LIKE FATHER
This week on Theatre People, we are proud to speak with the co-writers of "Like Father", Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick, as well as dramaturg Amanda Watkins, about the conception, development, and production of the world-premiere musical "Like Father", running October 8–November 15, 2026, at Alliance Theatre.
"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.
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