Dear Evan Hansen West End re-òpening cast announced

Complete casting has been revealed for Dear Evan Hansen's West End return on 26th October 2021.

Sam Tutty returns to the role that won him the 2020 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He will be joined by returning cast members Lucy Anderson (Zoe Murphy), Doug Colling (Connor Murphy) and Marcus Harman (who will play Evan Hansen at certain performances), Jack Loxton (Jared Kleinman), Rebecca McKinnis (Heidi Hansen), Lauren Ward (Cynthia Murphy) and Rupert Young (Larry Murphy).

Iona Fraser (Rent) takes on the role of Alana Beck. Completing the company are Tricia Adele-Turner, Haydn Cox, Hannah Lindsey, Mark Peachey and James Winter with new cast members Ellis Kirk, Jo Kirkland, Samantha Mbolekwa, Hannah Qureshi and Mitchell Zhangazha.

 

BREAKING NEWS: Initial casting for London's Dear Evan Hansen

Breaking news from Baz in the Mail this morning is that initial casting for  Dear Evan Hansen  has finally been revealed. 

The lead role of Evan Hansen will be played by Sam Tutty, a graduate of Italia Conti Academy, who recently appeared in the BTA production of Once On This Island at Southwark . He will be joined by recent Mountview graduate Lucy Anderson as Zoe Murphy, Rebecca McKinnis (Everybody's Talking About Jamie) as Heidi, graduate Doug Colling as Conor Murphy, Lauren Ward (Matilda) as Cynthia Murphy, Rupert Young (Oklahoma!) as Larry Murphy, Jack Loxton (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time) as Jared and Nicole Raquel Dennis (Waitress) as Alana.

David Breeds (The Girls) will cover the roles of Evan, Connor and Jared, Alex Thomas-Smith (Bat Out of Hell) will cover the roles of Evan and Jared while Marcus Harman will play the alternate Evan Hansen and cover for Connor and Jared. Haydn Cox (making his West End debut) will cover Connor and Jared.
Tricia Adele-Turner (Dusty) and Hannah Lindsey (The House on Cold Hill) will cover Heidi and Cynthia, while Natalie Kassanga (Motown) and Courtney Stapleton (Six) will cover Zoe and Alana. James Winter (Jersey Boys) and Mark Peachey (A Midsummer Night's Dream) will both cover Larry.


by Lucy Anderson, a graduate of Mountview Drama Academy, as Zoe Murphy a student who becomes close to Evan,  West End actress Rebecca McKinnis who was in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, will play Heidi Hansen, Evan’s with RADA graduate, Doug Colling as Connor Murphy Zoe’s brother, His parents Cynthia and Larry Murphy will be played by Tony-nominated Lauren Ward ( Caroline, Or Change Chichester,  Hampstead and the Playhouse in London) and  Rupert  F Young (High Society at the Old Vic)with  Jack Loxton as Jared Kleinman and Nicole Racquel Dennis as Alana Beck. 

Tricia Adele-Turner will cover the Heidi and  Cynthia roles, with ⁦CourtneyStapleton covering students Zoe and  Alana. Hannah Lindsey will understudy Heidi and  Cynthia. James Winter⁩ will cover Larry Murphy.Marcus Harman has been cast as alternate Evan as well as covering  the roles of Connor and Jared. David Breeds will understudy the roles of Evan, Connor and Jared.

The hit musical  will preview at the Noel  Coward Theatre from October 29th, with the official opening night set for November 19th. It is currently booking until 4th April 2020.

Dear Evan Hansen announces London and Manchester open auditions

There are two open calls in February for auditions for the West End production of Dear Evan Hansen which opens at the Noel Coward Theatre in November2019.

Jill Green Casting has revealed auditions will take  place at London's Pineapple Dance Studios on 4th  February and Manchester Dancehouse on 18th February.

The auditions are for five roles for young actors who can play in the 17+ year old range, including the lead Evan Hansen, listed as a a high school senior; smart, sincere, and cripplingly self-conscious, who prefers to hover in the background, a supporting player in his own life, too afraid to step forward into the spotlight and risk ridicule or, what might be worse, no one noticing him at all, vocal: Pop Tenor G2-B4 (bottom G to top B). plus four other classmates Connor Murphy, Zoe Murphy, Jared Kleinman and Alana Beck

According to the call, there’s no need to sign up beforehand, but hopefuls will need to prepare 16 bars of a pop, rock or contemporary musical theatre song, bringing sheet music for the accompanist as well as a CV with an attached photo.

Click here for more detailed character breakdowns, timings and instructions.

Dear Evan Hansen to open at Noel Coward Theatre next November

The Daily Mail 's Baz Bamigboye has revealed that the Tony Award-winning  musical, Dear Evan Hansen, will make its West End debut at the Noel Coward Theatre in November 2019 with  the creative team behind the show  "more committed than ever to make sure we have a British cast."

Dear Evan Hansen is about a fictional 17-year-old high school senior who lives in an unnamed American town with his divorced mother. He has a social anxiety disorder that is exacerbated when he is caught up in another family’s tragedy after their teenage son commits suicide. In America the musical  has provided  a platform  for discussion about youth suicide and premature storytelling by people with  mental illness.

The show has a score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who also wrote the lyrics for the film La La Land and the Hugh Jackman movie The Greatest Showman.

Broadway producer Stacey Mindich had already  announced that the lead for the London transfer will be a British actor. Casting is set to begin in early 2019.

Official dates and ticketing information will be released at a later date.

Producers of Dear Evan Hansen want British actor to play lead for West End production

According to the Daily Mail, the producers of the Broadway hit musical Dear Evan Hansen plan to  cast a British actor as part of plans to transfer the show to the West End, with producer Stacey Mindich saying  that the lead of a UK production of Dear Evan Hansen "has to be played by a British actor", and that they would also use colour-blind casting. Adding: We’re at an exploratory phase for London. I want audiences to feel as close to Evan as possible.”

Dear Evan Hansen has taken Broadway by storm since opening at the Music Box Theatre in 2016,  picking up six Tony Awards including Best Original Score for song-writing duo Pasek and Paul, Best Book of a Musical for Steven Levenson, and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Ben Platt.

The musical is about a teenage boy who suffers from social anxiety disorder, making it difficult for him to talk to and connect with other people. When one of his classmates dies, he develops a story that brings him closer to the grieving family, but also helps him to develop.

It has a score by Pasek and Paul, the award-winning song-writing team behind blockbuster film La La Land and The Greatest Showman, and a musical adaptation of James and the Giant Peach and the Tony-nominated A Christmas Story: The Musical.

Details of the planned West End transfer are still to be announced.