“I was very scared to reenter the world of Dear EvanHansen,” Platt recently admitted to Entertainment Weekly about reprising the fictional high-schooler who made him famous. “It’s painful material. It’s a vulnerable place to go emotionally… but the idea of the sheer number of people that would see [the film version] was enough to assuage those fears and sell me on the idea. It was a combination of the idea of immortalizing the performance and having it to show my children and their children someday—and then also just how many young people will be able to be seen by it and hopefully moved by it.” The contemporary musical has moved legions of fans, serving as a reminder that no one is alone. “It’s pervasive—a lot of the mental health issues, a lot of the struggles that people are going through, whether it’s depression or it’s anxiety, or whether it’s clinical or sociological, since we’ve all been through this unbelievable time,” the film version’s director, Stephen Chbosky, said of Dear Evan Hansenin an interview with Vanity Fair. “I want it to do some good in the world. I want to help those people who might feel isolated, who might feel lonely or exposed.” If “You Will Be Found” at a movie theater soaking up the musical’s big-screen adaptation, then here’s everything you need to know about the big screen version of Dear Evan Hansen.
When will Dear Evan Hansen be released?
Friday, Sept. 24 is going to be a good day for Dear Evan Hansen fans…and here’s why: It’s the film’s release day!
Will Dear Evan Hansen be in theaters?
Yes, the musical is on the big screen in theaters nationwide as of Fri., Sept. 24.
Will the Dear Evan Hansen movie be available on streaming (Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, Peacock, Prime Video)?
Those wanting to watch the film will have to “step out, step out” of the house for this one. Dear Evan Hansen will be released only in theaters on Sept. 24, with no word yet on when it will be available to stream on which platforms.
Is the Dear Evan Hansen movie a musical?
Yes! Just like the original stage version, the film adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen features the music and lyrics that were composed for the Broadway production by acclaimed songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. However, not all of the numbers from the stage version have made it into the screen version; find out more about that below.
Will there be singing in the Dear Evan Hansen movie?
Of course—although Chbosky has admitted that he thinks of Dear Evan Hansen as more of a “drama with songs.” As he explained to VF, “You’re there, you’re at the dining room table, and suddenly there’s a song—but it feels seamless. It’s the reason why it works so beautifully onstage. It’s not trying to have these big numbers. It’s trying to just be very real and very emotional and very authentic to what people go through.”
Will there be a Dear Evan Hansen movie soundtrack?
The motion picture soundtrack also arrives on Friday, Sept. 24—the same day the movie debuts in theaters—and features songs performed by the cast, as well as songs reimagined by Carrie Underwood, Dan + Shay, SZA, FINNEAS, Tori Kelly, Sam Smith and Summer Walker. Underwood and Dan + Shay teamed up for a rendition of “Only Us,” while Smith and Walker recorded “You Will Be Found.” Meanwhile, Kelly sings “Waving Though a Window” on the soundtrack.
Will there be new songs in the Dear Evan Hansen movie?
In addition to songs from the original Broadway show—such as “Waving Through a Window,” “For Forever,” “Sincerely Me,” “Requiem,” “If I Could Tell Her,” “Only Us,” “Words Fail,” “So Big /So Small” and “You Will Be Found”—fans can look forward to two new songs: “Anonymous Ones” and “A Little Closer.” “The Anonymous Ones,” performed by cast member Amandla Stenberg (who plays high schooler Alana), replaces “Disappear” from the Broadway musical. “This is Alana’s ‘Evan Hansen’ moment,” vocal supervisor Ben Cohn has said. “She knows what this feels like for no one to see her, to be alone and not to have connections that she is always striving for.” Stenberg co-wrote the lyrics and music for “The Anonymous Ones” with Pasek and Paul. The latter two also wrote “A Little Closer,” which is sung by Colton Ryan. “It deals with the truth about what it’s like to deal with depression and all of the wrangling and difficult elements of being in that complicated space,” Pasek said of the song. “It’s about wanting to be optimistic, despite feeling that the world is a very heavy place where you’re trying your hardest to make your way through it.”
Which Dear Evan Hansen Broadway songs are not in the movie?
Noticeably missing from the soundtrack are “Anybody Have a Map?,” “Disappear,” “To Break in a Glove” and “Good for You.” As for why Dear Evan Hansen songs like “Anybody Have a Map?” are excluded from the film, producer Marc Platt (Ben’s father) explained, “There are certain songs on stage called ‘presentational songs,’ where the character is not singing to anyone in particular, is turning to the audience and singing.” Marc noted that for the movie “it would have felt too stage-bound and otherworldly.” Songs that did not feel authentic, honest or real were also cut. “Dear Evan Hansen is a musical about contemporary life,” Marc shared. “Unlike other musicals, it’s not a heightened world of bright colors or a period piece, it’s happening today. It’s dealing with real issues and the stakes are life and death.”
Who plays Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen?
Platt—who’s also known for playing Benji in the Pitch Perfect franchise and for his Golden Globe-nominated starring turn in the Netflix series ThePolitician—is playing the titular character, who he originated on Broadway. The Tony winner, who took his final Broadway bow in the show back in 2017, has addressed criticism he’s received for reprising the role of the high schooler in the movie. “People like to have something to say that is negative, regardless of what it is. And so if my thing is something that I can’t control at all, which is my age, then like bring it on,” Platt said on the Zach Sang Show in June 2021. “I’m glad it’s not about the performance or my voice or anything that actually matters. I think the reaction is largely from people that don’t know the context of the piece. The fact that I created the role and workshopped it for 3 years, and did all of the out-of-town productions, and originated it on Broadway, and received the accolades that I did and also not really understanding that fact that like were I not to do the movie, it probably wouldn’t get made.” “My defensive response is to wanna like go on to Twitter and be like, ‘Eff you guys, like you don’t even know that like this wouldn’t exist without me.’ And of course, that’s not true entirely and that’s not my place to say. All I have to do is let the work kind of speak for itself,” he added. “Hopefully people will realize that it’s sort of engrained in me and there wasn’t really any question on anyone actually connected to the piece or who was actually a part of the film, there was never any kind of discussion that it wouldn’t be me.” The movie’s director couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the role of Evan. “It’s his part,” Chbosky told Vanity Fair of Platt. “I felt very strongly about it. And to me it was never even a consideration.”
Who is in the Dear Evan Hansen cast?
Aside from Platt, the film also stars Oscar winner Julianne Moore as Evan’s mother Heidi Hansen. “One of the things that I love about Heidi is that she loves her son so deeply but is also willing to admit her mistakes,” Moore has said. “That allows her to say, ‘There are some things that I did wrong, and I’m sorry. But I want you to know that I am there for you. I do see you.’ These characters commit themselves to one another again and again.” Amy Adams plays Connor Murphy’s mother, Cynthia Murphy. After watching the musical in 2019, the Enchanted actress says she thought to herself, “If they ever make this into a movie, I’d love to be a part of it.” She’s also said, “I knew on film that there was an opportunity to be more intimate to Cynthia’s experience. It was about honoring the people who’d done it so beautifully on stage, but at the same time trying to find a way into her story that made it feel very intimate and raw.” Colton Ryan and Kaitlyn Dever play Adams’ onscreen children, Connor Murphy and Zoe Murphy (Evan’s crush!), respectively. In the Broadway show, Larry is the Murphy kids’ biological father, but in the movie, he is their stepfather: Larry Mora, portrayed by Danny Pino. The filmmakers wanted to “better reflect the diversity of modern family dynamics.” Another change in the movie is that Evan’s friend Jared Kleinman is now named Jared Kalwani. The character’s surname was changed to reflect actor Nik Dodani’s Indian heritage. The cast of Dear Evan Hansen also includes Stenberg as Evan’s classmate Alana Beck, “who is hiding her own struggles and dependency.” Levenson, Pasek and Paul decided to further develop the characters Alana and Connor in the movie, giving viewers deeper insight into them through new original songs. “I’m really excited for people to get a deeper look into her and maybe understand more why she and Evan had this interesting friendship,” Platt told Vanity Fair.
Is there a Dear Evan Hansen trailer?
The official trailer for the tearjerker musical, released by Universal back in May 2021, features a rendition of Dear Evan Hansen’s anthem “You Will Be Found” and shows Platt wearing Evan’s signature polo and cast once again. Watch the trailer below:
Is Dear Evan Hansen a true story?
The movie is based on the stage musical with book by Steven Levenson, and music and lyrics by the Oscar, Grammy and Tony-winning songwriting team of Pasek and Paul. The concept came from the latter two, who had similar experiences in high school. “There were many kids who passed away during the time that I was in high school, and the same thing happened in Justin’s school, as well,” Pasek told The Hollywood Reporter. Paul added, “Also, 9/11 happened when we were in high school. And Columbine happened when we were in eighth grade. We observed that many folks in our generation, who were young people at that time, felt incredibly lonely and were really desperate for connection. With the advent of social media, it has only gotten worse. But I think we were both struck with how desperate folks were to find any excuse to come together, whether over a tragedy or not. But when tragedy did strike, it became this permission-giving moment for a lot of folks to sort of justify their sadness and find each other. So we wanted to sort of explore that.” When the La La Land and Greatest Showman songwriters first met with playwright Levenson, they told him about a classmate of Pasek’s who died of a drug overdose. “It was a terrible tragedy, and in the wake of that tragedy, Benj watched as everyone in the school suddenly became—posthumously—this kid’s best friend. They didn’t really know him. Nobody had been friends with him—that was part of the problem. But, all of a sudden, everyone was glomming on to this tragedy and making it about themselves,” Levenson shared. “It had always stuck with Benj, particularly the fact that he, too, had joined that train and found himself trying to insinuate himself. He was curious about that impulse in himself. And then, as the years went by and social media exploded, that phenomenon seemed to only grow and become more present in our lives, this attaching ourselves to tragedies and making them first-person stories about ourselves. So that was the germ of the idea.”
Is Dear Evan Hansen still on Broadway?
The popular musical officially opened on Broadway in 2016. While performances were suspended due to COVID-19 last year, the award-winning musical is expected to return to Broadway on Dec. 11.
Did Dear Evan Hansen ever win a Tony?
Dear Evan Hansen swept the 2017 Tonys, taking home six awards, including Best Musical, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Platt and Best Original Score for Pasek and Paul.
Is there a Dear Evan Hansen book?
The story was turned into a book that was published in October 2018. Dear Evan Hansen: The Novel was written by Val Emmich along with show creators Levenson, Pasek and Paul.
What is the plot of Dear Evan Hansen?
If the film is anything like the musical, then you’re going to want to keep tissues handy. (And if you want to be surprised when you go see the film, then take notice that there are Dear Evan Hansen plot spoilers ahead!) Dear Evan Hansen centers around the title character, an anxious and isolated high school student who is, as he famously sings in TKTK, always “on the outside always looking in.” A letter the teen wrote to himself ends up getting taken by his loner classmate Connor Murphy, who commits suicide. The letter is found by Connor’s mother and stepfather, leading them to believe that Evan was their late son’s only friend. “To console a grieving family, Evan spins a tale of a friendship that never existed,” per the movie’s official synopsis. “What starts as an innocent lie of compassion spirals in ways Evan didn’t expect and isn’t prepared for. As he begins to be celebrated for someone he isn’t, Evan struggles to find the courage to tell the truth and be seen for who he truly is.” The film has been touted as “a story for the outsider in us all.” Platt previously told The Hollywood Reporter that he hopes the movie “opens up conversations” for young people and parents, and “allows those conversations to start flowing about mental health and understanding each other and connecting and using the time that they have while they’re in the same house to really understand each other.”
How does Dear Evan Hansen end?
While we don’t want to spoil the musical for you, Platt previously revealed to The Telegraphthat the ending has been rewritten for the film and “holds the deceitful Evan to account more than the musical did… We see this kid do all these things and tell all these lies in real time, so we need to see the redemption and the forgiveness and the repentance. Watching Evan do the work to figure out who Connor was and heal the family in a much healthier, more removed way, and see him take a breath and heal outside of the trauma he’s experienced, is really, really effective.” The actor has spoken more about the “exciting change” in the third act of the movie, telling Entertainment Weekly, “In the [stage] musical, there’s very little closure once Evan confesses to the family. He doesn’t have to repent in any real way. We get a sense that he is going to in the future, which obviously makes the musical work in the end, but we don’t get to see really what that means. I don’t want to give too much away, but there’s a whole section in the film where Evan gets to come clean in a meaningful way and go to work to try to make some good. That was the part that really got me because it was new.”
Was is Dear Evan Hansen rated?
Dear Evan Hansen is rated PG-13. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK (8255) Next, Rita Moreno talks West Side Story remake and Season 3 of Netflix’s One Day at a Time!
