It's hard not to read this as anything but a long pitch for the Tony. Platt isn't just a rich kid who grew up in showbiz. He's a very, very hard-working actor who suffers for his art, apparently has no life outside of the show, and is starting to resemble the character he plays (without the lies). It's so bad that his family, co-stars, and other performers are concerned about him.
This all may be true, and Platt carries a heavy load in Dear Evan Hansen. He gave a very good performance, and he may be the sort of person who has trouble getting away from what is certainly a grueling role. But this reminds me of all those stories about Leonardo DiCaprio shivering in the cold during The Revenant shoot. That worked, too. He finally got the elusive Oscar.
I think a lot of my problems with Dear Evan Hansen have less to do with the show itself, which is well-acted, incisive, and touching despite some flaws, but with the surroundings - the #youwillbefound promotion that ignores its own irony, the shrieking audience reaction to Platt's first appearance, the cautious and calculated media campaign.
It's hard to shake my natural skepticism about PR campaigns when, as was sometimes the case in the musical itself, I can see the emotional manipulation.
Updated On: 5/10/17 at 04:39 PM
