DEAR EVAN HANSEN Continues Partnership with ArtsConnection

Producer Stacey Mindich is pleased to announce that Dear Evan Hansen will continue its partnership with ArtsConnection, NYC's leading arts-in-education organization, for a second year, thanks to the funding of producer and owner of San Francisco's Curran theatre, Carole Shorenstein Hays. This ongoing initiative, named 'ART2ART - Dear Evan Hansen,' has brought hundreds of NYC public high school students to see the Tony & Grammy Award-winning musical.

Before attending Dear Evan Hansen, students participate in a workshop held by representatives from the cast and creative team of Dear Evan Hansen, during which they explore the relevant and very real themes within the show. The students use this time to prepare for not only the viewing of the show but also for the creative process of making art. Following the performance, each student expresses his/her response to the show by creating an original work of visual art. Upon completion, the students join the Dear Evan Hansen company for a celebration at Sardi's, where their art is on display for the occasion. The works are also included in a curated online gallery (http://art2art.dearevanhansen.com/), and select pieces are displayed throughout Dear Evan Hansen's Broadway home, the Music Box Theatre. Cast members even choose selections for their dressing rooms. Watch a video highlighting the ART2ART experience below:

Students throughout New York City are eligible to apply to participate in ART2ART. From its applicant pool, fifty students will be chosen to participate in each session. This program will be offered four times during the 2018-19 season, and the resulting artwork will be preserved as part of a growing online gallery.

"The art that is created by these New York City students over the past year has been relevant, authentic, filled with passion and quite frankly, gorgeous and a real, in-depth look at what this musical means to young people," Mindich said. "I'm grateful to ArtsConnection for this amazing program and to Carole Shorenstein Hays for recognizing the importance of it and funding it."

"When we reopened the Curran a couple years back, one of the very first things we committed to was making sure local students were afforded consistent access to our programming," Ms. Shorenstein Hays said. "This is as much a part of our mission as putting on great shows. Providing the same kind of access here in New York is not only hugely exciting, it's also absolutely vital to the fabric of our artistic and educational communities."

The National Tour of Dear Evan Hansen will have its Bay Area premiere at the Curran theatre in December 2018. Visit https://sfcurran.com/shows/dear-evan-hansen/ for tickets and information.

About ArtsConnection

ArtsConnection is a nationally recognized non-profit arts education organization with a 39-year history of giving New York City public school students, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, the skills, motivation and positive reinforcement they need to succeed academically and personally. Their award-winning arts programs support literacy and foster communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking. They direct their work to the most high-needs communities, and each year reach 45,000 students through partnerships with over 100 public schools annually across the 5 boroughs and through after-school and weekend initiatives that engage middle and high school students in the cultural resources of New York City. Children and teens are learning to better understand themselves and the world around them through the music, dance, theater, media and visual arts programming led by a faculty of over 125 specially-trained professional artists who share their distinctive artistic perspectives to inspire, guide and teach students. www.artsconnection.org; Teens.artsconnection.org

The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award and Tony winning composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and direction by 4-time Tony® Award nominee Michael Greif. The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen, produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at #8 - the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961. A special edition coffee table book authored by Levenson, Pasek and Paul, Dear Evan Hansen: through the window (Grand Central Publishing / Melcher) is now available, offering an in-depth, all-access look at the musical, including never-before-seen production photos and cast portraits, behind-the-scenes stories, and a fully annotated script by the authors.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy