This fall, a stunning new musical is making its world premiere debut right here in Atlanta, and you don’t want to miss it. Get ready for a total new obsession: ‘Like Father’ by Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick at the Alliance Theatre.
What is ‘Like Father’ about?
‘Like Father’, is coming-of-age musical set against America’s true-crime obsession.
We follow Chris (not Christina!), a seventeen-year-old girl, through the harrowing year of her life directly following her father’s arrest, as she discovers the unthinkable: her father is a serial killer.
Chris moves in with her estranged mother, Michelle, and kind stepfather, Ben, and becomes obsessed with a true crime podcast that claims to handle its stories with the utmost respect.
It isn’t until one episode hits a little too close to home that she realizes what-or, who-the industry feeds on.
‘Like Father’ is, at its heart, a story about a girl finding her way in the world, recovering from the ultimate betrayal, and learning to trust in the love that grows all around her. It’s about forgiveness and friendship and who catches you when you fall.
There isn’t a weak link in the entire ensemble: all of the characters are interesting and complex; nuanced, flawed, and lovable. And Chris, played beautifully by Sophie Pollono, has you rooting for her the entire time.
‘Like Father’ at the Alliance Theatre
Atlantans will instantly recognize quite a lot of the scenery, projections, and settings in ‘Like Father’. After all, it takes place primarily in Dahlonega, Georgia, with some scenes stretching down into Atlanta itself.
The creator and co-writer of ‘Like Father’, Jacob Ryan Smith is from Atlanta.
He states,
In a lot of ways, this show is a love-note to the state of Georgia. The story takes place in Dahlonega and is getting its world-premiere right down the road in Atlanta. Eventually, we have plans to take this show all of the world, so knowing it built itself in my home state means eventually we’ll be bringing a little slice of my home everywhere we go.
Co-writers Jacob Ryan Smith and Caroline Pernick, build a gorgeous world, right here in Georgia: equal parts grounded in reality and leaning into the theatricality of musical theatre. (Did we mention there’s a whole show-girl-glittery-Vegas-style number? Yeah, and it fits into the show PERFECTLY!)
Co-artistic director at the Alliance Theatre & director of the show, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, says,
Atlanta is a city of extraordinary creative invention—a place where artists take risks, collide forms, and make work that doesn’t necessarily look or sound like anything that came before it. That makes it exactly the right place for Like Father to premiere. This is a daring, wildly theatrical new musical, with a bold contemporary score and a provocative idea at its center, conceived and co-written by an Atlantan artist and developed right here at the Alliance.
Okay, I’v’e gotta check this out! Details, please!
When: October 8th – November 15th, 2026
Where: The Alliance Theatre | Hertz Stage
‘Like Father’ has a run time of about 140 minutes, with an intermission.
The show is recommended for audiences ages 13+. You can see a more detailed content warning on the Alliance’s website, here.
Go ahead and snag your tickets on the Alliance’s website, Atlanta. This one’s definitely going to sell out!
And you can learn more about ‘Like Father’, meet the cast and crew, and even get a sneak peak into the music on the musical’s website, here.
Don’t miss out on this stunning World Premiere, right here in the ATL. Check out ‘Like Father’, and tell ’em Secret Atlanta sent ya!