Powerhouse team brings 'The Preacher’s Wife' to Atlanta stage

ATLANTA - With a cast including Emmy winner Loretta Devine, Laurence Olivier Award winner Amber Riley, and Broadway veterans Akron Lanier Watson and Donald Webber, Jr., the star power involved with Alliance Theatre’s current production is about as high-wattage as you can get.

Performances of the world premiere musical "The Preacher’s Wife" continue on The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre through June 16, bringing the hit 1996 film (starring Whitney Houston, Denzel Washington, and Courtney B. Vance) to life for a new generation of audiences. The musical features an original score by Emmy-nominated actor and musician (and University of Georgia alum!) Tituss Burgess and a book by writer, producer, and actress Azie Dungey — both of whom previously worked on the hit Netflix series "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt."

"I remember waking up out of my sleep one night and raced to the piano and I wrote a song, and I didn't know what I was writing for or towards," says Burgess of the inception of the project. "Another year would go by, and I saw the movie again, and I went back into my notes on the iPhone, and I was like, ‘I think I’m writing a musical.' So, it all just sort of came together." 

"The Preacher's Wife" is co-directed by Tony Award winner Michael Arden and Alliance Theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, and the show's official opening night is this Friday — for more information on showtimes and tickets, click here. 

Good Day Atlanta recently went backstage at Alliance Theatre to sit down with Tituss Burgess and Azie Dungey; click the video player in this article to hear more about the process by which they turned a beloved film into a show-stopping musical extravaganza.