Ben Levi Ross News

Edmonton, you will be found Feb. 11-16, 2020 as Broadway Blockbuster hit, Dear Evan Hansen, plays at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium

Including a substantive review from my fourteen year old daughter.

Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma ushered in the era of book-centric American musicals that have been designated as musical comedies. The beginning, middle and ending structured stories normally contain singing, dancing, show stoppers, comedy, a few conflicts, and a satisfying ending, in a two-act format.

Pasek and Paul's teen musical sensation has style, substance and a great cast, though the score is sometimes a little generic.

Dear Evan Hansen, Today is going to be an awesome day, and here's why: the first national tour of Dear Evan Hansenis sharing its story with Pittsburgh audiences for the rest of this week at Heinz Hall.

Dear Evan Hansen announces that Stephen Christopher Anthony will assume the title role of Evan Hansen beginning September 17, 2019, for the second year of the Tony Award-winning musical's North American tour.

In celebration of outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre performances, Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce the award recipients of the Eighth Annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA) sponsored by NBC 5: Jacob Simon of Deerfield, IL (Deerfield High School) as BEST ACTOR for his portrayal of Bobby Child in CRAZY FOR YOU and Marguerite Reed of Palos Park, IL (Mother McAuley High School) as BEST ACTRESS for her portrayal of Betty Haynes in IRVING BERLIN'S WHITE CHRISTMAS. Jacob and Marguerite will represent the state of Illinois at The Jimmy Awards (also known as The National High School Musical Theatre Awards ) in New York on June 24, 2019.

The smash hit 'Dear Evan Hansen' has finally arrived at the Aronoff Center as the second to last show of the 2018-19 Broadway in Cincinnati season. The 2017 Tony Award-winning best musical features a Tony Award-winning book by Steven Levenson and a Tony Award-winning score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Are you getting the hint that it's stellar yet?

DEAR EVAN HANSEN is currently on tour across America! What are critics saying about the show in different cities across the country? Check out all the reviews for the hit musical below!

There's terrific acting in the touring cast, even if the singing voices waver from Platt to flat. We get an incredibly convincing Evan in Ben Levi Ross (an understudy for the same role on Broadway). He interprets the character as nervous, nerdy, and unknowingly funny. It's an excellent performance...

Broadway In Chicago announces the twenty-four students nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress, and nominees for Best Production presented by Guardian Music Travel, Best Direction, Best Scenic Design presented by SPL, Best Choreography, and Best Ensemble for the eighth annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA).

Is an assumption not corrected, an invention born out of best intentions, a fabrication of truth that gives solace to a grieving family, still wrong? What if the lie unintentionally metamorphosizes into a voice for the silent, hope for the hopeless, a place where the invisible feel seen? On Tuesday night, April 9, the audience at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts was left pondering those questions during the emotional nuanced three-hour performance of the six-time Tony Award-winner in 2017 (including best musical), DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

Broadway In Chicago is delighted to announce that the eighth annual Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA) will be held at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) on Monday, May 6, 2019, hosted by NBC 5's entertainment reporter LeeAnn Trotter and sponsored by CHICAGO THE MUSICAL (which will play at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from May 7-12). The Illinois chapter of The Jimmy Awards (National High School Musical Theatre Awards) one of the largest programs in the country serves as an annual national celebration of outstanding achievement in musical theater performance by high school students.

Dear Evan Hansen, today's going to be a good day and here's why... That's how the juggernaut of a little show that could, opens. Nearly 427,000 hashtags later, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is not only a phenomenon but literally part of America's cultural heritage. Artifacts from the show, still running on Broadway, were accepted into The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History collection last fall, a decision which Curator Ryan Lintelman says was a no-brainer. 'It has this freshness to it that helps people to connect to these issues of social media and the internet, of depression and anxiety, and how you present yourself in a world that's increasingly digital,' he said. DEAR EVAN HANSEN tells the story of Evan, an awkward, self-conscious, and lonely teen. He is encouraged by a doctor to write affirmation letters to himself, one of which is intercepted by an outcast named Connor in the school computer lab. After Connor commits suicide, Connor's mother finds Evan's letter. Evan then finds himself entangled in a lie that was never meant to be told, living a life he had only imagined. DEAR EVAN HANSEN opened on Broadway in 2016 and won six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. And rightfully so. This is the right show for right now, a commentary on a media age that connects us virtually, but often, imprisons and cripples us socially.

BroadwayWorld had a chance to catch up with Dear Evan Hansen's touring Heidi Hansen, Jessica Phillips while the show was at their Chicago tour stop! Check out highlights from our Q&A below!

'Dear Evan Hansen' is currently playing at the Curran in San Francisco, following its tour stops in Denver, Los Angeles, and Arizona. Let's see what the critics are saying about the recent tour stops...

Both profoundly moving and profoundly disturbing, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is one of the most deeply troubling musicals I've seen. I left DEAR EVAN HANSEN with a swirl of mixed emotions. The musical is a meditation on social media and how it makes the social isolation and challenges of high school all the more difficult.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Happy Friday! Finish off your week by catching up on today's top Broadway news!

Boyfriends Ben Levi Ross and Taylor Trensch have both played Evan Hansen - on tour and on Broadway respectively, in addition to playing opposite each other on Broadway (with Ross as Jared.) Today, in honor of Valentine's Day, the show has released a special duet version of 'Only Us.' Check out the video below!