Dear Evan Hansen
Dear Evan Hansen is an original musical written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, with book by Steven Levenson. The musical had its world premiere at Arena Stage in July 2015.
Background and development
Dear Evan Hansen is a recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award. The musical has its origins in an incident that took place during Pasek's high school years. The musical "takes the notion of a teenager, ... Evan Hansen, who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn."
Productions
Dear Evan Hansen premiered at Washington, DC's Arena Stage, running from July 10 to August 23, 2015. The musical was directed by Michael Greif with orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire. The cast featured Ben Platt in the title role, a high school senior with social anxiety disorder who finds himself amid the turmoil that follows a classmate's suicide.
Other in the Arena Stage production, in order of appearance:
Rachel Bay Jones as Evan's mother, Heidi
Jennifer Laura Thompson as Connor's mother, Cynthia