Broadway World: CCM Musical Theatre alum in national tour of 'Dear Evan Hansen'
Ciara Alyse Harris plays Alana in the production, which runs in Dayton March 8-13
UC College-Conservatory of Music alum Ciara Alyse Harris (Musical Theatre, BFA ‘18) spoke with Broadway World about her role as Alana Beck in the national tour of Dear Evan Hansen. She began as the understudy for Alana and Zoe and was recently reintroduced to the stage as a leading lady in the tour, which is slated to run at the Dayton Live Schuster Center in Dayton, Ohio on March 8-13, 2022.
"I did my first audition for them the morning of my senior showcase [at CCM] where you perform songs before a group of agents so you can get representation," Harris says. "I auditioned a couple more times and did a couple more work sessions over a period of, maybe, two months. Then, in my U-Haul truck on my way to moving to New York City, I found out that I got a call-back. I got very lucky."
Dear Evan Hansen is a six-time Tony award-winning and Grammy award-winning production that recently found its way to the big screen in a motion picture starring Ben Platt in the title role, who originated it on Broadway. Harris’ character Alana is an overachieving go-getter student and former chemistry lab partner of Connor Murphy, whose suicide serves as a catalyst in the show as the characters grieve and addresses their own struggles with mental health.
"It has been a ride," Harris adds. "I am so thankful for my time as an understudy because I learned so much. I really learned how to pull it together, and no one needed to worry about me because I knew my stuff. It taught me resilience, strength, and patience. Being Alana, I learned to enjoy myself and cultivate my role. There have been many amazing people before me, and now I get the chance to do what I want to do and have ownership over the role. I'm very lucky that I came into the production with (knowledge of) both sides."
“I'm twenty-six years old, and I get to do what I love for a living, and in such an important show."
Read more about Harris in the Broadway World story and in her summer interivew with TIME magazine.
Featured image at the top: Ciara Alyse Harris on tour with Dear Evan Hansen.
Related Stories
Recent advances may speed time to endometriosis diagnosis
March 16, 2026
The average time to clinical diagnosis of endometriosis is nine years. Definitive diagnosis of the disease is difficult, and until recently, has relied on laparoscopic surgery. Now, as Medscape recently reported, novel clinical recommendations, advanced diagnostic tools and research into inflammation and immune responses, are bringing promise that women with endometriosis will find relief sooner and without surgery, according to experts, including Katie Burns, PhD, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine associate professor.
Position-specific helmets may not improve protection
March 16, 2026
Local 12 highlighted a new study by biomedical engineering researchers that looked at how well new football helmets protected players from impacts that can cause concussions.
UC biologist talks about 'pearmageddon'
March 16, 2026
WLWT talks to UC biologist and Department Head Theresa Culley about invasive, nonnative Callery pear trees that are spreading across Ohio forests after they were introduced by landscapers more than 50 years ago.