Ben Platt on Dear Evan Hansen and How He Is Able to Sing Through Tears

Sep 21 2021

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With director Stephen Chbosky’s (The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Wonder) Dear Evan Hansen arriving in theaters on September 24th, I recently got to speak with Ben Platt about bringing the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical to movie screens. If you’re not familiar with Dear Evan Hansen, the high school-set film is written for the screen by the show’s Tony-winning writer Steven Levenson, with music and lyrics by the show’s Oscar, Grammy, and Tony-winning songwriting team of Benj Pasek & Justin Paul. The story is about a high school outsider who gains friendship and fame by falsely claiming that he had a tight bond with one of his deceased classmates. The film and play is a powerful look at isolation, social anxiety, and grief and shines a light on the importance of talking about mental health. Dear Evan Hansen also stars Kaitlyn Deaver, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Amandla Stenberg, Danny Pino, Colton Ryan, and Nik Dodani.