Dear Evan Hansen delays West End reopening until 'as early as practical' in 2021
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage
The West End production of Dear Evan Hansen will aim to reopen next year, it has been confirmed.
The award-winning show, which picked up two WhatsOnStage Awards earlier this year for Best Actor in a Musical and Best Supporting Actor in a Musical, was running at the Noël Coward Theatre on St Martin's Lane when the lockdown began.
The cast is led by Sam Tutty in the titular role, alongside Rebecca McKinnis (Heidi Hansen), Lucy Anderson (Zoe Murphy), Doug Colling (Conor Murphy), Lauren Ward (Cynthia Murphy), Rupert Young (Larry Murphy), Jack Loxton (Jared Kleinman) and Nicole Raquel Dennis (Alana Beck).
David Breeds covers the roles of Evan, Connor and Jared, Alex Thomas-Smith covers the roles of Evan and Jared while Marcus Harman plays alternate Evan Hansen and cover for Connor and Jared. Haydn Cox covers Connor and Jared.
Tricia Adele-Turner and Hannah Lindsey cover Heidi and Cynthia, while Natalie Kassanga and Courtney Stapleton covers Zoe and Alana. James Winter and Mark Peachey both cover Larry.
The musical tells of a boy in high school with social anxiety who fakes a series of letters and messages from a deceased member of his class to gain popularity.
It has words and music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and is directed by Michael Greif, with choreography by Danny Mefford, with 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 Paul.
WhatsOnStage said of this five-star show when it first ran in November 2019: "Dear Evan Hansen is a desperately powerful exploration of a troubled teen sacrificing the truth for a sense of comfort – startlingly relevant for a world swaddled in screens and fleeting fictions."
In a statement sent to WhatsOnStage the producers said: "Due to the continued uncertainty around timings for a safe return for theatre productions, the producers of Dear Evan Hansen have had to make the very difficult decision to delay the recommencement of performances at the Noël Coward Theatre. Return dates for the production will be planned for as early as practical next year (2021) taking into consideration further advice and guidance from the Government including social distancing measures.
"Patrons will be contacted over the coming weeks with credit vouchers (valid until 31 December 2022) to redeem at their leisure and to use as soon as booking re-opens. Alternatively patrons are entitled to a full refund. Full details can be found at https://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/tickets/dear-evan-hansen/."
