With the 2024-2025 Broadway season wrapped up, it’s fascinating to look at the origins of this past year’s slate of shows. So many of them began life at a regional theater. “Purpose” had its world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre; “Maybe Happy Ending” enjoyed its first U.S. production at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre; “Real Women Have Curves” debuted at Boston’s American Repertory Theater; and “Redwood” launched at our very own La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, to name just a few.
Regional theaters have become vital incubators for new plays and musicals with Broadway ambitions. Of course, they’re not only a testing ground for Broadway, regionals originate works for the theatrical canon. They host essential commissioning and play development programs, play reading series, workshops and festivals, as well as fellowships and educational initiatives that build pipelines and foster a new generation of artists. They develop long-term relationships with playwrights, directors and designers; and they work hand in hand with producing partners to mount new productions with commercial trajectories.
