When they were writing the story and songs that would become \u201cDear Evan Hansen,\u201d writer Steven Levenson and composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul weren\u2019t thinking much about \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d as a national catalyst for social change or as a force to destigmatize mental illness among young people.<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t imagine it would have a big enough audience to matter on that scale. What they did focus on was telling rang a story that rang true.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur mandate was that everything be authentic,\u201d Levenson said in a recent phone interview from home in Brooklyn. \u201cThat we tell a story that felt true. That\u2019s the standard we were judging ourselves by \u2014 that an audience would see it and many see their experience reflected in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Audiences did. The musical became a huge hit, won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical for Levenson. It made \u201cEvan Hansen\u201d originator Ben Platt a star. And it inspired conversations among kids and parents about mental health and suicide as its songs became anthems for an ascendant generation of young people who are giving mental illness a more prominent and accepted place in American culture.<\/p>\n
The show premiered in Washington, D.C., and then ran Off-Broadway before its ongoing Broadway run began in late 2016. It\u2019s now also in its second year of national touring, and is set to open in London\u2019s West End.<\/p>\n
Levenson will discuss the show and its place in the mental health conversationThursday night at Aspen Ideas Health in a presentation that also will include a performance by \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d castmember Josh Strobl.<\/p>\n
The title character is a lonely teenager who writes inspirational notes to himself. It tells of how his life intersects with a loner classmate who dies by suicide and a lie that amplifies into social media fame for Hansen.<\/p>\n
Levenson and his team took care not to sensationalize, and not to romanticize, the suicide and the mental health issues in the show from a public health standpoint. And from an artist\u2019s standpoint, he recalled, they had to be careful not to let it devolve into over-sentimentalized treacle. While dealing with suicide for the stage has its pitfalls, Levenson was equally as sensitive about telling the story of a young person, in Hansen, who makes an awful mistake and finds a way to work through it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to be able to have another chance,\u201d Levenson said. \u201cFor young people in particular, who may find themselves doing something stupid or making a big mistake, and may feel like there\u2019s no hope, it\u2019s important to see that there is life on the other side of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the subject matter, they knew they had a public health responsibility with the show, and that communicating it personally would largely be up to its actors when they meet fans at the stage door. So they had mental health experts come and talk to the cast about how to interact with kids who reach out about depression or suicidal thoughts and what resources to direct them toward.<\/p>\n
But even before that, the creative team had engaged the medical community. Harold Koplewicz, of the Child Mind Institute, consulted on the script and the songs throughout the creative process. He\u2019ll join Levenson and Strobl onstage at tonight\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n
In an indelible moment that spoke to the impact of \u201cDear Evan Hansen,\u201d early in the Broadway run, Platt received an anonymous fan note in his dressing room. It read, \u201cBecause you didn\u2019t let go I didn\u2019t let go,\u201d echoing a line from the show.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only was it clearly a life saved, but someone using the language of our show to express that,\u201d Levenson said. \u201cAs an artist, in your wildest imaginings, you hope that you\u2019re able to give a voice to something that is voiceless, or that allows someone the possibility of change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d was Levenson\u2019s first musical. He\u2019d previously written straight plays. This spring, his \u201cFosse\/Verdon\u201d about Broadway legends Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon became one of the year\u2019s most acclaimed television dramas. He is currently at work on a film adaptation of Jonathan Larsen\u2019s \u201cTick, Tick\u2026Boom,\u201d to be directed by \u201cHamilton\u201d creator Lin-Manuel Miranda.<\/p>\n
The \u201cEvan Hansen\u201d event is the first of many at Aspen Ideas Health and Aspen Ideas Festival presentations about mental health. They include public events like the \u201cOur Children Are in Trouble\u201d panel on the rising rates of teen depression and anxiety (today, 5:30 p.m., Wheeler Opera House Bar), a live taping of the podcast \u201cTerrible, Thanks for Asking\u201d (today, 8 p.m., Hotel Jerome Ballroom) and a panel about music and healing with headliners from the Jazz Aspen Snowmass June Experience (Saturday, noon, Jazz Aspen VIP Tent).<\/p>\n