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Behind the Curtain: How Alliance Theatre is Redefining Support

Organizational Snapshot

Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre is the 2026 Best Place for Working Parents® Georgia Innovator Award winner that expands hearts and minds onstage and off. Founded in 1968, Alliance Theatre is the Southeast’s leading theater, reaching more than 165,000 patrons each year with programming that challenges and inspires both adult and youth audiences to think critically and care deeply. Known for its exemplary artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 140+ original productions, while also launching important American Broadway musicals and subsequent productions. Alliance Theatre is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® in recognition of sustained excellence in programming, education and community engagement.

Policy

On-Site Child Care

Region

Georgia

Headquartered in Atlanta

Industry

Arts

Size

Small

110 employees and 300-350 contractors annually

Male/Female

40% / 60%

Founded

1968

"This program has attracted new parent-artists to the Alliance Theatre who otherwise would be unable to continue working in our field.  It has retained parent artists who were contemplating fleeing the field.  Now that we know that this works-- that free arts-integrated childcare is retaining theatre talent, building the reading brains of the young children participating, employing teaching artists as childcare professionals, our hope is that it becomes the national model.  It’s been transformational for the artists participating in this program and for the culture of our theatre; now we've got to spread the word so others can be inspired to go and do the same.”

Chris Moses, Jennings Hertz

Artistic Director

Family Friendly Policy Overview

Working in theater or the performing arts often comes with irregular hours, late evenings, weekend commitments, and inconsistent pay. Traditional child care programs are rarely available during those hours, making it difficult for working parents to find care for their children and participate in their craft. Alliance Theatre recognized that child care availability, flexible working options, and additional employee support are key priorities for retaining its workforce, and implemented some groundbreaking benefits not common in the industry.

Artist Childcare Program: In January 2024, Alliance Theatre launched a free child care program for artists and staff working on its stages and in its classrooms through funds from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. Alliance Theatre converted several office spaces into a fully functional child care center and trained its best teaching artists in caregiving best practices. In partnership with the YMCA of Metro Atlanta, it developed a new arts-integrated curriculum, combining the benefits of arts engagement with hands-on caregiving. The Artist Childcare Program has been an essential benefit for working parents in need of child care during nontraditional working hours. The center created a family-friendly culture where kids are around rehearsals and meetings, and where employees can take a break to spend time with their child or nurse their baby. The workplace benefit has boosted productivity, retained employees, and attracted the best artists from across the country to their stage.
Nursing Rooms: Alliance Theatre provides multiple lactation rooms on-site for nursing mothers. Understanding that every individual has different needs, the team works closely with new mothers to ensure their preferences are accommodated, whether that’s access to a private office, a dedicated room, or providing an in-room refrigerator. The company’s goal is to make sure every new mother’s needs are met to their own personal standard.
Flexible Work Arrangements: Management at Alliance Theatre has grown increasingly aware that a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn’t work for every employee. To better assist working parents and the unique demands of their roles, the Alliance offers a range of flexible work arrangements when possible, including remote work, hybrid models, and alternative schedules, helping team members find balance and feel supported.

Policy Implementation Overview

Retention and Engagement: The Artist Child Care Program has been the most impactful policy atAlliance Theatre and linked to high employee morale and engagement. During the 2025/2026 season, the Alliance provided free child care to 34 artists equating to a total of 2,192 hours of support. Every artist who benefited from this program confirmed that, without it, they would not have been able to accept their contract or continue working. Further, the benefit allowed several artists to continue their theatrical careers who would have otherwise been forced to walk away, giving them the opportunity to grow in their craft. This free child care offering has opened the doors for artists and has inspired many artists working with agents to ask about child care in their job search.
A Caring Culture: Employees are enthusiastic about the Alliance Theatre’s benefits and the ripple effect they have on creating a positive network for their families. Working parents are building a community of meaningful relationships with teachers and artists that extend beyond the stage. One thing that makes their culture special is that it has become a place where the entire team rallies around the children of actors, offering them love and support, and making the Alliance Theatre an even more caring and positive place to work.
Community Partnerships: For over a decade, the Alliance Theatre and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta have built a meaningful partnership that benefits working parents, children, and the arts community alike. The Alliance brings high-quality theatrical experiences to the YMCA’s youngest members through tours and residencies, while the YMCA provides an arts integrated learning curriculum that equips the Alliance’s artists with impactful early childhood education and caregiving.
Arts Impact: By hiring local artists to run the Artist ChildCare Program, the Alliance Theatre is reinvesting funds back into the arts community. They are creating meaningful roles for artists within their program, helping them stay involved with the arts community, even when they are not currently in a production. Additionally, the program helps increase the artistic excellence at the Alliance by attracting some of the top performers across the country to Atlanta, due to this offering being so rare in other parts of the country.

The Impact

In an industry revolving around nontraditional hours, the Alliance Theatre is doing something rare. By offering artists greater flexibility and stability, it has achieved what many thought was nearly impossible in this line of work. Its family-friendly benefits reignited hope for working parents and those planning to start a family that having a fulfilling career in the arts and a family don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Free child care has been a lifeline for many employees at the Alliance, taking out a layer of stress many working parents worry about and shifting the culture to become even more family-friendly. The Alliance proves when businesses prioritize the wellbeing of their people, everyone on and off the stage succeeds both personally and professionally.