Review
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“A gorgeous new musical. Rarely—scratch that—never have I heard so many stifled sobs and sniffles in the theater. For
those ic to synthetic sentiment, rest assured that the show, with a haunting score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul,
matched by a book of equal sensitivity by Steven Levenson, doesn’t sledgehammer home its affecting story. On the
contrary, the musical finds endless nuances in the relationships among its characters, and makes room for some leavening
humor too. The musical is ideal for families looking for something more complex than the usual sugary diversions. But
then it should also appeal to just about anyone who has ever felt, at some point in life, that he or she was trapped “on
the outside looking in,” as one lyric has it. Which is just about everybody with a beating heart.” –Charles Isherwood,
New York Times
“Ravishingly bittersweet… A marvelous score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and an equally accomplished book by Steven
Levenson…Dear Evan Hansen rolls onto some highly sensitive terrain—the writers are taking a serious look here at the
ways in which we a s a culture exploit others’ misfortunes, a phenomenon abetted by the high-speed interventions of
social media. The delight here is that Pasek, Paul, and Levenson do understand how to make this seemingly unmusical idea
sing, and sing grandly.” –Peter Marks, Washington Post
“So fine in its craft and rich in its themes that, like the best works of any genre, it rewards being seen again—and
again.” –Jesse Green, New York Magazine
“Terrific, gripping, and heartfelt. With a gorgeously melodic score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a smart and
soulful book by the playwright Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen feels like a theatrical beachhead ed by (and,
partly, for) millennials.” –Adam Green, Vogue
“Dear Evan Hansen is smartly crafted, emotionally open-hearted, and ideally cast. It has been embraced by
millennials—yet its appeal is universal. Whatever your age, you’ll watch Dear Evan Hansen with the shock of re,
and be touched by the honesty with which it portrays the smothering sensation of being an adolescent misfit, an awkward
loser trapped in an indifferent world of self-assured winners.” –Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal
About the Author
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Steven Levenson’s plays include The Unavoidable Disappearance Of Tom Durnin (Roundabout Theatre Company, Outer Critics
Circle John sner Memorial Playwriting Award), Core Values (Ars Nova, Drama Desk Nomination for Outstanding Play), The
Language of Trees (Roundabout), Seven Minutes In Heaven (Colt Coeur; Emerging America Festival/Huntington Theater
Company), and the book for Dear Evan Hansen, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (Second Stage, OBIE
Award for Musical Theatre, Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Book and Best Off-Broadway Musical, Drama League
Nomination for Best Musical; Arena Stage, Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Musical). His play, If I Forget, will
premiere at Roundabout in Spring, 2017. His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and Playscripts. A graduate
of Brown University and former Artist in Residence at Ars Nova, he has received new play commissions from Roundabout,
Lincoln Center, MCC, and Ars Nova. Currently a writer and producer on Showtime’s Masters Of Sex, he is a founding member
of Colt Coeur and an alumnus of MCC’s Playwrights Coalition and Ars Nova’s Play Group.
Benj Pasek & Justin Paul’s musical Dogfight had its world premiere at Second Stage Theatre, where it won the Lortel
Award for Best New Musical. Theater credits include A Christmas Story, The Musical on Broadway, which received Tony,
Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Outstanding New Broadway Musical; James and the Giant Peach; Edges.
TV credits include “Smash,” “Sesame Street,” “Johnny and the Sprites.” Pasek and Paul created the song “Unlimited” for
Old Navy’s 2014 back-to-school campaign, which earned them a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. Upcoming film projects
include La La Land (Lionsgate); The Greatest Showman (FOX); Trolls (Dreamworks Animation); Medusa (Sony Pictures
Animation); Tom and Jerry Return to Oz (Warner Bros Animation). Honors: Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theatre
(American Academy of Arts and Letters), ASCAP Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award, Jonathan Larson Award. Both are B.F.A.
Musical Theatre graduates of the University of Michigan and members of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
