Since the age of three, Casey Likes, a native of Chandler, Arizona, has been performing, and it shows; he’s completely at home on the stage, fully at ease with an audience, and expressly grateful to be doing what he loves. And then there’s his amazing talent. After winning the ASU Gammage High School Musical Theatre Award for Best Lead Male at the age of seventeen, he was voted a finalist in the 2019 Jimmy Awards, held in NYC, and went on to star in three back-to-back Broadway and Off-Broadway musicals: as William Miller in Almost Famous; as Marty McFly in Back to the Future; and currently as J.D. in Heathers. Now 23, the critically acclaimed, award-winning actor, singer, writer, director, and producer of both the stage and screen is employing McFly’s time-traveling ability to revisit and to reflect on his life and career through personal stories, the songs he listened to, and the people who influenced him, in his new cabaret concert Casey Likes: Back to the Past, playing this week at 54 Below.
Likes kicked off the show with a lively rendition of Elton John’s “Honky Cat” while moving through the packed house, carrying a vintage “white noise machine” that he turned into a car (a witty reference to Back to the Future), and interacting with his fans, before taking the stage. He then began his between-songs direct-address anecdotes about his background and how he got to where he is, sharing memories from his childhood, his encouraging mother (also in show biz) and grandmother, noting the key years of his development (he was born in 2001, so all from the 2000s), and the set list of fifteen songs and medleys he selected (not all from the 2000s) for their significance to him.
Backed by a four-piece band (Jakob Renhardt on guitar, Tina Lama on bass, Shannon Ford on drums, and music director and arranger Ted Arthur on piano), the eminently likeable Likes continued with an expressive performance of “Rocket Man,” noting that Elton John was one of his mom’s favorites, so he heard her listening to his songs from an early age. He then recalled a vacation to Disneyland in 2005, where he first heard “So Close” from the movie Enchanted, and again brought all the right emotion to the song, enhanced with family photos projected on screens at the sides of the stage. But that wasn’t the only significant number from a Disney film. In a special video appearance, Roger Bart – Likes’ co-star in Back to the Future, who also provided the vocals of the young titular character in the animated Hercules of 1997 – joined him in a harmonious duet on “Go the Distance,” preceded by a warm conversation about the realization of his being the voice Likes most wanted to sound like, which he attributed to providing the inspiration for this current musical memoir.
Likes was later joined by another friend and co-star, Drew Gehling (for one performance only, on August 27), who appeared with him in Almost Famous, for a funny conversation about an on-stage incident precipitated by Gehling during that show and a rapid-fire, high-energy, rocking duet on “The Greatest Prize” (“the fastest song ever,” Gehling joked) from 17 Again. And Likes also invited a volunteer from the audience to join him on stage for the “Rob Rap” segment of the Jonas Brothers’ hit “Burnin’ Up,” which she did with obvious delight and commendable skill.
Interspersed between Likes’ top-notch solos, ranging from Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive,” Bruno Mars’ “Talking to the Moon,” the sweet “Banana Pancakes” from the Curious George movie, and Adam Levine’s “Harder to Breathe,” at times accompanying himself on guitar, were his open and animated reminiscences of the years and situations that explained his choice of songs. They included everything from feeling unknown in middle school and entering a talent show to get attention in 2016, performing in a sophomore assembly in 2018, his growing desire to be in a rock band, and his supportive grandmother informing him about an open call to audition for the TV competition series The Voice, which he did, with a call-back performance of “Where I Belong” that captured how he felt and changed his life, even though it didn’t make it onto the show. When, after five years, he was finally invited to compete, he had to turn it down, since he had already been cast for his Broadway debut in Almost Famous – an unequivocal win for Casey.
Rounding out the knock-out concert were tributes to his profound appreciation of Black artists and the genre of R&B, in a medley of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” with Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” and in “Godspeed” by his favorite, Frank Ocean, with which he expressed his thankfulness for the people who got him here. Likes closed his musical journey with a blockbuster “Broadway Medley” that included Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin'” and his character’s signature song, “Freeze Your Brain,” from Heathers. Of course the enthusiastic audience demanded an encore and Likes obliged with a phenomenal “Icons Medley,” showcasing his “Likenesses” of those legendary singers, with spot-on imitations of Bob Dylan in “Like a Rolling Stone” and James Taylor in “Fire and Rain,” hilariously nailing the moves like Jagger in the Rolling Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and more, reaffirming his extraordinary acting and vocal range, and leaving the house laughing, clapping, and cheering.
Casey Likes: Back to the Past plays for two more nights, featuring special guests Christian Johannsen (a graduate of Arizona State University Music Theatre Class of 2023) on Friday, August 29, and Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Kitt on Saturday, August 30. If you can’t make it to 54 Below in person, you can watch the closing performance via livestream, so you have no reason to miss this masterful concert by a born entertainer.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes, without intermission.
Casey Likes: Back to the Past plays through Saturday, August 30, 2025, at 7 pm (doors open at 5:30), at 54 Below, 254 W 54th Street, cellar, NYC. For tickets (priced at $62.50-123, including fees, plus a $25 per person food/beverage minimum), go online. The performance on August 30 will also be livestreamed in real time (and will not be available on demand afterwards); for tickets (priced at $29, including fees), click here.
