Musical Theatre Alumnus Lands Leading Role

East Sussex College Musical Theatre alumnus, Sonny Monaghan, has landed the role of Alternate Evan Hansen in the West End UK Tour of Dear Evan Hansen!

This incredible opportunity came about through a unique collaboration with TikTok, where over 2000 hopefuls submitted videos of themselves singing numbers from the show.

After an intense review process, Sonny was one of the 36 invited to in-person auditions, before being offered the role of alternate Evan!

Reflecting on his audition experience, Sonny said, “Honestly, I felt like I could have done no better in the room than I did for my final round, so I was very much at peace with whatever the outcome may have been. I did celebrate in the moment, pure joy. I felt so honoured to be trusted with such an incredible role. This role and this show have been such a dream of mine and I'm just so very grateful to everyone involved with the casting process.

“Dear Evan Hansen had put out a casting call looking for people to submit videos of themselves singing a song from the show to potentially be seen in person for the upcoming tour. I immediately got to work making a self tape and about 3 weeks later I had an in person audition!”

After several rounds of auditions, Sonny received the exciting news that he would be performing across the tour. The next step was to meet the cast!

“Having already met my cast mates from our photoshoots and a social event we attended, I am so ready to get started,” said Sonny. “They are all wonderful people with immense amounts of talent, many of whom you will recognise from various west end shows and tours around the UK! It is truly thrilling to be sharing a stage with this special group of performers.”

Sonny outlined his time at East Sussex College as a pivotal period in his development.

“I joined ESC Lewes in 2019 and it gave me the foundational practical skills in all of the disciplines. It allows you to develop very quickly within those two years if you push yourself and will bring you to a standard that, if you do want to continue pursuing this career you can, whether that be through drama school or heading straight into the industry like I did.

“College also taught me various things about the industry which has been invaluable when I’ve been making decisions over the last few years.”

Sonny acknowledged the lasting impact of his college education and the impressive current standards at East Sussex College following several recent visits to student performances!

“My tutors did a great job keeping me on track throughout my time at college, I particularly would like to give praise to Laura Tompkins,” said Sonny. “The compassion and positivity she showed me through really rough patches encouraged me to come into college and do the work that meant I would pass my course. That's the sort of impact and support educators should have for their students.

“Tutors all taught me skills I will carry throughout my years in this career and I'm very grateful for the time I spent at college. I still attend performances at the college and must say the standard is getting better and better with each group that comes and goes.”

He added, “It really encourages me that we have such passionate people wanting to pursue Musical Theatre in the south east!”

If you’d like to find out more about studying Musical Theatre at East Sussex College, please click here.