Today in Musical History: Dear Evan Hansen

The Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen opened Dec. 4, 2016, at the Music Box Theatre and has run for 1,363 performances so far. Its road to Broadway began with three readings in May to September 2014, then a full workshop in March 2015. The musical had its world premiere at Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., on July 9, 2015, then opened Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre on Mar. 26, 2016, before transferring to Broadway late in 2016.

The creative team included Steven Levenson (book), Benj Pasek (score), Justin Paul (score, vocal arrangements), Alex Lacamoire (orchestrations), Ben Cohn (music direction), Michael Greif (direction), Danny Mefford (choreography), David Korins (sets), Emily Rebholz (costumes), Japhy Weideman (lights), Nevin Steinberg (sound), Peter Nigrini (projections), and David Brian Brown (hair). (You can read my interview with Pasek and Paul at Dramatics.org.)

The original Broadway cast included Ben Platt (Evan), Laura Dreyfuss (Zoe), Mike Faist (Connor), Rachel Bay Jones (Heidi Hansen), Kristolyn Lloyd (Alana), Michael Park (Larry Murphy), Will Roland (Jared), and Jennifer Laura Thompson (Cynthia). Platt, Jones, and Thompson were with the show since its first reading in May 2014.

It was nominated for nine Tonys, winning six, including musical, score (Pasek & Paul), actor (Platt), and featured actress (Jones). Below is Platt and the Dear Evan Hansen Broadway cast singing “Waving Through a Window” at the 2017 Tonys.

https://youtu.be/h9rf5wFq3zk

“Waving Through a Window” also spent 14 weeks on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart, peaking at No. 1 in December 2017, the second theater show to do so, after Stomp hit the top spot on that chart with its title song in October 1996. You can listen to the Lodato & Joseph Duveen remix below and the other official remixes by Tony Moran and DJ Lynwood as well as further versions of the song at the Atlantic Records YouTube channel.

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