Letter Of Note

DEAR EVAN HANSEN | The award-winning stage phenomenon gets the movie treatment.

Icall it a musical with a little ‘m’,” director Stephen Chbosky says of his adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen. “It’s not a capital ‘M’ Musical… We wanted it to feel like a play with songs, rather than a musical.” Featuring music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman), it follows Evan (Ben Platt, who originated the role on stage), a high-schooler who writes a letter to himself as a therapy exercise. When the missive is snatched by classmate Connor (Colton Ryan), who commits suicide, it’s mistakenly believed that Evan and Connor had a connection…

“I was very excited to try to find the common ground between theatrical and cinematic,” continues Chbosky (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, Wonder). Before the directing gig appeared on his radar, Chbosky saw the show and was blown away. “I found myself very emotionally involved, but also just on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next.”

Chbosky’s aim is for a level of intimacy atypical in film musicals. With the singing mostly filmed live, “What I wanted the audience to feel is what they feel when they see a theatre show,” says Chbosky. “You’re in the room with us.”

There have been qualms in some quarters about whether 27-year-old Platt (who won one of the show’s six Tony awards, for Best Actor) is now too old for the role, but Chbosky insists he was the

only choice for the film. “If people have whatever trepidation they may or may not have, they never have it by the end,” he assures. “There’s just something about him playing that kid that is so special… I never saw the age. I only saw the character.”

Despite some of the heavy themes of the film, for Chbosky it’s ultimately intending to provide a life-affirming message. “The point of looking at these darker things is to find the light of it,” says Chbosky. “It’s to find a way to transcend, and to talk to that lonely person who may not remember they’re not alone in the world.” MM

ETA | 22 OCTOBER / DEAR EVAN HANSEN OPENS LATER THIS YEAR.