Ben Ross returns to L.A. to star in "Dear Evan Hansen"

Many Samo alumni have gone on to have successful careers, both of fame and not. Last year, Ben Ross (’16) caught the eye of musical theater fans around the country, positioning him as a possible addition to Samo’s pantheon of famous alumni. On Oct. 17, 2018, Ross returned home for the six week Los Angeles run, to star in the national tour of the hit Broadway musical, “Dear Evan Hansen”.On Oct. 31, 2017, Ross made his Broadway debut, beginning his run as an understudy for three of the musical’s principle roles. Ross’ performances not only caught the attention of his fans, especially his theater family back home (including Samo’s theater director Kate Barraza), but of the production team as well. When the show was set to go on national tour, he was asked to play the title role of Evan Hansen. The will presented at The Ahmanson Theater through Nov. 25, and  will travel to 59 additional cities around the country.Ross was studying musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University when he was cast in “Dear Evan Hansen." Prior to that, he attended Samo. Members of the Samo community are very excited to have Ross back home and are extremely proud of his success, though it was foreseen.“It was a pleasant surprise, but not really a surprise,” Barraza said on hearing of Ross’s casting.A group of theater students joined Barraza on Oct. 21 to see the musical. Unfortunately, Ross was unable to perform, but students like Dyllen Andrews (’21) were very impressed by his understudy and thoroughly enjoyed the show.“I was super excited to see Ben Ross live as Evan Hansen, and though I was disappointed he was not there, his understudy Stephen Anthony was extremely impressive. The show left me with tears in my eyes and I’m so grateful for the opportunity to have seen it,” Andrews said.An involved Samo student, Ross was both a staff writer and an Arts and Entertainment editor for The Samohi. He participated in the choir and theater programs as well, performing under Barraza’s direction in multiple Samo theater productions throughout his high school career. The roles of Jack in “Into the Woods,” Pippin in “Pippin” and Karl Linder in “Clybourne Park” were all brought to life through Ross’ inspiring performances. He also participated in Public Domain, recreating a memorable scene from “Zoo Story." As a choir student, Ross left a lasting impression on director Jeffe Huls, who strongly praises his worth ethic. Huls believes that in addition to both his natural talent and consistent practice, the decisions Ross made along his path to success were key in getting him there.“It’s frequent that we have students who want to go in the [professional theater] direction. Ben is an exception because he made it happen, and made the sacrifices necessary, including some really smart choices for his career along the way - anything from the shows he chose to participate in to making sure he had lots of things on his resume. He figured out how to make it work for him and get to where he needed to be, in addition to his talent,” Huls said. “He never came unprepared. If I asked him to perform at the drop of a hat, he could do that. His life was singing and musical theater. He lived his practice routine. He wasn’t afraid to do the hard work and heavy-lifting necessary to get the job done and be successful.”Students who worked with Ross are proud of how far he has gone, and can not wait to see what he will accomplish next. Lena Winner (’18), feels very fortunate to have had the chance to work beside him.“We were in ‘Clybourne Park’ together! The way he transformed on stage was amazing to me. It was very clearly Ben, but his commitment to the character was so inspiring,” Winner said. “We all knew Ben was going to make it big. In high school, he had already started building a name for himself, but even then, the speed at which he made it is incredible. Ben is extremely resilient and we’re all proud to have had him be a part of the theatre program at Samo.”