Dear Evan Hansen won six Tony Awards at the 2017 ceremony, including Best Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Ben Platt. The show remains one of the most sought after productions even after the original lead stepped down. With Ben Platt giving his final performance on November 19, the role of Evan will be passed on to Taylor Trensch. Here is an introduction to the new leading actor.
Why Dear Evan Hansen became a Broadway phenomenon
While many of today’s Broadway musicals are based on bestselling books or real historical events, Dear Evan Hansen is a completely original story written specifically for the stage. Its success first grew off Broadway before making the leap to a full Broadway debut, where it quickly became a major hit. Below are some of the key reasons behind its enduring popularity.
A story that deeply resonates with teens and parents
The musical portrays how today’s internet culture and social media shape the daily lives of American teenagers, and explores themes of depression, anxiety, and isolation with remarkable sensitivity. Because of this, it has earned high praise not only from young audiences but also from parents. The cast captures the emotional weight of the question “What does it mean to feel alone?” in a way that transcends age and background.
Actors who build their roles with extraordinary depth
To portray these modern and challenging themes authentically, the actors playing the parents are performers who are parents themselves. Rachel Bay Jones, a Tony Award winner who plays Evan’s mother, and Jennifer Laura Thompson and Michael Park, who play Connor Murphy’s parents, are said to draw on their own real life experiences of love and heartbreak as they approach their roles.
The two actors known for portraying Evan with an intense, immersive style also have their own behind the scenes stories. When Hollywood actor Zac Efron, who rose to fame in High School Musical, saw Ben Platt perform as Evan, he joked, “Ben isn’t acting Evan Hansen at all. He becomes Evan Hansen eight times a week.” Taylor Trensch, the second actor to take on the role, mentioned in an interview that the darker scenes in the musical can sometimes affect him emotionally in real life. After each performance, he says he has to make his castmates laugh just to shift himself back from Evan to Taylor.
With eight performances every week and a story that reflects real issues facing people today, Dear Evan Hansen becomes part of the actors’ lives. Just as unscripted documentary programs are popular in many countries, this production feels less like a typical musical and more like a live emotional documentary unfolding in real time.
About the original lead Ben Platt
Ben Platt｜Born September 24 1993, California
His father is Marc Platt, a major Hollywood and Broadway producer who has headed three film studios and now leads his own company, Marc Platt Productions.
In Hollywood he produced the Academy Award nominated film La La Land and the Tom Hanks film Bridge of Spies. On Broadway he served as a producer for Wicked, in which his son Ben also appeared earlier in his career. He is widely recognized as a leading figure in both film and theatre.
Ben entered Columbia University in 2012, but only six weeks into his first semester he took a leave of absence after being cast in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, making his Broadway debut. He soon appeared in the musical comedy film Pitch Perfect (2012), and although not playing a lead role he was nominated for the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, voted on by teenage audiences aged thirteen to nineteen. His popularity led to his return in Pitch Perfect 2 (2015).
That same year he starred in Dear Evan Hansen during a two month run at Arena Stage in Washington DC, gaining significant attention. The show moved off Broadway in 2016 and advanced to Broadway later that year. Many praised him as “one of the most exceptional musical actors of his generation,” and he went on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical at the age of twenty three, the youngest recipient in the category’s history.
More recently he signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, the same major label that represents Bruno Mars, who swept the 2018 Grammy Awards. It was also reported that he purchased a home worth several million dollars in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Still early in his career, he continues to expand his talents in acting and music. His future remains one to watch.
About the second lead Taylor Trensch
Taylor Trensch｜Born May 3 1989, Florida
Four years older than Ben Platt, Taylor is now twenty eight. He stepped into the world of theatre at the age of five. When his parents showed him a newspaper article about auditions for The Wizard of Oz at a local theatre, he begged them to let him try. After being cast as one of the Munchkins, he told his parents that very night, “This is what I am going to do for the rest of my life.”
He later studied acting at Howard W Blake School of the Arts in Tampa, Florida, where his talent quickly blossomed. While in high school he received the Best Performer Award from the Florida Theatre Conference. In 2007 he entered Elon University’s musical theatre program and during his second year was cast in the national tour of the musical Spring Awakening, marking his professional debut.
In January 2012 he joined the Broadway cast of Wicked for a three month run as Boq, making his Broadway debut. That same year he took on his first leading role in the off Broadway musical Bare.
He continued to work steadily in musical theatre, and in the 2015 Tony Award winning play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, which received five awards including Best Play, he served as the alternate for the lead role.
How Taylor Trensch came to lead Dear Evan Hansen
Among his stage credits he is especially known for playing Barnaby Tucker in the Broadway revival of Hello Dolly. The opportunity to audition for Dear Evan Hansen came when several cast members from the musical attended a performance of Hello Dolly and encouraged him to try out for the role. He auditioned soon afterward and won the part.
On the final performance of Hello Dolly he said he felt sad to say goodbye to the show, but was also relieved that he could now focus entirely on Dear Evan Hansen rather than juggling multiple productions.
Taylor is openly gay and occasionally shares photos with his partner on social media.
Critical response to Taylor Trensch
As the successor to a celebrated original lead, Taylor has received strong reviews from major media outlets. The New York Times wrote, “Everything is the same, yet everything is different. It is a newly balanced Dear Evan Hansen.”
Tim Teeman, senior editor at The Daily Beast, commented that Taylor’s Evan appears more nervous and fragile than Ben’s portrayal, and that he felt genuine concern during scenes where Evan is pushed or overwhelmed. Torre Roma of NY1 noted that although Taylor himself is a star, he brings a uniquely delicate and neurotic quality to the character through movement and vocal choices.
Audience reactions have also been extremely positive. Joining a cast that already included many performers from the Tony winning original production, Taylor delivers his own distinct interpretation of Evan, earning widespread praise. With a new lead offering a different immersive performance style, this updated Dear Evan Hansen is well worth seeing. It remains a consistently sold out hit and a must see production.
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