Ahrens met Stephen Flaherty at the BMI Workshop in 1982 and they started working together the following year. Their first collaboration was "Bedazzled", based on the 1967 film of the same name, but had to abandon it when they could not secure the rights. They did some workshops, where Ira Weitzman noticed them and he was able to get the pair a NEA grant. Weitzman also connected the pair with George C. Wolfe, and they collaborated on a piece called "Antler", but according to Ahrens, "no one could figure it out." The pairs' first produced musical was a children's musical, "The Emperor's New Clothes" for Theatreworks USA. Their first professionally produced musical together was "Lucky Stiff", which premiered Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in April 1988. Their next musical was "Once on This Island", which premiered on Broadway in 1990 and which was nominated for eight Tony Awards. "My Favorite Year" opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center in October 1992 and ran for 36 performances, winning the Tony Award for Andrea Martin as Best Supporting Actress.