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Dear Evan Hansen--Ben Platt Still Electrifies

By Joseph Cervelli

When I first saw the emotionally involving  “Dear Evan Hansen” off Broadway last season,  I knew immediately that a Broadway transfer would have to occur. And there is no doubt that the  electrifying Ben Platt who portrays the anxiety filled young man of the title would be the only choice to play it at the Music Box Theater.

For those who saw it the first go around you might not believe that Platt is even more pulverizing creating this sad, lonely, insecure young man but, let me assure you he certainly is. The boundless energy he instills in his character is so real that when you first meet him sitting on his bed anxiously fidgeting you honestly believe that you are looking into the soul of Evan. 

Evan who has no friends except for his caring single  mother beautifully played again  by  Rachel Bay Jones (and, yes, even she has grown more into the role). Coping with a job, going to night school and raising a teen is far from an easy job and dealing with a teen who is filled with emotional crosscurrents makes being a parent even more difficult. 

Brilliantly and honestly written by Steven Levenson he has realistic understanding of what it is like for outsiders who are trying to fit in a society that does not understand them. Evan was told by his therapist to write a letter to himself expressing how he is feeling. This seems to go well enough until he mistakenly leaves the letter in a school room found by another emotionally defective young man Connor Murphy (a wonderful Mike Faist.) Connor has violent outbursts and we later find out was addicted to drugs. Evan has a crush on Connor’s fragile sister Zoe (Laura Dreyfuss) who has been tormented by her older brother.

There is no need for a spoiler alert to tell that Connor soon commits suicide and when that note is found in his pocket it is believed he was the one who wrote it to Evan. To help Connor’s distraught parents (Jennifer Laura Thompson and Michael Park) deal with this he pretends that he was a great friend of Connor’s. You can tell that things are going to spin completely out of control when Evan asks his quirky friend Jared(Will Roland) to create emails supposedly between Evan and Connor so that the parents  will have a more positive feel about their late son.

Directed with superlative skill by Michael Greif (“Rent”) we begin to wonder if indeed is Evan doing this solely to help Connor’s  parents cope and visit them on a regular basis along or to ingratiate himself with Zoe and other classmates. 

In some shows  when a multitude of projections are used they can  become a cumbersome intrusion in the action, but it works perfectly here as the amusing Alana (Kristolyn Lloyd) makes sure that all the emails are on the social network along with the actual letter thought to have been written by Connor. 

Two of the most gifted young composers around Benj Pasek and Justin Paul who wrote the searing one to “Dogfight” again prove they have such an interior feel for the material that each number  here carries forth the breadth of the book both seriously and even humorously. 

Platt’s eleven o’clock number which I can only compare to Rose’s in “Gypsy” again proves to be as staggering as when  I first saw it. The scorching emotion that he imbues in Evan comes to a shattering climax in this number when he realizes the unintentional pain he has caused upon the family. Yet, Levenson has given us an uplifting and promising conclusion which never feels false or added on. 

While there is no doubt that this young actor will receive a Tony nomination, he may want to start working on his acceptance speech which is a definite possibility even this early in the season. 

Tickets are available at the Music Box Theater 239 West 45th Street or by calling 2121.239.6200.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy