'We can actually see the audience crying'

WHEN West End star Alice Fearn first heard the haunting score of the smash hit musical Dear Evan Hansen she was hooked.

- LIAM RUDDEN

The actor, best known for landmark roles such as Elphaba in Wicked and Captain Beverley Bass in Come From Away, recalls: "When Dear Evan Hansen started in America, it was one of those productions that released the album before the show had actually opened. That album quickly became a phenomenon over here too."

It was around that time Alice was first contacted about the possibility of playing Heidi Hansen, Evan's mother, the role she currently plays in the UK tour of the production.

Alice explains: "I actually auditioned for the role when the show was coming to London in 2019. I'd like to think I was far too young at the time as they said, 'No, no, no...' to me playing the mum. Although I didn’t get the part then, that was my introduction to Heidi and I did get to grips with the script during that audition process."

Now 40, Alice is “dipping her toes” into what she calls the start of her “mother era”, something she is enjoying immensely. "I'm known for singing big massive roles but if someone asked me to go back and do Wicked now I don’t think I would because, at 40, I don’t have the energy I had at 33.