Gaten Matarazzo Joining Broadway’s DEAR EVAN HANSEN

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 8:43am

STRANGER THINGS Star Gaten Matarazzo Sets Broadway Return In DEAR EVEN HANSEN

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:19am

I actually think this could sell a lot of tickets.

[willep]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:24am

That’s fun casting!

[Danielle0314]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:25am

Good for him!! My mom and I saw him in the Les Miz revival back in the day, was great then and I'm sure he'll be great now :)

[joshdog2014]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:27am

Any mention of Dear Evan Hansen on the “close by end of summer” thread can be removed now! (Although I know people didn’t actually expect it to.) This is such an obvious stunt/star cast, I’ve seen it mentioned a bunch, so it’s great they were able to pull it off. Any word on how long he’ll be with the show for? I don’t see an end date, which I would’ve expected an announced limited run for him? Also sad to see Jared Goldsmith go, he’s my favorite replacement in any show I’ve seen. Completely stole the show

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:31am

joshdog2014 said: "Any mention of Dear Evan Hansen on the “close by end of summer” thread can be removed now! (Although I know people didn’t actually expect it to.) This is such an obvious stunt/star cast, I’ve seen it mentioned a bunch, so it’s great they were able to pull it off. Any word on how long he’ll be with the show for? I don’t see an end date, which I would’ve expected an announced limited run for him? Also sad to see Jared Goldsmith go, he’s my favorite replacement in any show I’ve seen. Completely stole the show"

Totally agree!! I saw the show a few months ago and he was fantastic! But I’m excited for this casting too 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:33am

But why as Jared? I guess he maybe doesn't have the vocal stamina/chops for Evan? I saw him as Gavroche back in the day - and he was friction' adorable, the best Gavroche I've seen - but it wasn't any indication of his vocal ability, nor what his vocal ability might be now that he's older. 

It's great casting, and I love to see him returning to Broadway, but I worry that it would be sort of distracting unless they have an even bigger star as Evan. Jared is not supposed to be the focus of the show, by any means. Who WILL be playing Evan, btw? I haven't been keeping up with this show's replacement news until this. 

[Nolan LuPone]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:35am

This feels like a fever dream, but good for him!

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:43am

They'll definitely sellout through the summer with him.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:49am

JBroadway said: "But why as Jared? I guess he maybe doesn't have the vocal stamina/chops for Evan? I saw him as Gavroche back in the day - and he was friction' adorable, the best Gavroche I've seen - but it wasn't any indication of his vocal ability, nor what his vocal ability might be now that he's older.

It's great casting, and I love to see him returning to Broadway, but I worry that it would be sort of distracting unless they have an even bigger star as Evan. Jared is not supposed to be the focus of the show, by any means. Who WILL be playing Evan, btw? I haven't been keeping up with this show's replacement news until this."

He definitely doesn't have the vocal chops for Evan, and I applaud him and the production team for acknowledging that by casting him as Jared. Jared is also very much in line with his role in Stranger Things, being the comedic voice of reason amongst the chaos. 

I am guessing the production team might of learned after Fisher, stunt casting Evan might not be the best idea, but Jared, Zoe, and Heidi, are great roles for it. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 9:53am

JBroadway said: "I worry that it would be sort of distracting unless they have an even bigger star as Evan. Jared is not supposed to be the focus of the show, by any means. Who WILL be playing Evan, btw? I haven't been keeping up with this show's replacement news until this."

This is the peril of stunt casting and whether he is good or not the show’s calibration will be much different with him in it than anyone else who has played the part. But the truth of the matter is that the producers probably don’t care; it will give them their best grosses since reopening. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 10:09am

JBroadway said: "Who WILL be playing Evan, btw? I haven't been keeping up with this show's replacement news until this."

Zachary Noah Piser will be playing Evan through August 7th, and then Stephen Anthony steps in until Sam Primack starts his run in September.

[sorano916]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 10:22am

He sang "Michael in the Bathroom" in this charity video from last year. Definitely more of a Jared. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 10:35am

They also hid some other casting news in this announcement

“Also joining the Dear Evan Hansen cast on July 19 are Ann Sanders as Cynthia Murphy, and from the show’s North American tour, Noah Kieserman as Connor Murphy, and Ciara Alyse Harris as Alana Beck.”

Ann Sanders is easily my favorite Cynthia, so I am excited to see her back in the part.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 12:09pm

You called it, mikey2573!

This is exciting casting. 

 

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 12:35pm

Credit to Gatten for taking on this role. It’s a good part, but it’s not a big showcase, so it’s nice to see him put aside any ego and take it anyway. He’ll be good.

[mikey2573]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 4:33pm

Yes, I was hoping this would happen.  But that is only 50% of my call.

Now to make my call become 100% they need to cast Joshua Colley as Evan. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 4:37pm

Call_me_jorge said: "They also hid some other casting news in this announcement

“Also joining theDear Evan Hansencast on July 19 are Ann Sanders as Cynthia Murphy, and from the show’s North American tour, Noah Kieserman as Connor Murphy, and Ciara Alyse Harris as Alana Beck.”

Ann Sanders is easily my favorite Cynthia, so I am excited to see her back in the part."

Ann Sanders is so underrated!! She's amazing!

[RWPrincess]

Posted: 5/25/22 at 5:58pm

bdn223 said: "I am guessing the production team might of learned after Fisher, stunt casting Evan might not be the best idea, but Jared, Zoe, and Heidi, are great roles for it."

Larry too. I was thinking they could bring over Rupert Young from the West End. He just played Lord Featherington in Season 2 of Bridgerton and his brother is the showrunner of Sanditon. So that would have been 2 large fanbases to tap into.

Gaten sounds like really smart casting though. 

 

[WestEndGal]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 8:44am

Gotta love how the same kids who jumped on the social media “Dear Evan Hansen is toxic trash” bandwagon when the movie came out, have completely forgotten about that and are all of a sudden clamouring to go see this with Gaten Matarazzo! 

[darquegk]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 9:19am

WestEndGal said: "Gotta love how the same kids who jumped on the social media “Dear Evan Hansen is toxic trash” bandwagon when the movie came out, have completely forgotten about that and are all of a sudden clamouring to go see this with Gaten Matarazzo!"

I mean, stranger things have happened…

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 2:11pm

I'm pretty abreast with pop culture and I've zero clue who that guy is until I saw his face. And he's not even playing the main character, so not sure it'll be such a hot ticket, but hey, prove me wrong. 

Kind of surprised the movie came and went as it did. Not even a tiny splash of interest. 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 2:32pm

RippedMan said: "I'm pretty abreast with pop culture and I've zero clue who that guy is until I saw his face. And he's not even playing the main character, so not sure it'll be such a hot ticket, but hey, prove me wrong."

 

I agree it won't be a "hot ticket" in the way that a big star would be. But I do think it will help. Stranger Things is pretty darn popular, and the timing is fantastic with the release of season 4 (I have to think they did this on purpose on some level) - not to mention the demographic overlap between the two properties is not insignificant.

 

[ShowBro]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 2:34pm

Even with a new season of “Stranger Things” dropping this weekend, this show hasn’t been culturally relevant since it’s premiere in 2016. And I have heard zero people talking about it since 2017. I’ve also never heard of anyone going to see DEH solely based on who is playing Jared. But I guess GM is popular?? 

Updated On: 5/26/22 at 02:34 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/26/22 at 2:39pm

I guess we will see! I mean, if I saw him on a billboard, I'd assume he's Evan. But maybe the fans won't care.