Best Performance By An Actor In A Play Essay

On Tuesday, May 2, Ben Platt was nominated for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play” as his role in Dear Evan Hansen as well as 8 other nominations for the Tony Awards on June 11. Dear Evan Hansen is about a 17-year-old with anxiety who goes to therapy in which his therapist encourages him to write a daily letter to himself (hence the name of the musical). The foreshadowing begins when Evan confesses his love for his classmate, Zoe Murphy, and the note is found in the possession of Connor Murphy, her brother. Her brother kills himself and the written message of Evan’s confession is found by Connor’s parents; who believe the letter was composed by Connor to Evan, instead of Evan to himself. Being a 17-year-old, Evan decides
In order to completely embody the role of 17-year-old Evan Hansen, Ben Platt has sacrificed both his physical and mental health. He lost 30 pounds as well as learned how to mock Evan’s anxious tics by biting his nails, cracking his knuckles constantly, and having terrible posture. Unfortunately, those habits transferred to his real life. Platt also attends various therapy sessions, both emotional and physical because as Lovell states, “...he employs to keep himself healthy enough to go onstage eight times a week and perform a role that ranks with Hedwig and Jean Valjean in its physical and emotional demands” (Lovell). He even contracted a yeast infection on his vocal chords from his harsh performance demand. Platt gave up both gluten and dairy in order to take care of his vocal chords as well as choosing to stay home and rest instead of going out like his castmates. He has the ability to adapt the intense emotions of Evan Hansen: longing, guilt, regret, isolation, anxiety, and even sobbing while singing. Although Ben Platt descends from a musical family, including his father being Marc Platt, the producer of Wicked and La La Land, he manages to prove himself worthy of the Broadway scene without the credit of his