phan24 said: "Ben Platt was at Sweeney Todd tonight
"I would love it if US magazine did a "What's in My Bag" with Ben Platt. What does that boy have in there? That's more than my teenage daughter and I carry around.
The only celeb we saw at Sweeney Todd was the guy who played Hurley on Lost. My kid would have fainted if we'd been there this night. Ben didn't come out stage door when we saw DEH on both occasions (not complaining - totally get it but she was sad) so this might have killed her. That lobby is pretty small and intimate!
Where is this info about him being 4 years into this role? Evan Hansen ran for about 5 weeks in 2015 in DC, don't know how many shows a week. Then it ran 2 months off-Broadway in mid 2016. After 5 months hiatus it started on Broadway at the Music Box, and he's been going for 9 months on this run.
He did 2 readings and 2 workshops (half-day each) in addition to the 2 short pre-Broadway productions and this current one-year contract. I totally believe he's been with the character since the beginning, but with long hiatuses. Point being it's not an uninterrupted years-long grueling schedule. It's midway through a one-year contract on a typical Broadway schedule -- which itself is certainly tough on everyone! But not uniquely tough.
Apparently Ben's sick leave has been extended through August 30 (according to the official website's ticketing page). I have tickets for the Aug 30 matinee and am traveling from Chicago. For those of you who have seen both Ben and one of the understudies, is it still worth the trip?
Bibliot said: "Point being it's not an uninterrupted years-long grueling schedule. It's midway through a one-year contract on a typical Broadway schedule -- which itself is certainly tough on everyone! But not uniquely tough."
I think we have been getting your point... repeatedly.
Nycat63 said: "phan24 said: "Ben Platt was at Sweeney Todd tonight.
"I would love it if US magazine did a "What's in My Bag" with Ben Platt. What does that boy have in there? That's more than my teenage daughter and I carry around."
Well, do either you or your daughter have a Tony Award to lug around??? :-p
The past couple of weeks, Colton has only been on Wednesday and Saturday matinees, and MLB has been on the rest of the time.
I have seen both twice, and you won't be disappointed with either. I prefer MLB because I think his eventual breakdown is even more powerful than Ben's, but Colton is a great performer. He doesn't cry as much, nor does he do a lot of the stuttering/stumbling, but he is very physical in his anxiety. His physical performance during Waving Through a Window is especially impressive. It's like a visual panic attack.
chuckydisc said: "Nycat63 said: "phan24 said: "Ben Platt was at Sweeney Todd tonight.
"I would love it if US magazine did a "What's in My Bag" with Ben Platt. What does that boy have in there? That's more than my teenage daughter and I carry around."
Well, do either you or your daughter have a Tony Award to lug around??? :-p
Point taken except we don't actually carry them around with us - they are at home on the mantle next to our Emmys!
Accidentally happened across this on YouTube. It actually just popped up while prepping another totally non-musical related video for a training this morning. I thought it was great.
Just to follow up on my earlier question of "Is it worth it to fly from Chicago if Ben Platt is out," I went as planned to today's matinee, with Michael Lee Brown in the lead role, and I wholeheartedly agree that the answer to my question was a resounding "Yes!" That was the most incredible theater experience I've ever had. I was worried that I would spend the whole show lamenting that I wasn't seeing Ben, but MLB was extraordinary by any measure and I sobbed every bit as much as I expected to, and fell in love with his portrayal of Evan as much as I hoped to. So, if you find yourself in the same situation as me, don't fret. The entire cast, the entire show is amazing, particularly MLB. I'm sure Ben might add an extra layer, but it was very clear that MLB, in addition to bringing his own personality to the role, is working very hard and doing a very good job of channeling a lot of Ben's portrayal. In any case, I didn't feel one bit stilted at paying full price and would see it again with MLB in a heartbeat.
This has surely been mentioned before, but it's worth considering that the roles all those wonderful "golden age" actors played were not written like Evan Hansen. Not even close. Evan's music really is not intelligent vocal writing for long-term singing. It all sits in an unnatural register and prolonged use definitely causes damage and weakness. It would be like opera actors singing Wagner roles 8 times a week. So while I totally agree about having the stamina for 8 shows a week, the writing here isn't doing Ben any favors.
I was randomly looking on StubHub to see if any prices had dropped for this evenings performance, and I noticed that the average ticket price has gone down considerably for the upcoming week's performances. I am looking at a $199 ticket for Wed. September 6th 8:00pm performance right now. Anyone know why tickets are so cheap right now? I haven't heard of any scheduled leaves, and Ben should be back next week right? I paid $315 for my ticket for Sept 12th so I'm curious!
He's actually supposed to be back tonight. However, the DEH website says (and I think this was planned before the vocal rest) that he will be out for the 9/3 matinee and 9/6 evening performances so that's probably the reason the 9/6 ticket is cheaper.