MAY 12 • 2022 | 55

PHOTO CREDIT

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THEATER

N

ot too many high school-
ers’ moms have kvelling 
rights to their sons star-
ring on Broadway in the title role 
of Evan Hansen from Dear Evan 
Hansen. In fact, the elite group is 
exclusive to a population of two, 
both discovered at the National 
High School Musical Theatre 
Awards, or Jimmy Awards. And 
both Jewish.
First, there was Andrew Barth 
Feldman. Next, there is Sam 
Primack, who, at 18, started on 
Broadway in June 2019 as the 
understudy for all three male 
teen characters — Evan Hansen, 
Connor Murphy and Jared 
Kleinman. He then starred on the 
Dear Evan Hansen national tour as 

the Evan Hansen alternate, per-
forming the role during Saturday 
matinees and Sunday evenings. 
One week before he was set to 
perform at the Fisher Theatre,in 
front of a local fan base in March 
2020, all tours were canceled, and 
Broadway shut down. 
“The week of March 8, Sam 
had taken a scheduled time off 
from the tour to go on our family 
vacation to Costa Rica. While we 
were there, that’s when COVID 
became a reality,
” said Allyson 
Ochs Primack, who grew up in 
Farmington Hills and now lives 
in Scottsdale, Ariz., along with 
her parents, Carole and Larry 
Ochs. “By the last day of our trip, 
we found out that the tour was 

suspended for several weeks. We 
were all devastated.
”
Sam came directly home to 
Arizona from Costa Rica to wait 
for news. By August 2020, when 
it was clear that the Dear Evan 
Hansen tour would not be resum-
ing any time soon due to COVID, 
he enrolled at Arizona State 
University and completed his 
first year of college in May 2021. 
Primack started back on tour in 
December of 2021.
This was not the first time that 
Dear Evan Hansen interrupted 
Primack’s schooling.
In March 2019, with one 
semester left until high school 
graduation, Primack moved to 
New York and started his amazing 

theatrical journey. He was able to 
come back to Scottsdale for two 
days in May 2019 and graduate 
with his classmates at Chaparral 
High School. And on June 19, 
2019, he opened on Broadway.
“Getting noticed and discov-
ered at the Jimmy Awards is a 
huge stepping-stone to so many 
students who become Broadway 
stars. I was lucky, and I am grate-
ful that I got that experience. It 
truly changed my life in ways that 
I never expected,
” Primack says. 

BACK IN MICHIGAN
Primack will finally be coming to 
Michigan with Dear Evan Hansen 
at the Wharton Center in East 
Lansing, May 17-22. 

Sam Primack is on tour in the role of Evan Hansen.
Broadway-Bound

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Sam Primack stars as Evan 
Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen 
at the Wharton Center in East 
Lansing, May 17-22.

