WASHINGTON — The title star belts out his final song. A tear streams down his face. The lights go out. The audience rises for a standing ovation. And the D.C. crowd heads home forever changed.
That’s what you can expect from “Dear Evan Hansen,” which runs through Aug. 23 at Arena Stage.
It stars two familiar faces: Ben Platt, who played Benji Applebaum in the hit movie musical “Pitch Perfect” (2012), and Laura Dreyfuss, who played Madison McCarthy in Season 6 of TV’s “Glee.”
Those singing-student roles were the perfect prep for this heartfelt look at high school suicide.
“It’s a fascinating balance between musical comedy and then also a very heart-wrenching, heartwarming drama at the same time,” Dreyfuss tells WTOP, sporting a fitting “Boy Meets World” Topanga T-shirt. “It’s an original story. It’s something no one’s ever seen or heard of before.”
Evan Hansen (Platt) is an awkward teenager whose single mother (Rachel Bay Jones) suggests he listen to his therapist and write letters to himself to cope with his coming-of-age anxiety. When one of these letters is mistakenly found in the pocket of a suicidal classmate named Connor (Mike Faist), it’s falsely interpreted as a suicide note from Connor to Evan as part of a “secret” relationship.
Enjoying the attention, Evan feeds the lie that he and Connor were best friends, thanks to the help of his actual best friend (Will Roland). He also wins the love of Connor’s hip sister Zoe (Laura Dreyfuss) and grieving parents (Michael Park and Jennifer Laura Thompson), who welcome Evan as a sort of replacement son. Meantime, an overachieving classmate (Alexis Molnar) helps him launch The Connor Project to raise money for Connor’s favorite orchard, capturing the imagination of the entire school — and social media universe. But the myth can’t remain forever, as Evan must cop to his lie.
“When there’s a loss in the world, why do people feel the need to be a part of it?” Dreyfuss asks.
The story was inspired by actual events at the high school of co-writer Benj Pasek, who saw how his classmates reacted to a student’s death. Pasek spent the past decade writing the musical with fellow Tony nominee Justin Paul (“Dogfight”) — crafting songs like “Only Us,” “Sincerely Me” and “Waving Through a Window” — before bringing on Steven Levenson (“Masters of Sex”) to write the book.
“It’s very rare for a musical to have a book that could stand alone as a play,” Dreyfuss says. “Not to mention, the music is so seamless in how it just transitions. It’s pretty gorgeous.”
Recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New Play Award, the story structure builds nicely, as Evan gets himself deeper and deeper into the lie. His motivations are entirely believable for a kid chasing things he always wanted but never had — a father figure, a mother present in the home, and the girl of his dreams. As things unravel in guilt, he fittingly breaks down in a soul-searching moment with his mom.
“He kind of represents everyone’s desire to connect and how difficult it is, especially as an adolescent,” Dreyfuss says. “In this day in age, we’re constantly on our phones. We’re constantly being bombarded with everything on the Internet. It’s really hard to have those human connections and figure out how to build those social skills in this time.”
Bringing this contemporary struggle to life is the job of acclaimed director Michael Greif, who finds clever ways to weave in social media — with lights illuminating various characters as they text and tweet — and makes symbolic use of Evan’s broken arm, boasting Connor’s name on his cast.
Before working with such an accomplished director as Greif — a three-time Tony nominee for masterpieces like “Rent” and “Next to Normal” — Dreyfuss built up her own Broadway chops as the female lead in the smash hit “Once.” She served as Cristin Milioti’s standby for six months during the Original Broadway Cast, then took over the role shortly after it dominated the 2012 Tony Awards.
“What a learning experience,” Dreyfuss says. “It was easy in the way that it was so well written and well directed. Everyone on that team was such a genius, so that made it really easy, but it was also the most difficult, challenging thing to do eight times a week.”
After “Once,” she parlayed her rising stardom into a supporting role on TV’s “Glee.”
“It was bittersweet, because we all knew that this was the last season. … Such a whirlwind. I was actually doing the workshop of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ while I was screen-testing for (“Glee”), so I had to fly on a red-eye back to do the presentation of ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ and do the screen test in L.A.”
In fact, it was during one of her many cross-country flights that she first saw her co-star Platt in “Pitch Perfect,” belting out songs on the small, turbulent screen of her in-flight movie.
Rest assured, Dreyfuss — you aren’t the only one with red eyes. The Arena Stage audience is bound to have them after shedding tears during “Evan Hansen.” After all, the crowd is mirroring Platt, who powers through a performance of facial ticks, fidgety hands and teary eyes set to a booming voice.
“The message is pretty beautiful. It teaches everyone that the more true you are to yourself, the better,” Dreyfuss says. “Anyone who’s in a family, anyone who understands what it’s like to be in high school, anyone who understands what it’s like to have a kid. … It’s a pretty universal theme.”
‘Dear Evan Hansen’ plays at Arena Stage through Aug. 23. Some adult language. Click here for ticket information. Listen to the full interview below (NOTE: Interview was conducted prior to the show’s opening):
