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Dear Evan Hansen in the West End: Watch as Billy Porter hits the red carpet and we go backstage

The eagerly anticipated musical has its West End premiere

| London | London's West End |

20 November 2019

Sam Tutty (Evan Hansen) backstage
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

The Broadway transfer of Dear Evan Hansen had its official opening last night (19 November) in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre.

Sam Tutty leads a cast including 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).

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.

BIlly Porter at the Dear Evan Hansen opening night — BIlly Porter at the *Dear Evan Hansen* opening night

WhatsOnStage's Alex Wood said of this five-star show: "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."

The show is currently booking until 2 May and has launched a new weekly digital lottery where winners will be able to purchase two tickets at £25 each.