Dear Evan Hansen is set to be one of the biggest musicals this year. What’s perhaps even more impressive is the fact that this isn’t a touring production, but a brand new, original adaptation that local company Pangdemonium has obtained the rights to do, scouring the region for the best talent to play the highly coveted roles in one of the most popular smash-hit musicals of the last decade.

Pangdemonium has a fine track record of adapting musicals, from Jonathan Larson’s Rent to Sondheim’s Into The Woods. So if it was going to be one theatre company that was going to take on Dear Evan Hansen, it would have to be them. Having done extensive auditions since May 2023, their final cast is nothing short of magnificent, fitting the roles to a T for an Asian production, and certainly, set for success. And beyond Evan Hansen himself (played by newcomer Angelo Martinez), careful casting has gone into the other major family of this musical – the Murphys.

Starring as Murphy patriarch Larry is Filipino star Gian Magdangal, while local actress Ethel Yap stars as his wife, Cynthia. Their children are played by Gaby Rae (Zoe Murphy) and Xander Pang (Connor Murphy), and together, they have forged a believable onstage family dynamic, not just with each other but the rest of the cast too.

“I was in disbelief when I got the call. I was in rehearsals for another production and excused myself to take it, and when they told me I got the part, I stood there in silence for a while,” says Gaby. “Mostly because when I was in the audition room, I felt quite intimidated by everyone else there and who I was up against, some of whom had a lot more experience than I did or that I initially thought ‘looked’ the part more. I was initially so scared of matching this version of Zoe people had in their head, but when we finally got down to rehearsals, I met the rest of the Murphys, and we developed our own family dynamic that changed the way I saw Zoe and made her my own.”

“Theatre has always been my first love, starting out in high school and keeping that passion burning. While I haven’t been doing it full-time, and didn’t go to drama school, there’s been a lot of exploration and whenever I get the opportunity to perform in a musical, I cherish it because of the collaborative process and how it has that immediate ability to move audiences,” says Gian, who hails from the Philippines, and got his big break as a contestant on Philippine Idol back in 2006. “Sean Ghazi in Malaysia actually referred Pangdemonium to me when they were casting, and I submitted a video for my audition. Fast forward to learning they had chosen me, and it was an unbelievable feeling – I do feel the pressure but also so overwhelmed by gratitude for this opportunity. I know it’s a huge responsibility, but I’m going to be giving it my all working with Tracie (Pang, the director) and doing my very best.”

“Having just graduated, I’m very fortunate to be able to do theatre while considering my next step in life, in the ‘real world’. Back in Cambridge, I was still very much enamoured with theatre, and it’s so different getting the chance to do so many student-run productions independently,” says Xander. “Writing, directing, and producing theatre there felt like a necessity for me alongside my actual degree, and I had so many opportunities to try out all these different aspects of theatre.”

“More than that, for a long time, I wasn’t sure if I was cut out to be a musical theatre performer. I was quite insecure because my voice didn’t sound like the classical, Broadway-trained musical theatre types. But as time passed, I realised that musical theatre has become much more inclusive, with a wider variation in vocal styles. That shift made me realise that whether I was “good enough” wasn’t up to me—it was up to the casting directors,” he continues. “The opportunity to perform in various shows at university helped me build confidence, from productions of Rent to Tick, Tick… Boom!, and Spring Awakening. By the time I graduated, I was primarily known for musical theatre, and that made me want to audition for Dear Evan Hansen.”

Xander is of course, a huge fan of the musical, and had already burnt the soundtrack into his mind from having listened to it countless times. “When we first did the read-through, I won’t lie—I felt a huge amount of pressure. These are songs I’ve been singing in the shower for years, but walking into that rehearsal room was terrifying,” he says. “However, I think it’s important to strike a balance between staying true to the original while also bringing something new to the character. Connor is such an iconic role, and I want to honour that while blending with what everyone else is doing. My character’s importance in the show is all about how he relates to everyone else, and that’s what I focus on.”

Pangdemonium is the first company to receive non-replica rights for the production, and thus, has somewhat more creative liberty to modify characterisation, leading to the actors workshopping their portrayal much more intensely than simply copying it off the Broadway/West End versions. “Zoe is a bit of a wallflower, and as a younger daughter, she always feels like she missed out on her parents’ attention, because she never gets that special one-on-one time with them,” says Gaby. “I know – I’m a younger sibling myself, and there’s almost this inherent competitive aspect where I try to be like my sister, idolising and even copying her. So with Connor gone, it’s also about finding out who she is, while also grappling with teenage angst and taking a lot of that out on her mother.”

“For me I love doing research for characters, which forms the bedrock of any performance. My research is still ongoing, and I’ve been reading articles of mums who lost their children to mental issues,” says Ethel, who also played the Baker’s Wife in Pangdemonium’s production of Into The Woods last year. “And as a mother myself, I know how much pressure there is to feel responsible for everything that happens to your child. Gian is also a father, and his kid is a teen while mine is four. It’s scary to think of my own son’s future – everything is light and beautiful right now, but you really don’t know if things will change due to environment or emotional issues or whatever he encounters. Maybe he won’t be this bright beautiful child in future, and thinking about it breaks my heart, and I map that to my own performance, and helps me get into the headspace to play Cynthia.”

“As a parent, your greatest legacy is what your kid becomes and the choices they make. I pull a lot from that in my portrayal of Larry, and think about how I behave and feel for my own kid – it hits so close to home, thinking about how I talk to my son about the things I love and the quality time we spend together, and just, to be Larry, to lose your kid, that would be so imaginably painful and leave you completely lost,” says Gian.

“The role of Connor is interesting because he takes on so many forms throughout the show. My character’s arc is so intertwined with Evan’s, which means I get to play around with those relationships in different ways throughout the show,” says Xander. “And interestingly, Angelo, who plays Evan, is someone I’ve known for 10 years. He’s a childhood friend, and I’ve always admired his voice—it’s the most beautiful voice in the world. But I’ve never seen him act before, and now watching him in rehearsals, I’m just in awe, I guess it’s ironic that I’m playing Connor opposite Evan, given our friendship, but I hope that interesting chemistry translates well to the stage.”

“We’ve done a lot of character research and discussions with the director about my backstory too; in Connor, I see a lot of qualities that make me wonder what my life would have been like if my early childhood had been different. There’s an impulsivity to him that resonates with me—my parents always said I was a “spirited” child,” adds Xander. “How that spiritedness channels throughout life is something I identify with. Connor’s relationship with his family shapes so much of who he is, and watching how that plays out is both sad and complex.”

The work hasn’t been easy, but the cast has found a fantastic chemistry with each other, navigating the different scenes and dynamics that accompany each one. “It’s important to bring the audience into the world the moment the curtain comes up,” says Ethel. “And in the opening scene, well, I cherish that so much because it’s the only one I get to spend with Xander onstage, the last time Cynthia sees Connor alive. And we’ve really all been able to bond so well together – on day 1 of rehearsals, you could already see Gaby and Gian doing TikToks together even!”

“Everyone is so connected to each other, and we’re building all these layers on top of that. No unhappy family was always unhappy, and we have to understand the process where things happen along the way, and figure out how they fell apart,” says Gaby. “Even thinking about the timespan of the show – everything happens in about four months, and there’s a lot of trauma and response to trauma we have to understand. And what the show does so well is address the complexity of that – how they’re angry when they find out the truth, yet realise that there was also the opportunity to heal.”

“As painful as death is, it can sometimes act as a way to reunite families too, because it forces them to face some hard truths and ask difficult questions, and figure out the way forward together as a family,” says Gian. “The Murphys come together and latch onto hope, however small it is, and use it as a jumping point, and try to see the good even amidst the pain, and planting a seed anew.”

“Everyone in this show has been affected by one another, and Connor especially is central to the whole story. The little time I spend on stage has to convey why it happens and why it’s so significant, and if the audience doesn’t understand why his death occurs or why it affects people so much, the show doesn’t make sense,” says Xander. “So there’s pressure to fully realise the character in a short amount of time. And when you see how he remains such a strong presence even when he’s gone, you realise how interconnected everything is. And for the actors, even if we don’t share scenes together, we’re all on the same page in terms of what we want to convey to the audience.”

“There’s this inherent want to connect with one another, and something people don’t often give the Murphys credit for is how generous and forgiving they are at the end of the day, trying to help each other build their lives up again and maintain their family structure,” says Ethel. “They’re not villains, but there’s a realism in how their flaws are presented, how they miscommunicate and are on different wavelengths at times that makes them so human, so much that the audience still wants to see them reconcile. And when they finally align and find each other by the end, against the loss and the lies, there’s something so satisfying about that.”

On what performing in Dear Evan Hansen means to them, the cast is a little nervous, but mostly filled with excitement and gratitude. “It hasn’t quite hit me emotionally yet how big this machine is, and I’m just a cog in it. I think it’ll really hit me once we get our first audience, and for now, I’m just enjoying the very precious time we have during rehearsals, and making magic with these amazing people in a small room,” says Ethel. “We’re managing it day by day, and most of all, I’m just focused on doing justice at representing this group of parents who have lost children to suicide as authentically as possible.”

“We can’t control how people think or react to the show – at the end of the day, Tracie chose us and put her trust in us to make this show a reality. So we too have to trust the process, and whether there’s two, or two thousand people in the audience, we have to do justice to it,” says Gian.

“Everyone should have expectations, and fans especially will go in with an ‘ideal’ version of the show. But you can’t expect what you see on Broadway or West End – because the nature of theatre dictates that every cast, and in fact, every night is different,” says Gaby. “My energy goes into putting out the work I want it to be, and allowing people to take it all in in that moment of live theatre. And this applies to all the work I do, whether teaching or choreographing, it’s just so fulfilling in me to see something I put so much effort into come to life, and I’m glad I get to fulfil this goal I’ve had for a while of starring in a Pangdemonium musical.”

“Being three years out from solely focusing on theatre has been difficult. Even with opportunities to do other things, I still want to keep pursuing theatre. That tells me how much I love it—just as much as I did the first time I watched a show. There’s no other way I’d want to spend my day,” says Xander. “When we did our first table read, it fell exactly on my birthday. And it reminded me how much I want this to be part of my life—the joy of working even on my birthday, doing something I love, all working as a unified group to capture that feeling and bring this play to life.”

And on the show’s relevance and relatability to Singaporeans, beyond it being well, a damn good show, the cast also expresses their wish that people walk away from it reflecting more on the world we live in and our relationships with those around us. “I’m really grateful there’s even a show like this to begin with in a world where we’re constantly on our phones, yet so much disconnection,” says Gian. “This show reminds us how important it is to maintain that connection, and how we relate to each other.”

“I’m hopeful that it leaves impact it could have, both on younger audience members, and for those who are parents wondering how they can connect with their children,” says Ethel. “In a few years, my own child will be a teenager, and to me, this show is a reminder to stay close to your loved ones, because you never know what someone else is going through, so approach them with kindness, maintain curiosity to find out how they’re doing and stay connected, and give them grace.”

“It’s a show that makes me realise how a lot of people around me are going through so much. People don’t want to interact with others who remind them of trauma, but they also begin to spiral and try overcompensating for the past and making up for it,” says Gaby. “This is a show with real emotions, it deals with trauma, and I think audience members should be ready with tissues, and regardless of your age, you can relate to this.”

“Teen mental health is one of the biggest issues in Singapore, and it’s still very difficult to talk about, specifically here. We’re developing and getting better at addressing it, but we also tend to avoid it. But pretending it doesn’t happen is just silly; mental health issues are inevitable, and it’s not about “fixing” them, but about being able to have more open discussions,” says Xander. “Some things are beyond our control, but at least, representing mental health in the media helps normalises it—just like how we talk about any kind of illness. Being able to discuss mental illness openly on stage and screen is what’s really valuable for young people, I think, which is why Dear Evan Hansen is so important.”

“I’ll always remember first hearing “Waving Through a Window” and seeing Ben Platt’s performance—the music and lyrics just struck me. The lyrics are what make Dear Evan Hansen stand out. It’s so relevant to young people because it tackles the challenges they face in such a modern way. Teenagers are going through so many things – and the show reflects those challenges in a way that feels authentic and up-to-date,” Xander concludes. “And most of all, I have complete confidence in the production. Right now, rehearsals are going so well, and I know I might be biased, but you know that Pangdemonium always kills it, and the same will happen for Dear Evan Hansen.“

Photo Credits: Pangdemonium

Dear Evan Hansen plays from 11th October 2024 at Victoria Theatre. Tickets available here