(FORTUNE Small Business) – "STELLAAA!" The cry of Kowalski and others like it were once first heard on the grand commercial stages of New York City. Now 1,100 regional nonprofit theaters "identify and create the great literature for the American stage," says Ben Cameron of Theatre Communications Group. Here are five to which attention must be paid.

--RATHE MILLER

Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven. Founded in 1965. Premiered Wit in 1997. The drama, by then-unknown playwright Margaret Edson, is about a literature professor (wearing a red baseball cap) who is transformed by cancer. (203-787-4282; www.longwharf.org)

Old Globe Theatre, San Diego. Founded in 1935. Premiered in June: a musical of The Full Monty by Terrence McNally and David Yazbek. Coming: the West Coast premiere of Orson's Shadow by Austin Pendleton (619-239-2255; www.oldglobe.org)

Alliance Theatre Company, Atlanta. Founded in 1968. Recent hit: Elaborate Lives: The Legend of Aida, by Elton John and Tim Rice, winner of four Tonys on Broadway. Coming: Dinner With Friends by Donald Margulies (404-733-5000; www.alliancetheatre.org)

Alley Theatre, Houston. Founded in 1947. The Civil War, by Frank Wildhorn, won a Tony nomination when it reached Broadway. Coming: world premiere of The Carpetbagger's Children by Horton Foote (713-228-8421; www.alleytheatre.com)

A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle. Founded in 1965. Premiered Power Plays by Elaine May and Alan Arkin, which had a long off-Broadway run. Current premiere: the opera-theater work In the Penal Colony by Philip Glass 206-292-7676; www.acttheatre.org)

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