After living in New York City all of my life I have seen many Broadway shows, from Aladdin and Newsies to Wicked and Kinky Boots. The music and acting serves as a perfect form of entertainment for the typical college student who wants to get away from the books for a couple of hours. If you are into the latest Broadway gossip, you need to know about Noah Galvin, the newest actor taking over Dear Evan Hansen.
Dear Evan Hansen is one of the few shows that I have yet to see, but it is on my bucket list to see in the next few years. Dear Evan Hansen is about a high school senior with a social anxiety disorder who finds himself in the middle of the chaos that follows a classmate’s death. Noah Galvin has recently been cast to play the role of Evan Hansen through the end of January, following Ben Platt’s departure from the starring role. Galvin grew up in New York City and followed in his sister’s footsteps towards becoming an actor, making his first appearance in Les Miserables when he was 10 years old. Galvin describes his early career as being “the kid in every reading of every musical that was in development” followed by making his way into the off-Broadway scene.
Galvin has rose to fame within the last couple of years as being the main lead on ABC’s “The Real O’Neals” which was based on a gay high school boy who was raised in a Irish Catholic family in Chicago. While working on “The Real O’Neals”, Galvin spoke about how important for him it was to have a show on mainstream television which tackled a topic like this, but most importantly played by a gay man who has gone through life similarly to Kenny O’Neal in the show. Galvin receives numerous tweets and messages through social media from fans all over the world thanking him for bringing to light the topic of sexuality and making it a more streamline area of discussion for both children and their parents. After the show’s two year run, he decided to make his way back to his musical theater roots. Galvin landed the role of Evan Hansen in the production of Dear Evan Hansen, when he made his debut in late November last year.
In an interview with Build Series, Galvin described the life shift that he had to undergo in order to play the part including “no dairy, no alcohol, no smoking, no nothing”, but followed by saying how it feels good to be doing those things knowing that he is doing it for an excellent job like this. Galvin not only had the acting and vocal skills that make him an outstanding Evan Hansen, but his effortless and seamless execution of the part thus far has been leaving the audience jaw dropped day in and day out.
I recently had the opportunity to see Galvin on the Build Series, which takes place in Union Square, and was able to ask him about his pre-show rituals. Galvin told me that he follows a ritual that Platt had started during his time on the show, but is also one that he has been doing throughout his career: to have a dance party before the show to Chaka Khan’s “Ain’t Nobody” followed by drinking more than the recommended dosage of throat coat.
If you have the chance to see Galvin on Broadway, he is going to be apart of the production until the end of January. You don’t want to miss it!