Evan Hansen is the titular character and main protagonist of the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. A bullied 17-year-old high schooler with social anxiety and depression, who lives with his single mother Heidi Hansen after she divorced from his father Mark Hansen ten years before, he attempts to find the acceptance and love he has been lacking in his life. On his journey to be found, he discovers the consequences of risking it all for the chance to be heard.
Ben Platt as Evan Hansen in the Broadway production of Dear Evan Hansen in 2017.
Ben Platt, as he appears as Evan in the 2021 film adaptation, for which he received widespread backlash for being allowed, at age 27, to reprise his role on-screen.
Image: Jordan Fisher 2016
Image: Colton Ryan headshot
Dear Evan Hansen is a coming-of-age stage musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn".
Poster of the World Premiere production at Arena Stage, Washington, D.C. in 2015
Branding as seen on the Music Box Theatre
Branding as seen on the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto
Ben Platt and Rachel Bay Jones received praise for originating the roles of Evan Hansen and Heidi Hansen, and won the Tony Awards for Best Actor in a Musical and Best Featured Actress in a Musical respectively.
