Dear Evan Hansen

Evan Hansen is a teenager with social anxiety. His therapist, Dr. Sherman, recommends that he writes letters to himself detailing what will be good about each day. His mother, Heidi, suggests that he ask people to sign the cast on his arm to make friends. The wealthy Murphy family consists of the parents, Cynthia and Larry, and their children Zoe and Connor. Cynthia struggles with the fact that her family is falling apart, and Cynthia and Heidi wonder how to connect with their sons ("Anybody Have a Map?").

At school, Evan meets Alana, a precocious and somewhat self-absorbed classmate, and Jared, his only family friend. Both Alana and Jared notice his broken arm, but neither signs his cast. Evan then runs into Connor, who interprets Evan's awkwardness as making fun of him, resulting in Connor pushing Evan to the ground. Connor's sister Zoe, whom Evan has a crush on, feels obligated to apologize for her brother's behavior. Evan wonders if this is his destiny — to be ignored and an outcast — for the rest of his life ("Waving Through a Window").

Evan writes a letter to himself, wondering whether anyone would notice if he were not there. All his hope is focused on Zoe, since his crush on her is the only thing that brings him happiness ("Waving Through a Window (Reprise #1)"). He encounters Connor again, who now offers to sign Evan's cast. Connor finds Evan's letter on the printer and reads it; he becomes furious at the mention of Zoe, thinking Evan intended for him to see the letter in order to make fun of him. He storms out, taking the letter with him.

Evan is in an intense state of anxiety over what Connor might have done with the letter and tells Jared online about his assignment to write letters to himself ("Waving Through a Window (Reprise #2)"). Evan is called to the principal's office and is told by Connor's parents that Connor died by suicide days before, with Evan's letter found in his pocket, which they believe is a suicide note addressed to him.

Evan goes to Connor's house for dinner. Jared had instructed him to "nod and confirm" to avoid making things worse, but Evan is awkward and uncomfortable, so he lies, pretending he and Connor had been best friends, emailing each other from a secret account. Evan starts recounting a fictional version of the day he broke his arm at an abandoned apple orchard the Murphys had visited ("For Forever"). When Evan gets home, Heidi mentions hearing about Connor's death, but Evan tells her not to worry and that he didn't know Connor. After realizing he needs evidence of his supposed "secret email account," Evan enlists Jared's help in creating fake, backdated email conversations between himself and Connor ("Sincerely, Me").

After Evan shows the Murphy family Connor's "emails," Cynthia is ecstatic that her son had a friend, but Larry is hurt that Connor took his family and his privileged life for granted. Cynthia tries to show Zoe the emails, but they argue again. Zoe still refuses to mourn Connor ("Requiem"). Despite this, after reading the "suicide note," Zoe notices that she is mentioned and asks Evan why Connor would say that about her. Evan, unable to tell her the truth, tells her all the reasons he loves her under the guise of Connor saying them ("If I Could Tell Her"). Overcome with emotion, he impulsively kisses Zoe, but she pulls away and tells him to leave.

At school, Evan and Alana notice that people are starting to forget about Connor, so Evan enlists Alana and Jared's help in founding "The Connor Project" to keep Connor's memory alive. The three pitch the idea to the Murphys, who agree to support the project ("Disappear"). Moved by his dedication, Cynthia gives Evan a necktie she had gotten for Connor that he had never worn and asks Evan to wear it when he speaks at Connor's memorial service. At the official launch of The Connor Project, Evan gives an inspiring speech about his loneliness and friendship with Connor, which goes viral. Zoe, overcome by the impact her brother and Evan have had, kisses him ("You Will Be Found").

Evan and Alana pitch a fundraising idea on The Connor Project's website, to raise $50,000 to reopen the abandoned apple orchard where Evan and Connor supposedly spent time. However, Evan becomes preoccupied with his new relationship with Zoe and his newfound family in the Murphys, and begins to neglect his mother, Jared, and The Connor Project ("Sincerely, Me (Reprise)").

Heidi asks Evan why he did not tell her about The Connor Project or about his friendship with Connor. He angrily responds that he did not have the time because she is never around. Overcome with emotion, he rushes off to the Murphys, where Evan bonds with Larry and confides in him about his childhood. Larry offers him an old, unused baseball glove of Connor's ("To Break In a Glove"). Later, when Evan mentions Connor, Zoe tells him that she does not want their relationship to be about Connor, but about the two of them ("Only Us").

Evan goes to the Murphys, only to discover they invited Heidi for dinner. She is mortified to learn they want to give Connor's college fund to Evan. At home, Heidi and Evan fight over his secrecy and deception, with Evan confessing that he feels welcomed and accepted into the Murphy family because of Heidi's absence. Meanwhile, Alana begins to find inconsistencies in the fake emails. Evan asks Jared to help fix the inaccuracies, but Jared refuses and threatens to expose Evan, who counters that he could expose Jared's role. Heidi, Alana, and Jared converge in Evan's conscience, compounding his guilt and doubt over his decisions ("Good for You").

Evan decides he has to confess to what he has done. An imaginary version of Connor attempts to talk him out of it, but Evan shouts that he needs the whole thing to be over. Connor tells him that if he tells the truth, all he has will be gone, and the only thing he will be left with is himself ("For Forever (Reprise)"). He disappears, leaving Evan alone.

Evan apologizes to Alana, but she has given up on Evan's help with The Connor Project as she doubts the truth of his statements that he was Connor's best friend. Evan shows her the stolen letter to himself, claiming it to be Connor's suicide note. Realizing that the letter is the key to fulfilling the fundraising goal, Alana posts it online where, to Evan's chagrin, it goes viral. As a result, many people begin to believe Connor's suicide was because of his uncaring, wealthy parents ("You Will Be Found (Reprise)").

The Murphys have become the targets of hateful comments because people believe they were responsible for Connor's death. Evan, distraught, walks in on the Murphys fighting about why Connor really killed himself. Evan admits his fabrication, explaining he had been hopeful that he could forge a genuine bond with the Murphys out of the tragedy. As Zoe and her mother leave, Larry turns away from Evan in disgust. Alone once more, Evan absorbs his perceived brokenness as inescapable ("Words Fail").

Heidi sees the letter online and knows that it was one of Evan's therapy assignments. She apologizes to Evan for not seeing how badly he had been hurting, though Evan denies her guilt due to his deception. He vaguely admits that his fall from the tree was a suicide attempt. Heidi recalls the day that his father moved out and she did not know how she was going to make it by herself. In the end, she realized that she was not alone – she had Evan and knew that the two of them could survive anything so long as they were together. Tearfully, Heidi promises that she will always be there for him when he needs her ("So Big / So Small").

A year later, Evan is still living at home and working at Pottery Barn to earn enough money to go to college the next semester. He contacts Zoe, whom he has not seen since she found out the truth, and asks her to meet him. She insists that they meet at the orchard, which has been reopened in Connor's memory. He apologizes for the pain he caused by manipulating her family and thanks her and her parents for keeping his secret. She forgives him, saying the ordeal brought her family closer together because "everyone needed it for something." Evan asks her why she wanted to meet at the orchard, and she replies that she wanted to be sure he saw it, and the two share a moment before they part. Evan mentally writes himself one last letter reflecting on the impact he has had on his community and finally accepts himself ("Finale").

• Evan Hansen: Noah Galvin,[5] Taylor Trensch,[5] Andrew Barth Feldman,[6] Jordan Fisher[7]
• Zoe Murphy: Mallory Bechtel[8]
• Heidi Hansen: Lisa Brescia,[9] Jessica Phillips
• Connor Murphy: Alex Boniello[10]

• Evan Hansen – A high school senior with social anxiety. He is assigned by his therapist to write letters to himself about why each day will be good, which becomes the catalyst for the plot of the story (hence the name, Dear Evan Hansen).
• Heidi Hansen – Evan's mother, a nurse's aide who attends paralegal school at night, often leaving Evan on his own as a result.
• Zoe Murphy – Connor's younger sister and Evan's longtime crush. She was never close to Connor, even hated him and thought he was a monster, but wishes she had known him better and turns to Evan after he lies and says he was friends with Connor.
• Cynthia Murphy – Connor and Zoe's stay-at-home mother. She is constantly trying to keep her fragile family from falling apart but is often unsuccessful.
• Larry Murphy – Connor and Zoe's busy and distant father.
• Connor Murphy – A high school senior who, like Evan, is also a social outcast with no friends, and a frequent drug user, getting high to cope with his aggressive and violent tendencies.
• Alana Beck – Evan's earnest but melodramatic classmate. She is constantly looking for academic and extracurricular activities to boost her collegiate chances.
• Jared Kleinman – Evan's droll and sarcastic friend. He helps Evan and Alana found The Connor Project.

The show is orchestrated for a band of eight, including the music director. The parts are: MD/Keyboard; Violin; Viola; Violoncello; Guitar 1; Guitar 2; Bass Guitar/Upright Bass; and Drums. The show was orchestrated by Alex Lacamoire, who won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Orchestrations for his work.

An original Broadway cast album was released at midnight on February 3, 2017. The second song on the album, "Waving Through A Window", was released as a special early download for those who had pre-ordered the album.[11] The fifth song, "Requiem", was made available to stream for 24 hours on January 26, 2017, a week before the release of the cast recording.[12] The song was released as a second pre-order bonus the next day. The recording of the Act 1 finale "You Will Be Found" was available for a first listen online on January 30, 2017.[13] The cast album debuted at number 8 on the February 25 Billboard 200.[14][15] The cast album became available in compact disc format on February 24, 2017. The cast album, produced by Alex Lacamoire, featuring the band from both the original Off-Broadway and Broadway productions, including Ben Cohn (piano), Jamie Eblen (drums), Justin Goldner and Dillon Kondor (guitars), Rob Jost (bass), Justin Smith, Todd Low and Adele Stein (strings)[16] and won the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.[17]

Producers announced a deluxe album on September 26, 2018.[18] The deluxe album contains all of the songs in the Original Broadway Cast Recording, in addition to cut songs and covers. The cut song "Part of Me" was available exclusively on Billboard.com before it was officially released. The album was to be released on October 19; however, it was delayed to November 2.[19] American singer Katy Perry re-recorded "Waving Through a Window" to promote the show's national tour.[20] Other songs on the deluxe album include "Obvious" sung by Taylor Trensch, the precursor to "If I Could Tell Her", "Hiding in Your Hands" sung by Mallory Bechtel[21] which was replaced by "Requiem", and an acoustic version of "Disappear" sung by Taylor Trensch and Alex Boniello.[22]

Dear Evan Hansen premiered at the Arena Stage in Washington running from July 10 to August 23, 2015 [23] Directed by Michael Greif, the production featured orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, music direction by Ben Cohn, set design by David Korins and projection design by Peter Nigrini. Ben Platt featured in the title role.

The musical opened Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theater on March 26, 2016, in previews, with the official opening on May 1. The cast featured Ben Platt, Laura Dreyfuss, Mike Faist, Rachel Bay Jones, Will Roland and Jennifer Laura Thompson repeating their roles from the Arena Stage production. New cast members were John Dossett and Kristolyn Lloyd. Michael Greif again directed, with choreography by Danny Mefford.[24][25][26][27] The Off-Broadway engagement closed on May 29, 2016.

Branding as seen on the Music Box Theatre

The show premiered on Broadway on November 14, 2016, in previews, and officially opened on December 4.[28] After announcing that performances would take place at the Belasco Theatre, in mid-September 2016, producers announced that the show would instead perform at the Music Box Theatre. Michael Park, who originated the role of Larry in the Arena Stage production, returned for the Broadway production (replacing John Dossett who went on to the musical War Paint). All other cast members from the Second Stage production returned for the Broadway engagement.[29][30][31] Ben Platt played his last performance on November 19, 2017. Noah Galvin replaced Platt on November 21, 2017, and played until February 2018.[5] Taylor Trensch played two performances in the show before officially replacing Galvin on February 6, 2018. The 2018 Jimmy Award winner, Andrew Barth Feldman, made his Broadway debut, replacing Trensch, on January 30, 2019. Zachary Noah Piser serves at the alternate for the role of Evan and has performances Wednesday and Saturday matinees. After Andrew's run was over, Jordan Fisher assumed the role of Evan Hansen on January 28, 2020.[32]

In November 2018, producers donated several items from the Broadway run of the musical, including a shirt, arm cast, button for The Connor Project, copy of the "Dear Evan Hansen" letter, and a piece of sheet music, to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.[33]

As of March 12, 2020, the show suspended production due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[34] Performances cannot continue until May 31, 2021 at the earliest.

A U.S. tour launched in October 2018 in Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Buell Theatre in October 2018.[35] Starring Ben Levi Ross in the title role and by December 2018 was scheduled for over 50 cities.[36] It also starred Jessica Phillips in the role of Heidi Hansen,[37] Jared Goldsmith in the role of Jared Kleinman,[38] and Phoebe Koyabe in the role of Alana Beck.[39] Also starring in the tour were Christiane Noll in the role of Cynthia Murphy, Aaron Lazar as Larry Murphy, Marrick Smith in the role of Connor Murphy, Maggie McKenna in the role of Zoe Murphy, and Stephen Christopher Anthony as the alternate Evan Hansen.[40] The second year of the tour began on September 25, 2019, in Milwaukee, with Stephen Christopher Anthony stepping in to the role of Evan Hansen full-time, former Evan/Jared/Connor understudy Noah Kieserman as Connor Murphy, former Zoe/Alana understudy Ciara Alyse Harris as Alana Beck, John Hemphill as Larry Murphy, Sam Primack as the Evan alternate, and Toronto cast alums Stephanie La Rochelle as Zoe Murphy, Jessica Sherman as Heidi Hansen, Claire Rankin as Cynthia Murphy, and Alessandro Costantini as Jared Kleinman.[41]

The show played its first international performance at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto. The production began previews on March 5, 2019, and opened on March 28, 2019.[42][43] The role of Evan Hansen was played by Robert Markus,[44] and Zachary Noah Piser on Wednesday and Saturday matinees.[43] The cast also included Jessica Sherman as Heidi Hansen, Evan Buliung as Larry Murphy, Claire Rankin as Cynthia Murphy, Alessandro Costantini as Jared Kleinman, Shakura Dickson as Alana Beck, Sean Patrick Dolan as Connor Murphy and Stephanie La Rochelle as Zoe Murphy. Understudies Erin Breen, Malinda Carroll, Jay Davis, David Jeffery, Laura Mae Nason, Kaitlyn Santa Juana and Josh Strobl rounded out the cast.[43] Despite extending its booking period through September, the production closed early on July 21, 2019.[42]

A West End production opened at the Noël Coward Theatre from November 2019.[45] The show began previews on October 29, before officially opening on November 19.[46] The role of Evan Hansen is played by Sam Tutty. The rest of the cast includes Rebecca McKinnis as Heidi Hansen, Lauren Ward as Cynthia Murphy, Rupert Young as Larry Murphy, Jack Loxton as Jared Kleinman, Nicole Raquel Dennis as Alana Beck, Lucy Anderson as Zoe and Doug Colling as Connor Murphy. Understudies and covers include Marcus Harman as the alternate Evan Hansen, Tricia Adele-Turner, David Breeds, Haydn Cox, Natalie Kassanga, Hannah Lindsey, Mark Peachey, Courtney Stapleton, Alex Thomas-Smith, and James Winter.[47]

The musical was adapted into a young adult novel by actor and singer-songwriter Val Emmich, in collaboration with Pasek, Paul, and Levenson. The novel, which features additional material based on scenes and songs cut from the show's development that flesh out and expand upon the story, was released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on October 9, 2018.[72] An audiobook was released on the same date with narrations by Ben Levi Ross, Mike Faist, and Mallory Bechtel. It debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at #2 for the week of October 28, 2018.[73]

On November 29, 2018, it was announced that Universal Pictures optioned the musical to make a film version. It is directed by Stephen Chbosky from a screenplay by Levenson, who will also executive produce with Pasek & Paul. Marc Platt and Adam Siegel serve as producers.[74] Ben Platt will reprise his performance in the title role, as will Colton Ryan as Connor Murphy, a role in which he understudied in the Broadway production.[75] Joining them are Kaitlyn Dever as Zoe Murphy, Julianne Moore as Heidi Hansen, Amy Adams as Cynthia Murphy, Danny Pino as Larry Murphy, Nik Dodani as Jared Kleinman and Amandla Stenberg as Alana Beck.[76][77] Stenberg will also collaborate with Pasek and Paul on the writing of a new song for her character, whose role has been expanded for the film.[78] The character of Larry Murphy was re-conceived as the step-father of Zoe and Connor rather than their biological father as in the stage version,[79] a change that sparked a mixed-to-negative reception from the fans of the musical. It will also mark the film acting debuts of DeMarius Copes, Gerald Caesar and Isaac Cole Powell, all of whom will play new characters created for the film. Copes will play Oliver, one of Zoe's friends, while Caesar and Powell will play high school students Josh and Rhys.[80][81] Newcomer Liz Kate is also set to appear in the film in an undisclosed role.[82] Filming began on August 25, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia and Los Angeles, California.[83] [84][85] On December 15, 2020, Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairwoman Donna Langley confirmed that the film will wrap production that month.[86] It is scheduled to be released theatrically on September 24, 2021.[87]