The winner of the Grammy Award, the Olivier Award, and six Tony Awards including the very desirable, Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it. A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. A deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about growing up in a modern and connected world.
“AN INSPIRING ANTHEM RESONATING ON BROADWAY AND BEYOND.” — NBC Nightly News
“TERRIFIC. GRIPPING. HEARTFELT.” — Vogue
The socially anxious seventeen-year-old, Even Hansen is asked by his therapist to write letters to himself to remind him of the good things in his day to day. And so, Evan writes a letter to himself, wondering whether anyone would notice if he were not there, but also mentions Zoe, whom he has a crush on, and the only thing in his life that brings him happiness. But after an altercation with Connor, Zoe’s older brother, things start to spiral out of control for Evan. Connor dies in a suicide attempt and the letter is thought to be his letter to Evan, who now embarks on an elaborate lie about how he and Connor were best friends, and even must speak at his memorial and the opening of “The Conor Project.” How long can Evan keep up this charade, and surely someone will notice that Connor never even liked Evan, and what will happen between Evan and Zoe now that she finally sees him?
The coming-of-age stage musical, Dear Evan Hansen, has music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and book by Steven Levenson. The musical had its world premiere off-Broadway at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2015, where it won three Helen Hayes Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards, one Drama Desk Award winner, and two Obie Awards. The show then moved onto Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in 2016, and at the 71st Tony Awards in 2017, it was nominated for nine awards, winning six, including Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Ben Platt, Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Rachel Bay Jones, Best Musical, and Best Score. In 2018 the album of music from the show won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album as well as a Daytime Emmy Award. A West End production opened at the Noël Coward Theatre from 2019, winning three Laurence Olivier Awards from seven nominations. The musical was adapted into a young adult novel by actor and singer-songwriter Val Emmich who fleshed out and expand upon the story, in collaboration with Pasek, Paul, and Levenson. A film adaptation was co-produced by Marc Platt, the father of Ben Platt who reprised his performance in the title role. The film is directed by Stephen Chbosky and was released in September 2021.
“THE SCORE SOARS, BRINGING US ALONG WITH IT. Dear Evan Hansen, is an intimate show with a gigantic heart.” — Deadline.com
Leaving a new musical with a great song or two running through your head is a rare but exciting thing. Leaving with about 10 great songs running through your head is pretty much unheard of. But that’s the power of Dear Evan Hansen, which just opened on Broadway after a world premiere at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage and a stint at Second Stage Off-Broadway. – Melissa Rose Bernardo for Entertainment Weekly