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Dear Evan Hansen is Moving to Broadway!

 

Laura Dreyfuss, left, and Ben Platt in the musical “Dear Evan Hansen.” CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

“Dear Evan Hansen,” an affecting new musical set at a high school, is making a quick transfer to Broadway this fall.

The musical, about a teenager with social anxiety whose stature is transformed when the school bully kills himself, on Sunday will end a sold-out Off Broadway run, at Second Stage, which began March 26. The show has won strong reviews and this week its creative team won an Obie (the big award for Off Broadway shows) for musical theater while its star, Ben Platt, 22, won an Obie for his performance.

The show is striking for its moral complexity as well as its musical ambition, as it explores how a ballooning lie, amplified by the connective tissue of social media, reorders familial and peer relationships in a small community responding to an unexpected tragedy. Mr. Platt, who is best known for his work in the “Pitch Perfect” films, gives a moving performance as the title character, while Rachel Bay Jones is winning plaudits for her poignant portrayal of his single mother.

“Dear Evan Hansen” features music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who previously collaborated on Broadway’s “A Christmas Story,” and a book by the playwright Steven Levenson. The show, which had a production last year at Arena Stage in Washington, is directed by Michael Greif, who is no stranger to the art of musicalizing adolescent darkness — Mr. Greif directed “Next to Normal,” as well as “Rent.”

The Broadway production of “Dear Evan Hansen” will be produced by Stacey Mindich, and is scheduled to begin performances in November at an unspecified Shubert Theater.

Dear Evan Hansen is a Hit!

Check out all of the RAVE REVIEWS:

Critics Review Dear Evan Hansen Starring Ben Platt

The new musical by Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson officially opened Off-Broadway May 1. Here’s what critics are saying.

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The Cast of Dear Evan Hansen (Matthew Murphy)

Second Stage Theatre presents the New York premiere of the musical from the Tony and Emmy-nominated songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul ( Dogfight, A Christmas Story), and book writer Steven Levenson ( Masters of Sex). Following a one-week extension announcement, the Off-Broadway engagement will now play through May 29.

Ben Platt ( Pitch Perfect, Spring Awakening) stars in the title role of a high school outsider who gets swept up in a deception that shakes two families to their cores.

Broadway producer Stacey Mindich and a host of commercial producers are attached to the show.

Reviews are now in. Check back for updates.

amNY

Entertainment Weekly

The Hollywood Reporter

The Huffington Post

NBC New York

Newsday

New York Daily News

The New York Times

Time Out New York

Vulture

Washington Post

The Wrap

Sparked by a real-life death at Pasek’s high school more than a decade ago, Dear Evan Hansen follows one student’s struggle for identity amidst the ensuing chaos. The production had its world premiere last summer at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. It is directed by Michael Grief ( Next to Normal, If/Then) and choreographed by Danny Mefford ( Fun Home).

The cast also features Laura Dreyfuss, Mike Faist, Rachel Bay Jones, Will Roland, Jennifer Laura Thompson, John Dossett, Kristolyn Lloyd, Becca Ayers,Gerard Canonico, Asa Somers and Remy Zaken.

“All his life Evan Hansen has felt invisible. To his peers, to the girl he loves, sometimes even to his own mother, describe production notes. But that was before he wrote the letter — that led to the incident — that started the lie — that ignited a movement – that inspired a community — and changed Evan’s status from the ultimate outsider into the somebody everyone wants to know. But how long can Evan keep his secret? And at what price?”

Scenic design is by David Korins with costume design by Emily Rebholz, lighting design by Japhy Weideman, sound design by Nevin Steinberg and projection design by Peter Nigrini. The musical director is Ben Cohn, and the music supervisor is Alex Lacamoire.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting 2ST.com, calling the box office at (212) 246-4422 or visiting the Tony Kiser Theatre, located at 305 West 43rd St.

Dear Evan Hansen Opens Tonight!

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From left, Ben Platt, Will Roland and Mike Faist in “Dear Evan Hansen.” CreditSara Krulwich/The New York Times

A letter that falls into the wrong hands and is misinterpreted drives the intricate plot of “Dear Evan Hansen,” a musical about unhappy teenhood and its consequences (good and bad) opening at Second Stage Theater.

The show, which I first saw and enjoyed at Arena Stage in Washington, arrives in New York with much of its original cast intact, most significantly Ben Platt, a star of the “Pitch Perfect” movies, who plays the title role with wonderful sympathy and intelligence. Evan is an awkward, friendless teenager who is encouraged by his therapist to write daily pep notes to himself. When one of these is snatched by a fellow outcast, Evan finds his life, and his status as an eternal outsider, completely upended.

The accomplished pop-rock score is by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“Dogfight,” Broadway’s “A Christmas Story”), and the book is by Steven Levenson (“The Language of Trees”). The veteran Michael Greif directs. (Opens Sunday, May 1, Second Stage Theater, 212-246-4422; 2st.com.)

Dear Evan Hansen Opens March 26th!

DEAR EVAN HANSEN

A NEW MUSICAL FOR THE OUTSIDER IN US ALL

BOOK BY
STEVEN LEVENSON

MUSIC AND LYRICS BY
BENJ PASEK & JUSTIN PAUL

CHOREOGRAPHY BY
DANNY MEFFORD

DIRECTED BY
MICHAEL GREIF

All his life Evan Hansen has felt invisible.  To his peers, to the girl he loves, sometimes even to his own mother.  But that was before he wrote the letter – that led to the incident- that started the lie – that ignited a movement – that inspired a community – and changed Evan’s status from the ultimate outsider into the somebody everyone wants to know.  But how long can Evan keep his secret?  And at what price?

Dear Evan Hansen is the original new musical making its New York premiere this spring at Second Stage Theatre, following a sold-out run in Washington, D.C., whereThe Washington Post hailed it as “entertainingly smart and radiating charm, wit and humor.” The musical unites the award-winning creators behind some of Second Stage’s most celebrated productions.  A brand new score features the talents of the Tony-nominated composing team Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (A Christmas Story,Dogfight and NBC’s “Smash”). Directed by three-time Tony nominee Michael Greif(Rent, Next to Normal, Grey Gardens) and written by Steven Levenson (Showtime’s “Masters of Sex”).

A tribute to the outsider in us all, Dear Evan Hansen is about someone you know, maybe even someone you are, but more than anything, it’s about discovering the person we all long to be – ourselves.

BEGINS MARCH 26, 2016
at the Tony Kiser Theatre: 305 West 43rd Street

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