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Jordan Fisher in Dear Evan Hansen
Jordan Fisher in Dear Evan Hansen

Empire State Building to Celebrate Dear Evan Hansen‘s Broadway Return

No longer on the outside looking in! Producer Stacey Mindich is thrilled to announce the long-awaited Broadway return of the Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen, relaunching tomorrow, Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. at the Music Box Theatre.

Dear Evan Hansen marks the final Broadway show to make its return this year, reopening 639 days after the Broadway shutdown on March 12, 2020, and five years after its original Broadway opening in December 2016. With the return of the Broadway production, Dear Evan Hansen will once again have three productions running across the globe, with its Broadway, North American Tour, and West End companies once again playing in tandem.

“With our joyful reopening on Saturday, we’re excited to put the hiatus behind us and start a new chapter of the show, while also acknowledging the life-changing impact that both the pandemic and world events had on our beloved theater community,” Mindich said. “After living our lives via Zoom for so long, literally waving through windows during this pandemic, the themes of Dear Evan Hansen seem to resonate now more than ever and we are so excited to welcome back our audiences, IRL, to once again to experience the journey of this timeless story with us.”

To celebrate the show’s highly-anticipated return to New York City and to commemorate Dear Evan Hansen’s five-year anniversary, the iconic Empire State Building will be lit up in the show’s signature blue on Saturday night.

In a nod to the show’s themes and the extended pause of live theater, Mindich and the Broadway company are dedicating a special performance of Dear Evan Hansen on December 15th to welcome and honor mental health care workers and volunteers who have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to help ease society’s anxieties. Those in the invited audience will include team members from the show’s seven not-for-profit partners, Child Mind Institute, Crisis Text Line, The Jed Foundation, The Trevor Project, Born This Way Foundation Speak Your Mind, and The Loveland Foundation. The special performance, honoring their invaluable work during these particularly trying times, will include a post-show talkback moderated by Child Mind Institute’s Founding President and Medical Director Dr. Harold Koplewicz. Dear Evan Hansen has partnered with American Express to help make this possible.

As previously announced, the returning Broadway company of Dear Evan Hansen will include all those who were there at the time of the shutdown: Jordan Fisher, Gabrielle Carrubba, Jessica Phillips, Christiane Noll, David Jeffery, Ivan Hernandez, Jared Goldsmith, and Phoebe Koyabe, and Zachary Noah Piser, Reese Sebastian Diaz, Nathan Levy, Dan Macke, Jane Pfitsch, Talia Simone Robinson, Asa Somers, Josh Strobl, and Nicole Van Giesen, along with Linedy Genao and Mateo Lizcano, who join the company as understudies.

Dear Evan Hansen features choreography by Danny Mefford, 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. U.S. Casting by Tara Rubin Casting/Kevin Metzger-Timson. Vocal arrangements and additional arrangements are by Justin Paul. Danny Sharron is Senior Associate Director and Trey Ellet is Associate Director. Mark Myers is Associate Choreographer. Judith Schoenfeld is the Production Supervisor. General Management by 101 Productions, Ltd.

The production also welcomes new creative team members Jennifer Lord (Natural Hair Consultant), Candis C. Jones (Associate Director), Jennifer Rias (Associate Choreographer) and Dr. Kira Banks (DEI Consultant).

Also joining the Dear Evan Hansen family are four apprentices, who are launching the show’s pilot Apprenticeship Program. They are: Thomas Bertron, Miranda Cornell, Madison Moment, and Eniola Sodeke. After an extensive application and interview process, during which more than 250 applicants were seen, an advisory council created four positions in Directing, Stage Management, General/Company Management, Press and Producing. During the program, which has aligned with the show’s relaunch to give early career professionals an unprecedented look at the reopening of three companies, the paid Apprentices have been offered the opportunity to observe and contribute the mounting of the show from first rehearsal to opening night and beyond.

Learn More About Dear Evan Hansen