Alliance Theatre Announces World Premiere Musical, LIKE FATHER

The Coming-of-Age Musical by Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick Premieres in October 2026

ATLANTA – (February 3, 2026) — Alliance Theatre today announced that it will produce the world premiere musical LIKE FATHER as part of its 2026/27 season. A bold new musical created by Jacob Ryan Smith, with book, music, and lyrics by Smith and Caroline Pernick, and direction by Alliance’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (The Preacher’s Wife), LIKE FATHER will run on the Hertz Stage beginning in October.

LIKE FATHER is a coming-of-age musical set against America’s true-crime obsession. After her father’s arrest, seventeen-year-old Chris moves in with her estranged mother, Michelle, and stepfather, Ben. When a hit true-crime podcast exposes their family’s disturbing past to the world, they are forced to face the truth of what brought them together, or risk being undone by its consequences.

Driven by a bold, innovative folk-pop score, LIKE FATHER explores legacy, identity, and the cost of obsession, inspired by the loved ones left in the wake of infamous serial killers—and by the true-crime industry’s meteoric rise to over 250 million listeners worldwide.

The show was a semi-finalist at the Eugene O’Neill New Music Theater Festival and emerged as the winner of the inaugural Open Jar Musical Shark Tank.

Creative Team for the Alliance Theatre Production includes:

• Director: Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (The Preacher’s Wife)
• Book, Music, and Lyrics: Jacob Ryan Smith & Caroline Pernick
• Choreographer: Dell Howlett
• Music Director: Alejandro Senior
• Assistant Director: Rachel Sabo-Hedges
• Associate Music Director: Adam Beskind
• Dramaturg: Amanda Watkins
• Casting: Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA & Frankie Ramirez, CSA, TRC Company

Casting details and specific performance dates will be announced in the coming months. The musical’s commercial producers are Howard Alter, Zachary Hausman, and Madison Thompson. Co-producers include Caryl & Kendrick Smith, City Cowboy Productions, Fahs Productions, Happy Recap Productions, Jonathan & Rae Corr, Kerri Mandelbaum, and Steven N. Lerner.

“At its core, LIKE FATHER is about learning to live beyond the shadows we inherit—a journey through grief, forgiveness, and the radical act of reclaiming your own name,” said Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden. “It’s a surprising, darkly funny, deeply human story that speaks to so many of us reckoning with the weight of our histories and the hope of transformation. New work like this needs room to take risks, and regional theaters are where those stories are given oxygen; I’m thrilled to work alongside artists and producing partners with an unflinching belief in bold, emotionally intelligent storytelling, and proud that the Alliance is a national home where artists are trusted to push boundaries, deepen our empathy, and imagine what’s possible.”

Performances of LIKE FATHER run on the Hertz Stage October 8 through November 15, 2026 – learn more.