The Singaporean production of musical “Dear Evan Hansen” has found their Evan in Filipino singer-songwriter Angelo Martinez.
Martinez, 24, has stepped into the sun, encountering remarkable firsts: his first audition, his first play and musical—for the first musical he’s known, as he revealed in an interview.
The staging began on October 11, earning praise from viewers. Martinez “shin(es) in the show’s biggest solos,” said Bakchormeeboy—a media outlet for the “arts scene”—noting his “naturally powerful sound.” The theatre critic gave the play 5 stars.
Rebekah Dorai, playing Evan’s mother Heidi Hansen, has expressed fondness and pride for her castmate
“I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this boy,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
“He is without a doubt, the most giving performer I have ever worked with,” she went on. “@nowitsangelo (Martinez) I am so proud of you; and I am so happy to share the stage with you, son. You deserve the world.”
“Dear Evan Hansen” has achieved much acclaim. It earned the Tony Award for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score, “cement(ing) its status as a cultural phenomenon,” declares Pangdemonium, the theatre company behind the production.
The Singapore shows will run until November 10 at the Victoria Theatre. Directed by Tracie Pang, it stars Mia Smith as the conscientious Alana Beck, Gaby Rae as the unattainable Zoe Murphy, brothers Xander Pang and Zachary Pang as sullen Connor Murphy and sarcastic Hansen “family friend” Jared Kleinman respectively, Ethel Yap and Gian Magdangal (also a Filipino actor) as parents Cynthia and Larry Murphy.
