Lin-Manuel Miranda and Eisa Davis have assembled the principal cast for “Warriors,” their Broadway musical adaptation of the 1979 cult film, with previews set to begin March 9 at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre.
Jasmine Cephas Jones, an original “Hamilton” cast member, plays Swan, with Amber Gray as Ajax, Aneesa Folds as Cleon, Julia Harriman as Mercy, Sasha Hutchings as Cowgirl, Gizel Jiménez as Rembrandt and Kenita R. Miller as Cochise. Jaci Calderon, Sasha Allen, Casey Likes and Donald Webber Jr. complete the group, playing Fox, Cyrus, Luther and Masai. The official opening is April 8. Further casting will follow.
The lineup leans heavily on the show’s recordings. Folds, Gray, Harriman, Hutchings, Jiménez, Jones and Miller reprise roles they sang on the 2024 concept album. Calderon replaces Phillipa Soo, while Allen, Likes and Webber take over from Lauryn Hill, Kim Dracula and Colman Domingo. The album, released Oct. 18, 2024, was executive produced by Nas and produced by Mike Elizondo.
The adaptation changes the source material. The film’s male gang becomes an all-female group that must fight its way home to Coney Island after being framed for the killing of a respected gang leader. Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel and Paramount’s 1979 film supply the story. Miranda has loved the film since he first saw it at age four. He calls it a visual guide to everything you are afraid of in New York City, a quality he and Davis have mined for musical texture, from ballroom culture to salsa.
Jenny Koons directs, and Andy Blankenbuehler, who worked with Miranda on “In the Heights” and “Hamilton,” co-directs and choreographs. Thomas Kail, Miranda, his father Luis A. Miranda Jr. and Jeffrey Seller produce.
The production positions itself as Miranda’s long-awaited return to the stage as a writer. It arrives a decade after “Hamilton” became a pop-culture sensation. The producers will offer $79 tickets through a lottery that opens Jan. 11, 2027, and the first two rows will sell for $19.79 through a separate lottery starting March 9.
