Built upon the earlier MECC game Opening Night,[5] The American Girls Premiere allows the creation and direction of unique stage plays starring the historical characters, from Felicity Merriman, representing the American Revolution, to Molly McIntire, daughter of an army doctor during World War II, alongside supporting characters from each of the girls' story arcs.

Each of the characters have their own set of outfits based on the historical era their stories take place in, e.g. long gowns and petticoats for Felicity or argyle sweaters and blouses for Molly, along with scenarios from their respective time period.

The American Girls Premiere was released to mostly positive reception, with praise being given for providing children a "creative outlet"; a number of reviewers however criticized the user interface to be intimidating and complicated.

[19] The Buffalo News commented that the title wouldn't appeal to the "easily bored" or "readily frustrated", but that it would thrill players who were willing to invest both the time and energy.

[22] Clint Basinger of Lazy Game Reviews also criticized Premiere's similarity to Opening Night and what he saw as limited educational value, but praised its appeal to fans of the American Girl franchise, calling it a "neat little program" and a "fascinating industry case study" on video games aimed at girls and repackaging an existing product to drive sales through the use of a licensed property.

[12] Rocky Mountain News reported that Children's Software Revue gave the title a "tentative endorsement" due to offering a "female spin" to traditional video game genres such as adventure.

[27] In December 1997, the game "achieved the highest monthly dollar and unit sales of any single product" in the history of The Learning Company up to that point.