Dream casting for DEAR EVAN HANSEN

The London production of Dear Evan Hansen will begin previews at the Noël Coward Theatre on Tuesday 29 October 2019.

The winner of six Tony awards including Best Musical, features music by composers of The Greatest Showman, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul.

A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, Dear Evan Hansen is a new musical about life and the way we live it.

Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre to great critical acclaim on 4 December 2016 where it has broken all box office records and recently celebrated its two-year anniversary.

I was lucky enough to see the Original Broadway Cast and I have started to dream up who I think would be great to play the parts in the West End productions. Here is my dream cast!

Evan Hansen – Luke Bayer
A high school senior. He is assigned by his therapist to write letters to himself about why each day will be good, which becomes the catalyst for the plot of the story. He also has never had any friends, and has had a crush on Zoe Murphy for a very long time. After Connor’s death, he begins to tell lies of his being friends with Connor to the Murphy family because they found Evan’s letter to himself folded up in Connor’s pocket; they thought Connor wrote it to Evan. The first act centers on his outreach propelled by Connor’s death, while the second act has him unleash his yearning towards the Murphys and his anger towards Heidi and Jared, who he believes have used him for validation and ignored him when they didn’t need him.

Heidi Hansen – Kerry Ellis
Evan’s mother, a nurse’s aide who attends paralegal school at night, often leaving Evan on his own as a result. She tries to connect with Evan, but struggles because she doesn’t personally understand what he goes through on a daily basis. Having been left by her ex-husband years prior to raise Evan on her own, she exhibits possessive and jealous behavior once she learns of the Murphys’ interest in securing Evan’s future. However, she comes to see her failings and Evan’s concealed sorrow as a wake-up-call not to hide from her son.

Zoe Murphy – Evelyn Hoskins
Connor’s younger sister and Evan’s longtime crush. She was never close to Connor, hated him even, but wishes she had known him better and turns to Evan after he lies and says he was friends with Connor. She is initially mad at Evan when he comes clean about the lies, but eventually forgives him.

Cynthia Murphy – Cassidy Janson
Connor and Zoe’s stay-at-home mother. She is constantly trying to keep her fragile family from falling apart, but is often unsuccessful. She did all that she could to keep the family together and make Connor happy, but with Larry’s controlling personality, it was rather difficult. The second act elaborates on her past attempts at coaxing Connor through expensive retreats, and her bitterness towards her husband’s distance.

Larry Murphy – Richard Trinder
Connor and Zoe’s busy and distant father. He chooses to do things the “right way” throughout the musical, which turns out is just the wrong thing. It only ends up hurting Connor, resulting in strain in the entire family. He seemed to also be very controlling towards his own wife, Cynthia Murphy. Larry displays fatherlike behavior towards Evan once he comes into their lives, often saying that he was better than Connor, and that Evan is “the son he never had”.

Connor Murphy – Jamie Muscato
A high school senior who is also a social outcast with no friends, like Evan. He is a frequent drug user, getting high to cope with his aggressive and violent tendencies. When he wanted to be, he was actually nice. He has a strained relationship with his sister, Zoe, who notes that Connor had threatened her life multiple times. He commits suicide early on, but his image returns in Evan’s imagination to guide him. Evan’s imaginary version of Connor is likable, contributing to Evan’s belief that they could have been friends. His death is the basis of the whole story.

Alana Beck – Eva Noblezada
Evan’s precocious and sometimes insufferable classmate. She is constantly looking for academic and extracurricular activities to boost her collegiate chances. As Alana has it, “Connor was one of my closest acquaintances”, but is greatly affected by his death and the concept of mortality, and quickly joins Evan in founding the Connor Project in order to keep Connor’s memory alive.

Jared Kleinman – Daniel Buckley
Evan’s so-called “family friend.” Although Jared presents himself as an arrogant jerk, he is actually a very insecure teenage boy underneath his facade.

So that’s my dream cast, what’s yours?!

_____________________________________________________________