Joriah Kwamé wants to take his new musical to Broadway. But first, it’s making its world premiere at Montgomery County’s Olney Theatre Center.

“Little Miss Perfect” — a coming-of-age story about a Black teenager in a predominantly white school coming to terms with her sexuality — exists, in part, because a Broadway star helped amplify the title song.

Its star (Leanne Antonio), director (Zhailon Levinston) and choreographer (Chloe O. Davis) all hail from Broadway. And Kwamé, the creator, has hordes of online fans who hope the show will one day wind up on the Great White Way, too.

Olney Theatre’s latest production is emblematic of a larger trend. This regional theater isn’t just any regional theater — it’s a creative hub that serves as both a destination for existing Broadway performers and creators as well as an incubator for Broadway hopefuls.

“[They have] an actual, genuine interest in developing new work, wherein the point is not the bottom line,” Levinston told The Banner. “It is truly to create an environment where new work can be nurtured. ... Here, they truly are interested in being a place where people can see their visions come to life for the first time.”

‘Little Miss Perfect’: Born on TikTok, raised by a Broadway star

Before “Little Miss Perfect” was a full-on musical, it was just a song of the same name. Kwamé submitted it to a musical theater songwriting contest run by Broadway star Taylor Louderman (“Mean Girls”) in 2019. To his surprise, the song won, and Louderman performed it herself in a video that went viral on TikTok and has since racked up more than 10 million views on YouTube.

“From there, it became its own online movement and has a cult following,” Kwamé said. “The hardest part about getting a show funded and getting a show onstage is being able to convince producers that there’s an audience for your show. And what happened as a result of the virality of the song was that there was an audience of people asking for the musical before I had even decided to write it.”

That unique journey to getting a new musical greenlit is an anomaly, but Kwamé and Davis agree it’s likely to become more and more common.

“For a song to inspire a whole musical, I think that Joriah has actually carved out a path himself, and people will follow,” said Davis, who has choreographed and danced in several Broadway shows.

“He’s kind of in his own lane.”

Ian McKellen helped fundraise for air conditioning, more Broadway stars at OTC

Over the course of its nearly 90-year run, Olney Theatre’s track record of holding space for artists to create freely has attracted a host of Broadway performers and helped to launch careers.

“Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” was a hit in the U.K. before it was discovered by its eventual Broadway producer, Susan Rose, who saw an early U.S. production at the theater. It would go on to nab seven Tony Award nominations and inspire national tours, a film and a Broadway revival.

Before Marcia Gay Harden became an Oscar- and Tony-winning actor, she appeared in several Olney shows, where she worked with a handful of then-Broadway stars.

“I’m thrilled to include the Olney Theatre in my roots as an actor,” Harden said. “I think it’s fair to say [that’s where] I got my official start.”

“Orange Is the New Black” actor Uzo Aduba had her first major onstage breakout role there, too. And stars including Helen Hayes, Olivia de Havilland, Bob Fosse, André De Shields, Alan Cumming and Ian McKellen have also graced Olney for performances.

McKellen starred in a one-man show at the theater in 1987, for which Harden was in the audience. During that time, he also helped the theater raise money for air conditioning in dressing rooms. The actor recalled, in a 2001 post on his website, the theater feeling “punishing during the muggy Maryland summer heat.”

Baltimore native De Shields, a Tony and Grammy winner, hosted Olney Theatre’s annual fundraising gala last year. And the actor’s connections to the theater don’t stop there.

Once Levinston finishes his run as director of “Little Miss Perfect,” he’s heading back to New York to direct “Cats: The Jellicle Ball,” a ballroom-focused reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats.” De Shields is currently in rehearsals for that show, which opens April 7 on Broadway.

“It’s a big universe but a small world, and I am happy to allow the Olney Theatre Center to continue to connect the two,” De Shields said.

What’s next?

Olney Theatre’s programming this season includes two more world premieres. “I and You: The Musical” — an adaptation of a play of the same name that made its world premiere in Olney over a decade ago before becoming an acclaimed national show — starts its run in April. Chef and TV host Carla Hall will debut her one-woman show, “Please Underestimate Me,” in June.

“Little Miss Perfect” is slated to run through March 8, though that could be extended depending on ticket sales, Kwamé said. His ultimate goal is Broadway, “one development step at a time.”

He also hopes to build on the show’s international social media fan base.

“Hopefully before Broadway, which is definitely our dream, there are some steps along the way that can help us to continue to develop the show and spread the ‘Little Miss Perfect’ gospel around the world.”