(L-R) Sam Tutty and Rebecca McKinnis in Dear Evan Hansen at the Noël Coward Theatre, London. Picture: Matthew Murphy
The Olivier Award-winning Best New Musical Dear Evan Hansen will have its final London performance at the Noël Coward Theatre on 22 October 2022, three years after its West End premiere on 29 October 2019 and a year after its return to the West End after the Covid shutdown (26 October 2021).
The cast, who will continue to the end of the run, comprises Sam Tutty in the lead role of Evan Hansen, which won him the 2020 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, Lucy Anderson (Zoe Murphy, in her Olivier-nominated performance), Doug Colling (Connor Murphy), Iona Fraser (Alana Beck), Marcus Harman (who plays Evan Hansen at certain performances), Jack Loxton (Jared Kleinman, in his Olivier-nominated performance), Rebecca McKinnis (Heidi Hansen), Lauren Ward (Cynthia Murphy, in her Olivier-nominated performance) and Rupert Young (Larry Murphy, in his Olivier-nominated performance). Completing the company are Tricia Adele-Turner, Haydn Cox, Kristen Gaetz, Ellis Kirk, Hannah Lindsey, Samantha Mbolekwa, Mark Peachey, Hannah Qureshi, James Winter and Mitchell Zhangazha.
Through its hundreds of performances in the West End, the show leaves a lasting legacy: The West End production of Dear Evan Hansen was honoured with three Olivier Awards for Best New Musical, Best Original Score or New Orchestrations (music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, orchestration by Alex Lacamoire), and Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Sam Tutty).
In addition to the Olivier, Sam Tutty was the recipient the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer, the WhatsOnstage Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and the Stage Debut awards for Best Performer in a Musical and Best West End Debut.
Dear Evan Hansen also received four Mousetrap Awards for Best New Musical, Watch This Face (Sam Tutty), Soundtrack of My Soul, and Top Tech Design. Jack Loxton won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical and Nicole Raquel Dennis, who originated the role of Alana in London, won the British Black Theatre Award for Best Supporting Female Actor in a Musical.
Since arriving in London, Dear Evan Hansen has partnered with UK-based mental health not-for-profit organisations The Mix, YoungMinds and Shout to help raise funds and amplify their lifesaving resources. Throughout the entirety of the West End engagement, Dear Evan Hansen has sold merchandise benefiting these organisations, including exclusive items featuring artwork from UK audience members. The production has also collaborated with United for Global Mental Health’s Speak Your Mind campaign on numerous initiatives including the launch of “The Museum of Lost and Found Potential”, a 2019 pop-up installation in Covent Garden commemorating World Mental Health Day. Following the Covid shutdown, Dear Evan Hansen celebrated its return to the stage with a gifted performance honouring staff, volunteers, campaigners and mental health professionals from across the UK. In February 2020, the show welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to a special performance benefiting The Royal Foundation.
The Duke and Duchess joined a long list of distinguished guests who have experienced the award-winning musical at the Noël Coward Theatre and have visited the bespoke backstage “Blue Room” created by the production’s acclaimed scenic designer, David Korins.
The West End production of Dear Evan Hansen was the fourth production to open worldwide, following the critically acclaimed and award-winning productions on Broadway and Toronto, Canada and the record-breaking North American tour.
Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, a score by Grammy, Tony and Academy Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and direction by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif.
The show features choreography by Danny Mefford, scenic design by David Korins, projection design by Peter Nigrini, costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Nevin Steinberg and hair design by David Brian Brown. Music supervision, orchestrations and additional arrangements are by Alex Lacamoire. Ben Cohn is the associate music supervisor. UK Casting is by Jill Green Casting, vocal arrangements and additional arrangements are by Justin Paul. Judith Schoenfeld is the production supervisor.
Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway to rave reviews on 4 December 2016, where it went on to win six 2017 Tony Awards including Best Musical among many other accolades and has broken all box office records at its Broadway home, the Music Box Theatre. The show launched its First North American Tour in Denver, Colorado in October 2018 and prior to the shutdown had performed in more than 40 cities across North America playing for more than 1.5 million audience members.
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