Page 12 - Demo

12 Phonebox Magazine | January 2025International stage sensation Dear Evan Hansen comes to Milton Keynes for the fi rst time this month. And it%u2019s also the fi rst time in the UK that the show is being performed with an ensemble, as Tom Johnston discovers.THANK EVAN FOR TIKTOK!Meet Evan: an anxious high school kid who wants nothing more than to fi t in. The thing is, on his way to fi tting in, he didn%u2019t tell the whole truth. And now must give up on a life he never dreamed he would have. It%u2019s a tough subject dealing with sensitive topics, but its stars think it has been handled beautifully.Ryan Kopel (Newsies) will play the iconic role of Evan Hansen, alongside Lauren Conroy (Into the Woods) as Zoe Murphy and Alice Fearn (Wicked) as Evan%u2019s mum, Heidi.And the big names keep coming: there%u2019s Helen Anker (Mamma Mia!) as Cynthia Murphy, Richard Hurst (The Lion King) as Larry Murphy, along with Sonny Monaghan %u2013 who was discovered on TikTok social media %u2013 as alternate Evan.The casting team collaborated with TikTok during the audition process, inviting users who were interested in being cast in the show to upload a video of themselves singing any number from it. More than 2000 videos were submitted and of those, 36 TikTok users were invited to in-person auditions. Sonny was cast in the ensemble, and as alternate Evan, performing twice a week at every matinee, as a result of the TikTok collaboration.With musical theatre credits that also includes The Book of Mormon, Ryan Kopel landed the coveted role after a three month audition process. %u201cMy agent asked me if I%u2019d be interested in Dear Evan Hansen at the start of the year,%u201d he explains. %u201cI said yes, and then did fi ve auditions, the last one being in March. A couple of days later, while on the Underground going home, my agent called to say I%u2019d got the part. %u201cI was so excited I had to get off the Tube to scream a little bit. Then I realised I was miles away from my stop and would have to walk the rest of the way. That was even more tortuous as I couldn%u2019t wait to see my family and partner%u2019s faces when I told them.%u201dSonny%u2019s way into the show was completely diff erent, and very modern and %u2018now%u2019 as far as traditional theatre goes. %u201cI saw a post asking people to submit a video of themselves singing a number from Dear Evan Hansen through TikTok,%u201d says Sonny. %u201cI sang Words Fail. Maybe three weeks later I got an email inviting me to an in-person audition. Three rounds of auditions later, Monaghan received his good news and, as it was Dear Evan Hansen that fi rst got him into musical theatre while at secondary school, he says receiving the news was %u2018a dream come true%u2019. Sonny is a self-confessed fan of the show, and fi rst saw the musical during a family holiday to New York. He loved it so much he went to see the original West End production when it opened in the UK.But for Ryan it was again a diff erent story. The actor from Kirriemuir, in Scotland, never saw the original production.%u201cBut Dear Evan Hansen was such a huge cultural phenomenon when it fi rst came out that I knew all about it without ever really knowing the story,%u201d he says. %u201cReading the script during the audition process was very helpful because as much as Ben Platt, the original Evan, was iconic in the role, it was nice to be able to form my own take on Evan. The writing is so good that I really can just trust my instinct to bring what I feel to the character. %u201cUsually when you do a musical that has been done before, there%u2019s a set way of doing everything; %u2018This is how you say this line,%u2019 and %u2018This is where you stand on the stage for this moment%u2019. We%u2019ve had none of that. We have complete freedom to take the script and create something new.%u201dThe production has partnered with The Mix, the UK%u2019s leading digital charity for under 25-year-olds. As the show deals with sensitive topics relevant to young people, this partnership will ensure that anyone aff ected by the issues explored in the show knows where to fi nd support. The Mix will provide training to the cast and creative team on how to appropriately respond to queries from the public, both online and offl ine, and equip them with the knowledge to direct individuals to the right support channels. Dear Evan Hansen is at Milton Keynes Theatre from Tuesday 28th January to Saturday 1st February.