Pop-Culturalist.com

If you watched the final season of FOX’s hit show Glee, there’s a huge chance you fell in love with Madison McCarthy. With a face as cute as a button and a voice that sent chills down your spine, how could you not? Laura Dreyfuss, the actress behind the quirky McKinley High newcomer is our Woman Crush Wednesday for a couple of reasons – she’s an absolute sweetheart, she radiates sunshine and she’s hilarious! Laura is currently gracing the stage as Zoe Murphy in Second Stage Theatre’s Dear Evan Hansen and we couldn’t be more smitten with her.

The 27 year old television and stage actress made her Broadway debut as Sheila in Hair  in 2011 after being involved with the US touring production. The following year she received positive acclaim for her portrayal of Girl in the Broadway production of Once. Laura then proceeded to originate the role of Zoe Murphy in Pasek and Paul‘s Dear Evan Hansen opposite Ben Platt. The show premiered at Arena Stage (Washington, D.C.) in July 2015 and made its Off-Broadway debut in March. New York is oh so lucky to have Laura back!

Evan Hansen is not the only person lucky enough to fall in love with Zoe Murphy 8 times a week – fans enthusiastically wait at the stage door every night, hoping for the chance to shower Laura with love and appreciation. But who can blame them? She effortlessly moves the audience with her honest portrayal of a teenage girl who longs for love and the truth. Her voice is nothing short of remarkable and audiences are left in awe as she performs the songs “Only Us” and “Requiem”.

When she’s not tugging on heart strings at the Tony Kiser Theatre, you can find Laura on Twitter being just as relatable as Zoe Murphy. She constantly tweets about spreading love and positivity, which provides a nice break from the damaging content we often see on social media platforms. We can’t help but wish she was our BFF because she’s just so darn witty and lovable.

Dear Evan Hansen is currently still in previews (the show opens May 1st) but it has already been met with favorable reviews so it would be a surprise to no one if it transferred to Broadway. We wish nothing more for Laura – she deserves as much love as she aims to spread to others. Whether she’s performing on stage or behind a camera, she makes a lasting impression on the audience. There’s no doubt that she will continue to grow as an actress in countless other projects in the future.

Although there’s no cast recording for Dear Evan Hansen (yet), you can purchase Laura’s Glee covers on iTunes. Check out her rendition of “Chandelier” by Sia.

You can also buy tickets to see Laura in Dear Evan Hansen here but hurry! The show closes on May 22nd.

Laura’s social media:

Twitter

Instagram

Photo Credit: Matt Murphy