Producer Stacey Mindich has announced Sam Tutty in the title role, along with the full West End cast for the London premiere of Dear Evan Hansen, which begins performances with an all British cast, including several West End debuts, at the Noël Coward Theatre on 29 October 2019.
Making their West End debuts are Sam Tutty as Evan Hansen, Lucy Anderson as Zoe Murphy, Doug Colling as Connor Murphy and Marcus Harman who will play Evan Hansen at certain performances. They are joined by Rebecca McKinnis as Heidi Hansen, Lauren Ward as Cynthia Murphy, Rupert Young as Larry Murphy, Jack Loxton as Jared Kleinman, Nicole Raquel Dennis as Alana Beck as well as Tricia Adele-Turner, David Breeds, Haydn Cox, Natalie Kassanga, Hannah Lindsey, Mark Peachey, Courtney Stapleton, Alex Thomas-Smith and James Winter.
Sam Tutty, who studied at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, recently made his professional stage debut in Once on This Island at the Southwark Playhouse.
“It’s been a dream of ours to bring Dear Evan Hansen across the pond, and I’m just thrilled that we’ve found the perfect cast to fulfill this dream and introduce this original musical – and it’s very real and very universal themes – to London,” Stacey Mindich said. “In fact, the entire casting process was a joy for the creative team and me, as we met so many amazingly talented actors who were already familiar with the show and its score.”
The winner of six Tony® awards including Best Musical, as well as the 2018 Grammy award for Best Musical Theatre Album, Dear Evan Hansen is directed by four-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, features a book by Tony award-winner Steven Levenson and a score by the Tony, Grammy and Academy Award-winning composers of The Greatest Showman and La La Land, 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 has won the Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards. The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at #8 – the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961. The album went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album and recently became only the third cast recording this decade to go gold. A deluxe version of the cast recording, including six bonus tracks and a pop cover from Katy Perry of ‘Waving Through a Window’ is available digitally.
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 is now in its third year of standing-room-only audiences. A record-breaking US national tour launched in October 2018 and is currently touring North America.
