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@DearEvanHansenBroadway performancesbegin in Nov!MAY 2016MAY 2016SMITHSONIAN INDUCTIONNOVEMBER 28, 2018LONDON ANNOUNCEMENT@DearEvanHansen#DearEvanHansen’s FirstNational Tour officiallylaunches tonight at@DenverCenter. #DEHtour@SmithsonianMagArtifacts from@DearEvanHansencome to the collections of@amhistorymuseum.TORONTO OPENING NIGHT@Mirvish#BlueHatNight hasbecome our favorite firstperformance tradition—Toronto, we loved paintingthe town blue with you forour International Debut.#DearEvanHansen#DEHTorontoMARCH 5, 2019OPENING NIGHT OFF-BROADWAY@DearEvanHansenCongratulations to the entire#DearEvanHansen at @2stnycfamily! Now it’s time to celebrate!bensplattWe did @dearevanhansenfor 300 high school kidsand it was THRILLINGY’ALL.@LacketyLacLondooooooon!We’re coming to ya!#DearEvanHansen willhave its first-ever Londonproduction at the NoëlCoward Theatre in 2019.OCTOBER 2018NATIONAL TOUR LAUNCHSEPTEMBER 25, 2018GRAMMY AWARDJANUARY 2018@RecordingAcad–Congrats Best MusicalTheater Album – @DearEvanHansen #GRAMMYsMAY 2016MARCH 2016MARCH 20, 2016@pasekandpaulThe one and only@LacketyLacCRUSHING theorchestrations for#dearevanhansenat today’ssitzprobe!!!@DearEvanHansen“This is the dream.This is what I’ve beendreaming about mywhole life.”@pasekandpaul#FirstRehearsalOCTOBER 2016@pasekandpaulNew songs are brewing at#dearevanhansen rehearsals@2STNYC w/@rachelbayjones and@JLTsayswhat! #whoisevanhansen7

IN CONVERSATION WITH STEVEN LEVENSONSteven Levenson is acelebrated playwright, and a2017 Tony Award winner forwriting the book forDear Evan Hansen.ON THE ROLE OF A BOOKWRITERIn the case of the musical,as a book writer, your job ina lot of cases is to supportthe score and to make sureSteven Levensonthe most important momentsemotionally are happening insong. So, it’s a lot of figuring out when to step out of the way, andto make sure that you’ve laid the ground enough — and not toomuch — so that those characters can make the leap into song.ON CREATING A NEW MUSICALIn a way, there’s a great freedom about [creating an originalwork]. We are not beholden to any preexisting vision, but with thatfreedom comes a lot of anxiety — because we can do anythingwe want. That can be both freeing and terrifying. [As told to TheWashington Times]ON COLLABORATING WITH BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAULI think the role of the book writer can be very different things. Inthis case, since there was no source material, it was really thethree of us coming up with this idea together. We started withthis idea of “connection” — people’s desire and thirst and needfor connection. My instinct was to create a story about someonewho could not connect in a world that is all about connection andinterconnectedness. What does it mean to have a protagonistwho is somehow unable to connect? So slowly, Evan began totake shape.It seemed like the best idea was for me to just write the storylike it was a play, because we didn’t have anything else to goon. So I started writing the first act. Where we had talked aboutpossibly placing songs, I would leave space in the script. Iwould either have nothing or I would have a long monologue— a soliloquy, really — with a character diving into his thoughtsto suggest what was happening emotionally. That’s how it allstarted, with this first draft.From there, Benj and Justin started writing songs, but there was alot of back and forth and rewriting. It was an endless dialogue —two steps forward and one step back — because you are buildingthis thing together. It’s a little bit chicken and the egg. You haveto be constantly making it and remaking it to accommodate oneanother — always in service to the story.ON WRITING PLAYS VERSUS MUSICALSIt’s so different in so many ways. The big obvious difference is thatit’s collaborative from the start — and that your vision is not the onlyvision. It’s about finding a shared vision with your collaborators. You8want to be a little bit hidden in the background at times — you wantthe music to be the star and the music to do the heavy lifting. So it’sa lot of cutting the things you love the most, and allowing the ideasthat you have or the dialogue that you’ve written to become a song.It’s actually really amazing, though, because it feels like somethingthat you just had in your head becomes three dimensional in a waythat you could never imagine.ON SOCIAL MEDIA AS A CHARACTER IN THE SHOWWe knew we wanted to tell a contemporary story that’s set today,and we knew that we had to somehow talk about social media. Icompare it to Bye Bye Birdie, when they’re using the telephonesin “The Telephone Hour.” It’s like they’re not using the telephonesto talk about telephones, they’re using them because that’s howtheir world functions. And if we tried to tell our story today withoutcell phones and social media, there would be a real inauthenticityabout the show. And at the same time we wanted to be sure we’reusing social media as a storytelling device and we were neverinterested in exploring social media as a theme or as an idea. Wealways wanted to make sure it was grounded in the story and partof the grammar of the show. [As told to Broadway Direct]ON CREATING TWO VERY DIFFERENT FAMILIES FORDEAR EVAN HANSENBoth families really came into focus as the story itself took shape.Larry and Cynthia Murphy, we knew, had to represent everythingthat Evan’s own splintered family wasn’t, his fantasy of what twostable and emotionally available parents might look like. As withall fantasies, Evan’s rose-colored vision of the Murphys turns outto have a tenuous relationship to the reality underneath, but thatdiscovery will only come later for him. In contrast to this ostensiblyperfect family, Evan’s mother, Heidi Hansen, strives to be what herson needs her to be, but everything she does seems only to pushhim further away. The most important thing for us, in creating thesecharacters, was to present them honestly and without judgment:three parents striving in their own flawed and imperfect way to dowhat’s best for their children.Original Source Material:DiLella, Frank. “Dear Evan Hansen: A Contemporary Musical for All Ages.”BroadwayDirect.com, November 1, 2016.Leslie, Emily. “Levenson’s Dear Evan Hansen Opens at Arena Stage.” TheWashington Times, July 7, 2015.STEVEN LEVENSON (Book) Author of The UnavoidableDisappearance of Tom Durnin (Roundabout Theatre Company,Outer Critics Circle Award), Core Values (Ars Nova, DramaDesk nomination), Seven Minutes in Heaven (Colt Coeur), TheLanguage of Trees (Roundabout), and the book for Dear EvanHansen (Second Stage; Obie, Outer Critics Circle Awards for BestMusical and Best Book of a Musical; Arena Stage, Helen HayesAward). His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service andPlayscripts. A graduate of Brown University and former artist inresidence at Ars Nova, he is a founding member of Colt Coeurand an alumnus of MCC’s Playwrights Coalition.

COMPOSING WITH PASEK & PAULBenj Pasek and Justin PaulThis Oscar, Tony, andGrammy Award-winningpair have workedtogether as a dynamicmusical duo sincetheir college days- apartnership that hastaken them to Broadway,Hollywood, and beyond.You might have alsoheard their work in filmprojects such as La LaLand and The GreatestShowman. Here, the twotalk about how theircollaboration began andhow they brought theiroriginal musical to life.BP: My mom created a bunch of kids’ albums where shewould document whatever we were doing growing up and shewould turn those moments into songs. She had a children’smusic group in our local area of Philadelphia. So I grew up justwitnessing my mom, who’s a psychologist — not a professionalmusician — turning life moments into song. That’s essentiallywhat we do every day, when we try to create theater. Watchingher interpret things that were happening in the world, or in myworld as a kid, and setting them to music — I think that reallysparked an interest in writing and creating and interpreting lifemoments into song lyrics. [As told to Metro Weekly]Here, the two talk about how their collaboration began andhow they brought their original musical to life.How did you become a composing team?BP: We both went to the University of Michigan for musicaltheater. We went there to be actors. For a lot of people wholove the theater, when you’re young, acting is your way in. Buthalfway through school we realized maybe we’re not cut outto be performers. After many failed attempts to get goodroles in our school shows, we saw the writing on the wall andthought, “Why don’t we write our own show, and see what wecan make of that?” [As told to Metro Weekly]JP: We just started doing it for fun. We were freshmen in collegewhen we began tinkering. It was fun to develop songs thinkingfrom characters’ perspectives. We decided to string some of thesesongs together and make a song cycle our sophomore year.People were receptive. I think before we even knew what washappening we had begun a collaboration. [As told to Metro Weekly]What role did music play in your childhood?JP: I grew up in a pretty musical household. Neither of myparents are professional musicians, but they’re very, verymusical. My dad and my mom would sit down and play thepiano. I grew up playing a lot of music in church, and singingwith my parents. I started taking piano lessons when I was 7.So they were always very encouraging and they knew that Ihad a love for it and a knack for it. [As told to Metro Weekly]In addition to being a performer, I always wanted to be in thepit orchestra, playing piano or percussion. I always saw myselfbeing involved on the musical side of things in musical theater.I just figured it would be interpreting and teaching and workingout other people’s music. I hadn’t really planned on it being myown music. [As told to Metro Weekly]Ben Ross as Evan Hansen, Aaron Lazar as Larry Murphy,Christiane Noll as Cynthia Murphy, and Maggie McKenna asZoe Murphy. (First National Tour)Facebook and YouTube were instrumental in circulatingyour early music. Can you elaborate on the role theInternet played in launching your career?JP: For us, in terms of songwriting, having our stuff outonline was a huge way to be able to connect with people, andmusical theater fans all over the country and all over the world,in a way that couldn’t have happened 20 years ago. Peopleknew our songs and knew our music before we ever had ashow in New York City.BP: In terms of our careers, I think we were in the rightplace at the right time, and started writing songs at the righttime. We were in college in 2005 and that was a year afterFacebook began. And the year that YouTube began. And Ithink that really changed the way that people had access tonew material.BP: Before that, shows needed to exist in New York — youneeded at least an Off-Off-Broadway production to spreadthe word. What was so revolutionary about Facebook andYouTube was this democratization of who could have accessto putting stuff online, and being able to see it right away. So,you could be in Iowa or Singapore and you could see your9

COMPOSING WITH PASEK & PAULcontent immediately without having to go to New York. And aswriters, we didn’t have to go through any traditional means ofgetting it out there [through agents or producers] — we just putit online. [As told to TCG]Tell us a bit about how the idea for Dear Evan Hansenoriginated. I understand that it was born out of your ownhigh school experience.BP: There was a student who was sort of anonymous. Hedied of a drug overdose, and it was sort of unclear whether itwas intentional or not. After he passed away the student bodybecame very, very close to him. Everybody sort of claimedhim as their best friend after he died, and began to writetheir college essays about him, and began to talk about howamazing he was and how important he was in their lives. [Astold to Metro Weekly]When Justin and I met in college, and we began to writemusicals, this moment from my high school days continued tobe fascinating. We talked about exploring it in a musical. Sincethen, we’ve brought up a lot of other themes that we wanted totalk about — there’s sort of a need to connect, the need to bepart of a community, the need to be a part of something largerthan yourself, especially in the digital, isolated age that wenow find ourselves in. We began to explore how we could takethose themes and turn them into a musical. And that’s when theamazing Steven Levenson came into the picture and helped usto churn our ideas into an actual plot. [As told to Metro Weekly]JP: We noticed certain things about our culture somethings that were fascinating about the modern responseto tragedy and loss. We became very interested in theworld’s response to loss. And how people grieve and alsocommunicate in the era of social media.JP: It made us think about our desire to connect, and ourdesire to be a part of something larger than ourselves. Despiteour great connectedness through Facebook and Twitter and allof these social media platforms, despite being as connectedas we’ve ever been as a society BP: We’re more isolated than ever. All of us, teenagers andadults alike.JP: And so we wanted to use that as the backdrop of ourstory, but we’re telling it through the specific story of a family.This family is looking for that kind of connection, and in losingsomeone they love, they try to fill that void.Can you talk a bit about the character of Evan Hansen? Heis a risky, unusual protagonist.JP: It’s definitely an unusual one in that he’s riddled withissues and anxieties, and with lots of self-esteem issuesand a lot of other things. But I think that’s what makes himvery accessible and identifiable and relatable. Hopefully10everyone can go and see the show and see a little bit of Evanin themselves, and feel like they can connect with him, or atleast connect with the situations that he finds himself in — hedoesn’t know the right thing to say to people, or how to fit intoa conversation, or how to be himself and not try to create orembellish a story about himselfthat is better than what he thinksWatch Benj Pasekhis real life is. It’s a different sortand Justin Paul’sof character and maybe not yourTEDxBroadway discussingtypical musical theater leading man,art, artists, and the age ofbut that’s definitely what we wereYouTube composers, fromhoping to write — a contemporaryApril 20, 2015.and relevant and accessiblecharacter. [As told to Metro Weekly]BP: Traditionally, in Musical Theater 101, you learn to try to writea protagonist who people like and root for on their journey. InDear Evan Hansen, we have a protagonist who does things thatare really morally questionable. It’s our jobs as writers to try to getthe audience to identify with him and to support why he does whathe does. We wanted to try to a create character who was morecomplex — and more nuanced — than maybe more traditionalmusical theater characters. We’ll let critics and audiences be thejudge of whether or not we have succeeded or failed. [As told toMetro Weekly]Original Source Material:Rule, Doug. “Perfectly Composed: Pasek and Paul are the future of theAmerican musical.” MetroWeekly.com, August 13, 2015.Evans, Suzy. “You Tubesicals: The Internet Is Reinventing How MusicalTheatre Is Distributed and Licensed — and Even How Shows Are BeingWritten.” American Theatre, Highbeam.com, July 1, 2014.BENJ PASEK AND JUSTIN PAUL (Music and Lyrics) arethe Tony, Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe Award-winningsongwriting team behind Dear Evan Hansen. Other Broadway: AChristmas Story, The Musical (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer CriticsCircle nominations). Off-Broadway: Dear Evan Hansen (SecondStage; Obie, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circleawards); Dogfight (Second Stage; Lucille Lortel Award and DramaLeague, Outer Critics Circle, London Evening Standard Awardnominations). Regional: James and the Giant Peach (SeattleChildren’s Theatre) and Edges (Capital Repertory Theater). Film:La La Land (2017 Academy Award and Golden Globe Award),The Greatest Showman (2018 Academy Award nomination andGolden Globe Award), Trolls. Upcoming film projects: Aladdin,Snow White, Foster. Television: “A Christmas Story Live!” (2018Emmy Award nomination), “Smash,”“The Flash.” The Dear EvanHansen original Broadway cast recording received the 2018Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and The GreatestShowman original motion picture soundtrack is certified QuadruplePlatinum in the U.K., Double Platinum in the U.S., and Platinum inAustralia, Canada and New Zealand. Additional honors: RichardRodgers Award for Musical Theatre (American Academy of Artsand Letters), ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award,Jonathan Larson Award. Both are graduates of the University ofMichigan Musical Theatre Program and currently serve on theBoard of Directors for the Dramatists Guild Foundation.

DIRECTION FROM MICHAEL GREIFQ: Dear Evan Hansen marksthe eighth original musical youhave directed, including youraward-winning productions ofRent, Next to Normal, and GreyGardens. Can you talk a bit aboutthe process of developing a newmusical? What drew you to thisproject in particular?Michael GreifA: What drew me to the piece initially was the opportunity towork with these collaborators, who I thought were exciting, andyoung, and very interesting theater makers. And then, when Ifirst heard about what the piece was, I was very drawn to thecomplicated and emotional lives of the characters. I really thoughtthat Benj, Justin, and Steven were creating a piece where thecharacters had very good reasons to express themselvesthrough song and music. In such a heightened emotional arenait the stakes are so high that it feels like the characters aresinging for their lives. [As told to Playbill.com]an extraordinary loss. And they really make this kid a partof their family because they need this kid to be a part of theirfamily. It fulfills an enormous need that they’re suffering from— to have a surrogate son. [As told to Playbill.com]Q: What message would you like for people to take awayfrom Dear Evan Hansen?A: That everybody deserves a chance. And everybodydeserves a second chance.Original Source Material:Rothstein, Mervyn. “Next to Normal’s Michael Greif Stirs Up More FamilyDrama with Dear Evan Hansen.” Playbill.com, July 6, 2015.MICHAEL GREIF (Director) received his fourth Tonynomination and a Helen Hayes Award for his work on DearEvan Hansen. Other Broadway credits: Rent, Grey Gardens,Next to Normal, Never Gonna Dance, If/ Then, War Paint.Recent work includes Our Lady of Kibeho and Angels inAmerica (NY’s Signature Theatre); The Low Road, TheQ: How would you describe the story of Evan Hansen?Intelligent Homosexual’s Guide . Regional work includesA: It’s a really truthful, smart, and sophisticated story aboutseasons), La Jolla Playhouse (AD, five se

book by music and lyrics by steven levenson benj pasek & justin paul scenic design by projection design by costume design by lighting design by sound design by david korins peter nigrini emily rebholz japhy weideman nevin steinberg vocal arrangements & hair designer music director