graduate Playwright Competition. Playwright competes for a prize. The Alliance Theater gives the four finalists the chance to work on stage producing their own work and broadcasting it to the Atlanta artist community. Community is everything to Alliance that’s why they work for the people to entertain and keep interested.

Another great part about the Alliance Theater in Atlanta is their intern program. The internship is for college students and recent graduates who are actively pursuing careers in professional theatre. The interns have the ability to have sessions with workers at the theater. Even though the internship does not pay the idea to work hands on and receive credit for the job is payment enough.

Not only do they just focus on older classmen but children k-12. They start early teaching children about the art of the theater. For each grade level there is a certain amount of classes offered to prepare the youth. During a class called “Movin’ and Groovin” children learn stories through movement and the idea to build physical foundation for their possible later acting career. They also offer a class called “The Actor’s Voice”, which trains the youth voice and develop a perfect articulation.

The idea of the Alliance Theater being involved in the community, helping the youth mature their skills for the future, and give the college students interns and a jump start to a possible career, is awesome for a theater to do. Not only focusing on the art within their four walls but outside and worldwide is something that more theaters should follow.