Though “Dear Evan Hansen” has now become an indelible part of the modern musical theater scene, there was, of course, a time when this show didn’t even exist. The inspiration that brought this musical to life came primarily from a real person’s experiences informing a storyline that would prove universally appealing.
Dear Evan Hansen is a stage musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and book by Steven Levenson.
The bestselling novel, which was published in 2018, is inspired by the Broadway musical and follows the same story of Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, who finds himself in a dilemma after he unintentionally lies that Connor Murphy, a classmate who commited suicide, was his secret best friend.
But it wasn’t just Pasek’s high school memory that inspired Dear Evan Hansen. The show’s heavy focus on social media and its impact came from early discussions between the writing team, as Levenson shared. “We all [noticed] a really fascinating, bizarre phenomenon of public grieving [on social media].
What is Dear Evan Hansen about?
The Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen is about a teenage boy who suffers from social anxiety. Per the advice of his therapist, the titular Evan Hansen writes a daily affirmation letter to himself. Another boy, Connor Murphy, commits suicide and is found with Evan’s letter in his pocket. Evan forms a bond with Connor’s family, lying to them that he and Murphy were best friends. The lie unravels as Evan goes from a shy nobody to one of the most well-known kids in school.
The script for Dear Evan Hansen was written by Steven Levenson, who also handled the screenplay for the movie version, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. As initially reported in a 2015 Washington Post profile on Pasek and Paul, the plot of the show “emanates from a traumatic event” that occurred at Pasek’s high school in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
Real Stories is an ongoing column about the true stories behind movies and TV shows. It’s that simple. This installment focuses on the true story that informed the Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen and its upcoming movie adaptation.
The award-winning film is based on the years before Branagh’s family fled Northern Ireland amidst the violence known as the Troubles.
But where did that premise originate? Is Dear Evan Hansen based on a true story? Not quite, but the musical was inspired by actual events.
Who plays Evan Hansen in Pitch Perfect?
Pitch Perfect star Ben Platt portrays Evan Hansen, an introverted high school student with social anxiety, who finds himself in the midst of school gossip.
If you want a deeper look into the storyline, you should have a look at Val Emmich’s bestselling novel of the same name. Published in 2018 and inspired by the musical, the book offers a more detailed account into the Evan’s decisions in handling the lie and why he did so.
That tragic event was the start of Dear Evan Hansen, but the rest is all fictional. Pasek adds, “This show started as a seed, and we never thought it would grow into anything more than that,” he said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yes, Dear Evan Hansen is loosely based on a true story – Washington Post reports the plot was inspired by lyricist Benj Pasek’s “traumatic event” during his high school life in the Philadelphia suburbs.
