Casey Likes Will Lead and Direct SPRING AWAKENING in Arizona

Casey Likes will star in, direct, and co-produce SPRING AWAKENING in his home state, Arizona. The production will also starr The Notebook's Carson Stewart, Wednesday's Johnna Dias Watson, RuPaul's Drag Race's Jesse Havea (AKA Brita Filter) and more; featuring a video forward by Tony-winning writer Steven Sater. 

Fresh off his critically acclaimed run as Marty Mcfly in Back to the Future the Musical on Broadway, Likes promises a bold, new, and modern vision of the Tony-winning musical, which will run in Scottsdale from April 4 to 13. 

Casey Likes, fresh off leading two Broadway shows and MGM's Dark Harvest (2023), returns to his hometown to direct and star as "Melchior" in the 2007 Best Musical-winning, coming-of-age rock and roll hit Spring Awakening, with music and lyrics by Dunken Sheik and book and lyrics by Steven Sater. The latter, Tony winner Steven Sater, will provide a pre-show video where he talks about the original production, this production, and how the show continues to resonate among audiences.

Spring Awakening will also star Carson Stewart, fresh off his breakout Broadway run as Johnny/Fin in The Notebook as Mortiz, Johnna Dias Watson (Netflix's Wednesday and Amazon's upcoming Motorheads) as Ilse, Jesse Havea, publicly known as Brita Filter (RuPaul's Drag Race) as Hanschen, and a lineup of incredible artists from Broadway, off-Broadway, and Arizona. 

Following RENT and Next to Normal, where Likes starred opposite his mother, Stephanie Likes, Spring Awakening marks the third producing collaboration between Likes and Scottsdale Community Players. 

"He's amazing," Likes says of his friendship with Steven Sater. He plans to continue his collaboration beyond their previous viral TikToks and into future iterations of Spring Awakening. "I am looking forward to discovering how this show about being young and growing up resonates and grows and changes—and doesn't change—with our world. Now is the perfect time for everyone to revisit Spring Awakening."

Rounding out the star-studded cast are Jessie Jo Aka (Off-Broadway's An Axemas Story) as Wendla, Stephanie Likes (Broadway's Les Miserables) as the Adult Women, Christian Johannsen (Off-Broadway's El Otro Oz) as Martha, Mia Cherise Hall (Off-Broadway's Relapse) Caleb Reese as the Adult Men, Micah J. Lawrence as Ernst, Eric Liu as Georg, Breagh Watson as Anna, Josh Ransford as Otto, and a movement ensemble consisting of Caleb Reese, Evan Kaushesh, Claire Likes, Angelica Santana, Andrew Matcuk, and JP Moore. 

Spring Awakening will be music directed by Alan Plado (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical National Tour), with a live band led by Plado, choreographed by Brach Drew, and assistant directed by Maureen Dias Watson and Tatum Grell. Rounding out the creative team are set design by Casey Likes, Diana Likes, Pete Bish, and Chase Budden, lighting design by Dale Nakagawa, sound Design by Pete Bish, and consent direction by Cel Sanel.

Photo Credit: Bruce Glikas