DEAR EVAN HANSEN Cast and Creative React To Tony Nominations

We've got reactions from the cast and creative of DEAR EVAN HANSEN on their 9 Tony Award nominations! Check out what they had to say below!

Ben Platt, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical - I've been in love with musical theater since I was 6 years old and grew up anxiously awaiting Tony night on my TV screen each year. To now be included in this beautiful tradition is thrilling and humbling. I've always dreamt of being a part of this community, and to do so through the creation of new work alongside my incredible Dear Evan Hansen family is a full dream come true.

Steven Levenson, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Book of a Musical - After agonizing over whether to watch it or not I did turn on NY1 at 8:30, I couldn't help myself. As a kid who did my first musical in 6th grade, I was Ed Sullivan in Bye Bye Birdie, it's hard to believe this is happening now. It's so gratifying and a little bit unbelievable. The best part of this morning has been seeing all the people from the company and the creatives being recognized and that their work is being lauded. They worked so incredibly hard, and I'm so happy that people have been finding something so meaningful in the show. Right now I'm taking my daughter to the park with my wife and we will have a low key day and then tonight i'll go by the Music Box theater and give everyone a big hug!

Rachel Bay Jones, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical - I'm over the moon. It was frustrating this morning when they cut away from the live CBS broadcast so I had to FaceTime my manager to find out. It was really exciting. It gives my heart so much hope because it's such a beautiful show and to be honored this way and for me to be a part of it, these characters, this message, it's all just wonderful. The fact that these human characters, who are both flawed and gorgeous and this story is being accepted in this way in the community is so meaningful to me. And the fact that my character, who is a struggling person has been celebrated, I'm really just blown away. It gives me a lot of hope. I think I'll probably take the dogs out for a nice walk and wait for my daughter to come home from school so I can tell her the news and I can't wait to be with the cast later tonight - it will be really special!

Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre - Benj: I tried to watch this morning but I couldn't get the livestream to work. So, I kept calling my family because I knew they were watching. I was trying to get them to Facetime me and show me the screen so that I could watch but there were so many technical issues and so much screaming. It was a typical Jewish morning. It was not happening! [Laughs] Then I eventually got a text from Justin congratulating me. So, I totally missed it, but I found out in the best way possible- from my collaborator.

Justin: It was such a group effort, so the most exciting thing is that people are recognized in so many categories. It was 8 years that we'd been working on this and some of the actors have been working on it with us for 4-5 years! To be on the journey for so long and to be recognized across the board... it's so rewarding.

Benj: We're gonna be together later and we'll meet up with the Dear Evan Hansen family later to celebrate the people who made the story come to life. We started talking about this idea in college! It's remarkable that we actually have a Broadway Theatre to celebrate all oft his in today!

Mike Faist, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical - I woke up a half hour early and I couldn't bare to watch the announcement, so I went grocery shopping instead and 5 minutes in my phone just started blowing up and then the world turned upside down really quickly! I had a quick phone call with my producer and heard that we received 9 nominations and I'm so happy the show is being recognized, it's a rare show that comes once in a decade. It's a heartfelt story that is very current and speaks to a generation who feels left out. I hope that message continues to be sent out and I hope that it will get more people to come see it and that it creates more discussion about mental health. I'm thrilled for everyone, it's just a dream come true. My knees are still a little wobbly. I guess the standard answer to say is that I'll celebrate by going to Disney World, but instead I'll say that I'm going to the theater and doing the show that I love.

Michael Greif, Dear Evan Hansen - Best Direction of a Musical - The Tony Awards website froze but luckily my daughter, who is incredible at getting any kind of information at any time, was able to let me know what was happening. Of course, I'm really happy for my colleagues at Dear Evan Hansen and at War Paint for their spectacular work being recognized.

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A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he's always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Both deeply personal and profoundly contemporary, Dear Evan Hansen is a new American musical about life and the way we live it.

Dear Evan Hansen, which pairs the three time Tony Award nominated director Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal, Grey Gardens) with the Tony-nominated composing team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (A Christmas Story, Dogfight, NBC's "SMASH") and award-winning playwright Steven Levenson (Showtime's "Masters of Sex"), stars Ben Platt, Laura Dreyfuss, Rachel Bay Jones, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Mike Faist, Michael Park, Will Roland and Kristolyn Lloyd, and Michael Lee Brown, Garrett Long, Olivia Puckett, Colton Ryan, and Asa Somers.