Acclaimed stage veteran Lisa Brescia is returning to Broadway. The actress will join the company of the Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen on August 7 as Heidi Hansen, succeeding Tony winner Rachel Bay Jones, who plays her final performance at the Music Box Theatre on August 5. The role will mark the Brescia's return to Broadway after more than a decade.



Brescia has been seen on Broadway in Mamma Mia!, Wicked, The Times They Are A-Changin’, Aida and The Woman in White. She is currently on the acting faculty at Missouri State University’s acclaimed Department of Theater and Dance.



“When I first saw Dear Evan Hansen, I remember thinking: ‘This is the kind of storytelling that excites me...the writing, direction, design and the honest, rich performances...this is as good as it gets!” Brescia said. “After I received the offer to join the Broadway company, and Missouri State gave me their blessing to take some time away, we loaded up a truck and now here we are! Of course, I’ll miss my students, but knowing how they feel about Dear Evan Hansen, I suspect they’ll be as thrilled as I am.”



The current Dear Evan Hansen cast also includes Taylor Trensch, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Michael Park, Phoenix Best, Sky Lakota-Lynch, Alex Boniello and Olivia Puckett. As previously announced, Mallory Bechtel will take over for Puckett in the role of Zoe Murphy beginning on July 31.



The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen features a Tony-winning book by Steven Levenson, a Tony-winning score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and direction by four-time Tony nominee Michael Greif.