Out teen relishes understudy role in ‘Dear Evan Hansen’
‘Dear Evan Hansen’Through September 25The Kennedy Center2700 F St., N.W.$79.00 – $199.00Kennedy-center.org Throughout the pandemic, understudies have emerged as heroes of the stage.
Always there, always ready at a moment’s notice, they cover roles when principal actors are sent home with a positive COVID test.
Without them, the show doesn’t go on. Nineteen-year-old out actor Pierce Wheeler is one such hero. Since joining the national tour of “Dear Evan Hansen” two months ago, he’s been called on to understudy four times for Evan and twice for supporting character Jared Kleinman. “I played Evan my debut week in Boise, Idaho.
The rehearsal process was quick. It happened and I was proud of it,” he says. And now through Sept. 25, Wheeler will be waiting in the wings of the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in case he’s needed again.
