The producers of the Australian premiere stage production Dear Evan Hansen have announced the production will tour nationally after its initial run in Sydney this October.
It will be coming to Melbourne as part of the tour, playing at The Playhouse Theatre at the Arts Centre From December 2024.
Dear Evan Hansen was an instant hit on Broadway for its deeply personal and profoundly contemporary take on life and the way we live it. It’s the raw, moving and inspiring story of a socially anxious highschooler who is suddenly thrust into the spotlight when he inadvertently invents an important role for himself at the centre of a local tragedy.
Called a “breathtaking knockout of a musical” by The New York Times and the winner of six Tony Awards®, including Best Book by writer Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen features music from the Grammy and Academy Award-winning geniuses Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman) and a story that journeys to the heart of the contemporary teenage condition with a tenderness and wit.
Multiple award-winning performer Verity Hunt-Ballard, who first won Australia’s hearts as the world’s favourite nanny in the original Australian production of Mary Poppins, will play Evan’s mother, Heidi Hansen; music theatre icon Natalie O’Donnell, who starred as Donna in Mamma Mia! before joining the Australian company of Come From Away will star as Cynthia Murphy; while legendary theatre star Martin Crewes plays her husband Larry Murphy.
They are joined by newcomer Georgia Laga’aia who steps into the role of Zoe Murphy, with Harry Targett as Connor Murphy. Carmel Rodrigues plays in the role of Alana Beck, and Jacob Rozario is Jared Kleinman. Rounding out the cast are Lawrence Hawkins, Jessica Kok and Ariyan Sharma.
The performer taking on the role of Evan Hansen will be announced in August.
“I’m thrilled with the cast we’ve assembled to bring a brand-new production of Dear Evan Hansen to life.” Director Dean Bryant said.
“A combination of the country’s best singing actors will join the most electric new talent we’ve got, selected from the thousands of passionate young performers we saw during the casting process. An incredible mix of heartbreaking drama and pounding rock musical, I can’t wait for the public to experience the show across Australia over the next year,” he said.
To find out when tickets go on sale for the Melbourne run, join the waitlist.
