Ben Platt-Led Dear Evan Hansen Finds a New Broadway Home
(© Joan Marcus)
The Broadway production of Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, and Steven Levenson's award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen will not play the Belasco Theatre as previously announced. Instead, it will take up residence at the Music Box Theatre, beginning as scheduled on November 14. All ticket transactions will remain intact, with customers having comparable seats at the show's new home. Opening night remains December 4.
Ben Platt, who played the title role in the recent Second Stage Theatre and Arena Stage runs, will reprise his performance, alongside fellow returning cast members Laura Dreyfuss, Mike Faist, Rachel Bay Jones, Will Roland, Jennifer Laura Thompson, and Kristolyn Lloyd. Michael Park, who played the role of Larry Murphy in the Arena Stage run, will return to the show for the Broadway premiere. John Dossett took on the role at Second Stage.
With a score by Tony nominees Pasek and Paul (Dogfight, A Christmas Story), and a book by Levenson (Masters of Sex), Dear Evan Hansen is described as follows: "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 directed by three-time Tony Award nominee Michael Greif, with choreography by Danny Mefford. Scenic design is by David Korins, 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.
Dear Evan Hansen won Best Musical prizes from the Obie Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards, and Helen Hayes Awards. Ben Platt won an Obie Award for Performance, Steven Levenson won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Book of a Musical; and composers Pasek and Paul won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics.
