Broadway’s Next Evan Hansen Will Be 16-Year-Old High School Junior

Broadway’s hit musical “Dear Evan Hansen” has announced its new title star — and it’s 16-year-old Andrew Barth Feldman, who is much closer in age to the high school nerd at the center of the Tony Award-winning show.

Feldman, a junior at Lawrence Woodmere Academy in Woodmere, New York, will take over for Taylor Trensch this January. Trensch replaced Ben Platt, who won a Tony for his performance as a high schooler who becomes an accidental social-media icon.

“As a real-life high school student, I relate to the character of Evan Hansen immensely,” said Feldman, who was cast after winning the Best Actor Award at this year’s Jimmy Awards (a.k.a. the National High School Musical Theatre Awards). “Dear Evan Hansen” was a sponsor of this year’s competition.

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“There’s nothing more exciting than discovering young talent,” director Michael Greif added in a statement. “Evan is such a complex role — and one that is difficult cast. But the moment Andrew walked into the room, we knew we’d found our next Evan, and I can’t wait to see what he does with the role.”

After opening on Broadway two years ago, “Dear Evan Hansen” became an immediate hit and won six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Score for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. original cast recording also won a Grammy Award earlier this year for Best Musical Theater Album.

Read original story Broadway’s Next Evan Hansen Will Be 16-Year-Old High School Junior At TheWrap