Like Father, is a cc
thriller about Chris, the teenage daughter of a serial killer. After her father’s arrest, she is forced to navigate moving in with a mother she's never known, a true-crime podcast about her father going viral, and her fear that she may not be as different from him as she’d hoped. Like father, like daughter... right?
LIKE FATHER, explores themes of found vs biological family, recovery from trauma, and America’s addiction to true-crime.
coming-of-age psychological thriller
Like Father, is a
coming-of-age psychological thriller about Chris, the teenage daughter of a serial killer. After her father’s arrest, she is forced to navigate moving in with a mother she's never known, a true-crime podcast about her father going viral, and her fear that she may not be as different from him as she’d hoped. Like father, like daughter... right?
LIKE FATHER, explores themes of found vs biological family, recovery from trauma, and America’s addiction to true-crime.
Good
Bloody
Different
Body
The Demos
Take A Listen To
A Production History
WorkShopPing
WorkShopPing
Stage Three
In June of 2024, Howard Alter of Happy Recap Productions, Allie Kench, and Madison Thompson presented workshop presentations of LIKE FATHER, at Playwrights Horizons. Emilio Ramos (PARADE, Encores!: THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, Upcoming: SEE WHAT I WANNA SEE) directed and Alejandro Senior (SOME LIKE IT HOT, QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, DEATH BECOMES HER) music directed a cast that featured Desi Oakley (WAITRESS, West End and first national tour), Nasia Thomas (SIX), Nathaniel Stampley (THE COLOR PURPLE, LEMPICKA, PORGY & BESS), Ben Davis (NEW YORK, NEW YORK, VIOLET, LES MISERABLES), Juliette Redden (ANNE OF GREEN GABLES at Goodspeed Opera House, LES MISERABLES Nat'l Tour), and Ishmael Gonzalez.
Reading
Reading
Stage Two
In July of 2023, the team had the first ever industry reading of LIKE FATHER, directed by Megumi Nakamura (MARY JANE) and music directed by Jason Debord (ONCE). The cast featured Ari Notartomaso (GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES), Javier Muñoz (HAMILTON), Donna Vivino (HELL’S KITCHEN), Ben Davis (NEW YORK, NEW YORK) and more. The showing was a huge success and taught the team a ton about what the show needed. It resulted in enough interest to support a full two-week developmental workshop the following year.
Writing
Writing
Stage One
In the pandemic, true-crime became everyone’s obsession. “Tiger King,” “My Favorite Murder,” “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile” (starring Zac Efron) and more dominated charts and gave everybody something to talk about. Including Jacob Ryan Smith, who started religiously listening to true-crime podcasts. But why was hearing about death and decay so addictive? That question led Jacob down a rabbit hole of imagining what life was like for those actually affected by the cases. He shared this idea with Caroline Pernick and they immediately starting storyboarding. And thus, the world of LIKE FATHER, was born. Even in its infancy, LIKE FATHER, was already winning awards. The show was the inaugural winner of the Open Jar’s Broadway Shark Tank and became a semi-finalist for the Eugene O’Neill New Musical Theater Conference.
A Look Inside
Press preview
Watch our
Interested?”
“Are You
A Word from the Writers:
LIKE FATHER, is a story about generational trauma and how we live in the legacy of our parents’ actions. Pushed to a dark extreme, the show strives to have the audience ask themselves, “Who am I despite who my parents are?” The use of true-crime as a foundation also allows the piece to question the ethics of America’s obsession with the commercialization of trauma. Who are we to find entertainment in the real horrors of people’s lives, and how can they rise above the celebrity of their misfortunes to find peace?
We hope audiences find both excitement and self reflection in the lives of the Thompson family, and that their dark entanglements manage to reflect the small familial troubles we all face.
A Word From the Writers:
LIKE FATHER, is a story about generational trauma and how we live in the legacy of our parents’ actions. Pushed to a dark extreme, the show strives to have the audience ask themselves, “Who am I despite who my parents are?” The use of true-crime as a foundation also allows the piece to question the ethics of America’s obsession with the commercialization of trauma. Who are we to find entertainment in the real horrors of people’s lives, and how can they rise above the celebrity of their misfortunes to find peace?
We hope audiences find both excitement and self reflection in the lives of the Thompson family, and that their dark entanglements manage to reflect the small familial troubles we all face.
Want to
Join The Family?
Reach out with any interest, ideas, or proposals you may have. We are always looking to bring people in to help make LIKE FATHER, everything we hope it can be.