Dear Evan Hansen on Tour
Continuing a national tour that kicked off in October 2018, the musical Dear Evan Hansen is proving no less enthralling a cultural phenomenon on the road as it became during its Tony-winning Broadway run. Deemed "one of the most evocative portraits of the inner turmoil of adolescence ever put on stage" by the Los Angeles Times, Dear Evan Hansen moves audiences as no other play has done in years. A seamless blend of memorable songs tied to a grippingly dramatic story, this emotionally gut-punching tale of the socially anxious title character's duplicitous transformation into a social-media hero is a rare example of a wholly original modern musical drawn from real life. Conceived by budding Broadway songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul — and based on an incident from Pasek's high school years — Dear Evan Hansen premiered at Washington's Arena Stage and had its Off Broadway debut at New York's Second Stage Theatre prior to its official Broadway opening at the Music Box Theatre in December 2016. Newcomer Ben Levi Ross, who began his professional career as the Broadway understudy for role originator (and Tony Award winner) Ben Platt, brings a different but no less moving skill set to his portrayal of the vulnerable and confused title character. Michael Greif, who won a Tony for his streamlined direction of the musical, continues to helm the production. Composers Pasek and Paul, along with book writer Steven Levenson, all earned Tonys for their efforts. (Pasek and Paul went on to win a best-picture Academy Award for their subsequent project, La La Land.) Songs from the musical — including Evan's first-act finale, "You Will Be Found," and his mother's second-act heart-tugger, "So Big/So Small" — have entered pop music's pantheon, and the original cast album won a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album in 2018. Projections of phone and computer screens designed by Peter Negrini make the show a timely reflection of technology's ambiguous grip on our attention and emotions. Not only for the young, Dear Evan Hansen has something meaningful to say to all who've ever considered themselves "on the outside always lookin' in."