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.
Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is a new American musical about life and the way we live it.
“A gorgeous new musical for anyone with a beating heart!
The marvelous Ben Platt is giving a performance that’s not likely to be bettered on Broadway this season in this gorgeous heart-breaker of a musical. What’s more, the show has grown in emotional potency during its journey to the big leagues. Under the superb direction of the veteran Michael Greif, the show has been subtly refined, its brasher comedy softened, and the performances have grown in delicacy. Rarely – scratch that — never have I heard so many stifled sobs and sniffles in the theater.
For those allergic to synthetic sentiment, rest assured that the show, with a haunting score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul matched by a book of equal sensitivity by Steven Levenson, doesn’t sledgehammer home its affecting story. On the contrary, the musical finds endless nuances in the relationships among its characters, and makes room for some leavening humor, too. The musical is ideal for families looking for something more complex than the usual sugary diversions. But then it should also appeal to just about anyone who has ever felt, at some point in life, that he or she was trapped ‘on the outside looking in,’ as one lyric has it. Which is just about everybody with a beating heart.”