Anthony Norman takes the stage by storm in the lead role of Evan Hansen for the touring cast of Dear Evan Hansen. But he’s also an incredibly nice guy with a great sense of humor. In fact, Anthony and our co-host, Alan, are two peas in a pod. Heather had her hands full for sure ;)

A talented musician who plays multiple instruments, Anthony thought his career would be in Jazz and then he started getting cast in Musicals and the two roads diverged. Anthony has performed in many wonderful shows including The Prom, Newsies, Love...Reconsidered, and City of Light as well as TV shows such as Living the Dream, Chicago Med, and Mare of Easttown. He has been a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Follow Anthony on his Website, Instagram or TikTok.

Go see Dear Evan Hansen in a city near you and check out both Anthony Norman and Past WIC guest, Lili Thomas! Get tickets here.

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• More about Heather via @heather_ vickeryandco on Instagram and Threads, @Braveheather on TikTok, and listen to The Brave Files
• More about Alan via @theatre_podcast on Instagram and listen to The Theatre Podcast with Alan Seales

EPISODE TAKEAWAYS

• Anthony grew up as a musician in Chicago as the youngest of three.
• He loved being in the background watching his older siblings play music and picked up the Sax when he was in 4th grade.
• At one time he had a fantasy of going to college to play professional basketball.
• After performing in High School his uncle approached and offered some vocal lessons and things just kicked off from there.
• Anthony essentially taught himself to play multiple instruments.
• Getting booked as Jack in Into The Woods for the Illinois Theater competition is what really set things off with acting.
• He decided to lean into acting (over jazz) when his sister said “Is Jazz a passion or a hobby.” And that provided a lot of clarity.
• The audition process for Dear Evan Hansen was extremely rigorous but once cast he was really empowered to put his own touch on the character.
• Playing a high schooler but no longer being one provides a lot of insight in his role as Evan Hansen. Anthony says it’s a lot of fun.
• Touring is hard, hard work. It’s fun to explore new places but the constant travel is intense.
• Anthony says he has a great relationship with failure. Everything he has “failed” at has led to something so much better.
• Relationships are so key and important in having a creative career.
• Being in The Prom changed everything in Anthony’s life.
• Anthony honored us with his own version of STFU