Warriors, the upcoming Lin-Manuel Miranda Broadway musical based on the 1979 film and the Sol Yurick novel, will feature a cast including, among others, Casey Likes (Back to the Future, Almost Famous), Amber Gray (The Rocky Horror Show, Hadestown) and Jasmine Cephas Jones (TV’s Lanterns), and will begin performances on March 9, 2027, at the the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
The official opening night will be April 8, 2027. The announcements were made today by the show’s producers Miranda, Thomas Kail, Luis A. Miranda, Jr. and Jeffrey Seller.
In addition to Likes, Gray and Jones, the initial casting also includes Jaci Calderon, Aneesa Folds, Julia Harriman, Sasha Hutchings, Gizel Jiménez, Kenita R. Miller, Sasha Allen and, from Apple TV’s Severance, Donald Webber Jr.
As previously announced, the musical features book, music and lyrics by Miranda and Eisa Davis, with direction by Jenny Koons and co-direction and choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler.
Based on the Paramount Pictures motion picture The Warriors, directed by Walter Hill, as well as Yurick’s 1965 novel, the production is described by producers as “a boundary-pushing adrenaline shot of a musical that tells a story of loyalty, friendship, a search for peace, strength, and survival over one tumultuous night in New York. When the Warriors, a fictitious gang from Coney Island, are framed for the shocking murder of a respected leader, Cyrus, at a summit in the Bronx, they must race to get home to Coney Island to prove their innocence and save Cyrus’ hope for peace in a perilous city.”
Likes has been cast as Luther, a gang leader who in the movie was played by David Patrick Kelly and uttered the film’s famous line, “Warriors – come out to play-ee-eh…” Gray will play Ajax (portrayed in the film by actor James Remar) and Jones will play Swan (Michael Beck in the movie).
The musical reimagines the original story by, among other things, changing the male gangs to female gangs.
“We’re having the time of our lives making Warriors,” said Miranda and Davis in a statement. “It’s a rollercoaster like the Coney Island Cyclone, with all the action of Walter Hill’s classic film. It’s a New York story to the bone, with music steeped in all the genres that were born and revolutionized here, from hip-hop to salsa to ska and metal and everything in between. It’s an edge-of-your-seat journey from Brooklyn to the Bronx and back again. It’s a dream of a more peaceful city where we all come home alive. This is the sound of something being born.”
Other cast and characters announced today are Calderon, who will play Fox; Folds (Cleon); Harriman (Mercy); Hutchings (Cowgirl, who was Cowboy in the movie); Jiménez (Rembrandt); Miller (Cochise); Allen (Cyrus); and Webber (Masai).
The production’s creative team includes scenic design by David Korins, costume design by Dede Ayite, lighting design by Natasha Katz, sound design by Jason Crystal, projection design by Hana S. Kim, fight direction by Drew Leary, music supervision by Kurt Crowley, orchestrations by Kurt Crowley, Mike Elizondo, and Scott Wasserman, and wig, hair and makeup design by Nikiya Mathis.