Breaking: A New Evan Has Been Found! Jimmy Awards Winner Andrew Barth Feldman Will Replace Taylor Trensch in DEAR EVAN HANSEN

By: Nov. 12, 2018
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Dear Evan HansenA new Evan will be waving through a window in 2019!

Dear Evan Hansen producer Stacey Mindich has just announced today that Andrew Barth Feldman, the 16-year-old winner of the Best Actor Award at the 2018 National High School Musical Theatre Awards (known more commonly as the Jimmy Awards), will make his Broadway debut as 'Evan Hansen' on January 30, 2019.

Feldman - who is currently a high school junior at Lawrence Woodmere Academy in Woodmere, New York - takes over the role from Taylor Trensch, who plays his final performance on January 27, 2019 after a year in the title role. Original Broadway cast member Michael Lee Brown will continue his run as the 'Evan' alternate.

"There's nothing more exciting than discovering young talent," director Michael Greif said. "Evan is such a complex role - and one that is difficult cast. But the moment Andrew walked into the room, we knew we'd found our next Evan, and I can't wait to see what he does with the role."

"As a real-life high school student, I relate to the character of Evan Hansen immensely. And as a performer, it's obviously been a dream of mine to sing Pasek & Paul's amazing score - I'm so excited to get to make my Broadway debut in this show that means so much to me and my peers," Feldman said.



"Dear Evan Hansen was proud to sponsor the Jimmy Awards this year, where Andrew impressed us all with his performance," Mindich said. "During the show, I texted our casting director, Tara Rubin, who was a judge for the Jimmys, and Andrew was in the casting office auditioning for the role within days of winning the award. It was clear very quickly that we'd found our next Evan. We're grateful that The Jimmy Awards celebrate young artists and that they gave us a chance to discover Andrew, as well as so many other talented actors."

The current cast of Dear Evan Hansen includes Taylor Trensch, Lisa Brescia, Mallory Bechtel, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Michael Park, Alex Boniello, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Phoenix Best and Roman Banks, Michael Lee Brown, Garrett Long, Olivia Puckett, Asa Somers, Nicole Van Giesen, Diamond Essence White and Dan Macke.

The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award and Tony & Grammy Award-winning composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and direction by 4-time Tony® Award nominee Michael Greif. 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 -- and went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. A deluxe version of the cast recording, including six bonus tracks and a pop cover from Katy Perry of "Waving through a Window" was released earlier this month and is now available digitally.

Declared "One of the most remarkable shows in musical theater history" by the Washington Post's Peter Marks, Dear Evan Hansen opened at the Music Box Theatre to rave reviews on December 4, 2016, where it's broken all box office records and has struck a chord with critics and audiences alike. The first national tour is currently underway with performances scheduled across America, and international productions have been announced for Toronto (March 2019) and London (Fall 2019).

In addition to winning six Tony awards, Dear Evan Hansen has won numerous other awards, including the 2017 Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards. The show's original cast recently won a Daytime Emmy Award for "Best Musical Performance on a Daytime Talk Show" for their April 2017 performance of "You Will Be Found" on NBC's "Today Show," only the second Broadway show in history to win that category.

A special edition coffee table book authored by Levenson, Pasek and Paul, Dear Evan Hansen: through the window (Grand Central Publishing / Melcher) is now available, offering an in-depth, all-access look at the musical, including never-before-seen production photos and cast portraits, behind-the-scenes stories, and a fully annotated script by the authors.

Dear Evan Hansen features 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. Vocal arrangements and additional arrangements are by Justin Paul. Danny Mefford is the choreographer. U.S. Casting by Tara Rubin Casting/Lindsay Levine. Adrienne Campbell-Holt, Sash Bischoff and Adam Quinn are the Associate Directors. Judith Schoenfeld is the Production Supervisor.

Photo Credit: Nathan Johnson



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