Beloved veteran performer Harvey Evans, who appeared in 14 Broadway musicals, died Christmas Eve at the Actors Fund Home in Englewood, N.J. Born Harvey Hohnecker on January 7, 1941 in Cincinnati, Evans fell in love with musical theater after seeing a touring production of Song of Norway. “My entire childhood was spent waiting to graduate from high school so I could go to New York and be in a Broadway show,” he told Playbill in 2007. Immediately after high school, he made the move, guided by his friend Kenneth Urmston, who had made a similar move a few years earlier.
His first break was as a dancer in the national tour of Damn Yankees (1956), where he met Bob Fosse, which led to roles in the films Silk Stockings, The Pajama Game, and The Girl Most Likely and his Broadway debut in New Girl in Town (1957). While in that show, Evans begged Harold Prince to audition for the upcoming West Side Story. He became the first Jet replacement and stayed with the show until 1959, when he joined Redhead and then Gypsy, in which he played Tulsa. Below are Evans and Gwen Verdon in “Who’s Got the Pain?” from Damn Yankees on Ed Sullivan’s 1973 TV special.
Evans began the next decade as Mouthpiece in the Oscar-winning West Side Story (1961). In 1964, he danced on screen in Mary Poppins (1964) and on stage in the original cast of Anyone Can Whistle (1964). He then played Barnaby in the national tour of Hello, Dolly! (1965) and on Broadway (1967), before appearing in the original cast of George M! (1968). In the 1970s, he was on Broadway in The Boyfriend (1970), Follies (1971) as Young Buddy, the 1973 benefit Sondheim: A Musical Tribute, and the short-lived Sextet (1974). He also danced in TV productions of Dames at Sea (1971) and Applause (1973). Below is the “Jet Song” from West Side Story. Evans is to the left of Russ Tamblyn in the opening and the Jet in the final closeup in the ending.
Evans was back on Broadway in 1980 as standby for Jim Dale in Barnum, before going on the road in the national tours of that show (1983) and La Cage aux Folles (1987). In the 1990s, Evans danced in the out-of-town tryout of Annie Warbucks (1992) and its 1993 Off-Broadway run, before returning to the Broadway and national tours of Sunset Boulevard (1994) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1997). Below is a bootleg of Evans (as Albin) and Larry Kert in La Cage (singing “With You on My Arm” at 3:02).
His recent work includes the National Music Theater Network recording of Shine! (2001), the 2002 revival of Oklahoma!, the 2005 benefit Children and Art, the Encores! concert of 70, Girls, 70 (2006), the film Enchanted (2007), the 2009 studio cast album of Allegro, and the world premiere of Alan Menken’s Leap of Faith (2010). Below you can watch Evans in “That’s How You Know” from Enchanted (wearing the yellow jacket at 1:07).