WASHINGTON (AP) – Growing up in the age of social media, dealing with the drama of high school and feeling like an outcast all at the same time will provide some key ingredients for a new musical being developed in Washington.
The new show, “Dear Evan Hansen,” has a powerful creative team from Broadway and a cast starring Ben Platt from “Pitch Perfect” fame. But does it have an equally strong story? That’s the question audiences at Washington’s Arena Stage will have to answer to help determine whether the project could have a life in New York City or beyond.
The show began previews Friday and has its opening on July 30. It’s set to run through Aug. 23.
The idea is years in the making. Young songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, now both 30, began thinking about the concept in college, inspired by Pasek’s remembrances of high school. Teaming up with writer Steven Levenson, they began thinking about how people now use social media to involve themselves in tragic situations.
In the story, Evan Hansen is a soft-spoken, lonely misfit who has difficulty connecting with people. His therapist tells him to branch out more, be more outgoing. He ends up writing a private letter to himself but is thrown into the center of attention when that letter is accidentally made public. Everything gets blown out of proportion online, and Evan’s letter is read by the grieving parents of another student who has killed himself – and they mistakenly believe Evan was their dead son’s best friend.