Charity Angél Dawson and More to Star in LIKE FATHER at The Alliance Theatre

The Alliance Theatre has revealed the cast of the upcoming world premiere musical, LIKE FATHER.  Described as a coming-of-age story set against America’s true-crime obsession, LIKE FATHER will run on the Hertz Stage at Alliance Theatre, October 8 – November 15, 2026. Opening night is Friday, October 16, 2026. 

The cast of LIKE FATHER features Charity Angél Dawson (Broadway: & Juliet, Waitress) as Lillian Clark; Hannah Elless (Broadway: Bright Star) as Michelle; Benjamin H. Moore (Broadway: Hell’s Kitchen) as Ben, Sophie Pollono (Off Broadway: A Walk on the Moon) as Chris, Frankie Rodriguez (TV: Chad Powers, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series) as Trevor, and Billy Harrigan Tighe (Broadway: The Heart of Rock and Roll; Alliance Theatre: Millions, Fires, Ohio) as John Grady. Understudies for the production include Mila Bolash, Aavyn Lee, and Nevaeh Riddle.

LIKE FATHER is created by Jacob Ryan Smith with Book, Music, and Lyrics by Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick.  As previously announced, the creative team of LIKE FATHER is led by Alliance Theatre Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Tinashe Kajese-Bolden (The Preacher’s Wife, Furlough’s Paradise), with Choreography by Dell Howlett, Music Supervision by Alejandro Senior, Adam Beskind as Music Director and Player/Conductor, and Dramaturgy by Amanda Watkins.  Designers include Luciana Stecconi as Set Designer, Lex Liang as Costume Designer, Thom Weaver as Lighting Designer, Melanie Chen Cole and Hidenori Nakajo as Sound Co-Designers, Caite Hevner as Projections Designer, and Tony Award-nominee August Eriksmoen (Broadway: Bright Star) as Orchestrator.  J&J Music Preparation, Josephine Bearden and Jacob Fjeldheim, will serve as Music Copyist.  Casting is by Kevin Metzger-Timson, CSA, Frankie Ramirez, CSA from Tara Rubin Casting and Jody Feldman from Alliance Theatre. 

Additional production support includes Associate Director Rachel Sabo-Hedges, Script Assistant Vijay Vikram Patnaik, Assistant Scenic Designer Jack Golden, Assistant Costume Designer April Andrew Carswell, Costume Studio Assistant Sydney Dufka, Associate Lighting Designer Rachael N. Blackwell, Associate Sound Designer Tamir Eplan-Frankel, Keyboard Programmer Taylor J. Williams, Stage Manager Jayson T. Waddell, Assistant Stage Manager Xiaonan Chloe Liu, Production Management Lead Courtney O’Neill, and Stage Management Production Assistant Samantha Honeycutt.

Additional musicians include Greg Matteson as Assistant Music Director, Holt McCarley as Music Assistant, Amanda Wansa Morgan as Music Production Assistant, Patrick Arthur playing Acoustic Guitar/Electric Guitar, Geoff Gills playing Drums, Yinzi Kong playing Viola, Kenneth Lambert playing Violin/Fiddle, and Marc Miller playing Bass. 

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 podcast industry’s meteoric rise to over 250 million listeners worldwide.