Interview: Michael Fabisch of DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Cerritos Center For The Performing Arts

For Minnesota native Michael Fabisch, playing the title role in the second national tour of DEAR EVAN HANSEN is a dream come true. 

A Broadway newbie, the 23-year-old had only just graduated from the University of Michigan when he snagged the heady role of Evan Hansen, a teenager with social anxiety who unintentionally becomes entangled in a lie after a classmate’s suicide.

He's got big shoes to fill. Dear Evan Hansen opened on Broadway in 2016 and went on to win six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Original Score. A movie version starring Tony winner Ben Platt, who originated the role, opened in theaters in 2021. 

Fabisch took time away from his tour to discuss how he got started in theater, what it's like to take on Evan's emotional turmoil night after night—and how his biggest challenge may actually be tying his tie on stage every show. 

Hi! First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions—I’m a big fan of the show. From your cast bio, it looks like this is your first Broadway show. Is this true?  

Yes! This is my first big job. I submitted to an open call on Actors Access and got a virtual callback. After that, I had an in-person callback, which lasted about half an hour. Two days later I got a call from my agent saying I had gotten the role.

How old are you, and how did you get started in theater?

I am 23. I graduated from The University of Michigan with a BFA in Musical Theater in 2024. As for how I started in theater, I did a bit of community theater during elementary school but never really took it seriously. That changed when my sister, my dad, and I started coming to LA.or the summer to attend The Teenage Drama Workshop.

My dad had gone when he was a kid and had many fond memories. I was too young for the first few summers, but I would watch my sister do shows there, and I was mesmerized. I would watch the shows over and over and find more details to enjoy. My first musical was Beauty and the Beast, and I played LeFou.

Although my motivations and passion have changed over time, I will always love performing for people.

How did it feel when you found out you got the part? Were you a big fan of the show before auditioning?

It was absolutely euphoric to get that call. For so many reasons. I have been a fan of the show for a long time. Dear Evan Hansen means a lot to me as a person who struggles with mental health issues. I also was just graduating college and I hadn’t even made plans to move to New York yet because I had no money. So this job gave me a direction when I had kind of hit a wall.

The show has been around for almost a decade—do you feel like anything has changed in the way people view it?  Has anything about the script/staging/music changed for this tour?

I think this story has evolved over time. The more it is done, the more the creatives have realized what works and what doesn’t. That’s how the show has stayed relevant throughout the many cultural changes in the past decade.

The show works best when the audience can relate to Evan and see why he does what he does. We have done the best we can to ensure that Evan’s sense of empathy towards the Murphys is at the forefront and not selfish motivations. If we don’t see where Evan is coming from, then we don’t feel for him. He is a flawed character, but so are all of us. He is learning and making mistakes just like the rest of us.

I think the show has also shifted to be less of a one-man show into a team effort. The story is not just about Evan, it is about an incredibly gut-wrenching situation and how everyone involved handles it. Energetically, the show has shifted from a show centered around one character into a show that centers around everyone involved.

What age is the right age to come and see it? I want to bring my 13-year-old—too young?)

We say about 12 and up; however, I truly think it is up to the discretion of the parent. Every kid develops emotional maturity differently and at different times.

Do you often have teens or parents approach you after the show to thank you? What do they say to you?

All the time! Mostly, it is just a quick “Thank you,” which honestly means more to me than when someone says, "You did a great job!”

How do you do this every night? It’s such a heavy show, and Evan’s character goes through so much. How do you recover from that every night?

I find a lot of comfort in feeling the emotions that Evan feels. Often in my own life, I bottle up my emotions to make sure I’m not affecting anyone negatively. So when I get onstage, and I’m encouraged to feel unfiltered emotion, it’s blissful. It is hard work, and it does get tiring, but ultimately, it’s cathartic.

The show also ends with Evan taking a deep breath and basically telling himself everything will be okay. So I get some comfort from that as well. I don’t take that sadness offstage with me.

Let us in on one or two of the secrets from the show—is there a scene that you struggle with or a part where you like to throw in some improv? Give us something to watch for when we see it.

There’s a moment in “Disappear” where I go to Jared and silently chastise him for inserting himself into a situation. But whenever I look at Gabe, who plays Jared, in that moment sometimes I can’t help but laugh. Sometimes, we have a hard time holding it together.

Also whenever I tie my tie towards the end of Act 2, I’m struggling. I didn’t know how to tie a tie before this show and I barely know how to now. Sometimes, the length of the tie ends up perfect, but most of the time, it gets a bit twisted or is too long or too short. It’s something I have tried time and time again to fix, but I am awful with almost anything that has to do with hand motor control.

What’s next for you?

I don’t know as of now! I do not plan far in advance; my anxiety just doesn’t let me. So often, I let things come to me. It is audition season, so I have faith that something will come along. I just have to be patient and trust the universe.

If you could play any role in any show, what would it be?

This is always a hard question for me because I often don’t think about that until an audition is in front of me. I would love to be Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I would also love to play Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors again. That was a lot of fun when I did it in college.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN also features Hatty Ryan King as Zoe Murphy, Bre Cade as Heidi Hansen, Caitlin Sams as Cynthia Murphy, Alex Pharo as Connor Murphy, Jeff Brooks as Larry Murphy, Gabriel Vernon Nunag as Jared Kleinman, and Makena Jackson as Alana Beck. 

For more information on the tour, go to www.dehtour.com. Tickets are available at https://am.ticketmaster.com/cerritos/buy. 

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