Ben Platt made his film debut as Benji Applebaum in the aca-mazing Pitch Perfect received rave reviews for his role of Elder Cunningham in the Chicago production of The Book of Mormon. However, he is probably best known for his Tony Award-winning role in Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen. He recently reprised his role of Evan Hansen in the film adaptation of the hit musical - and faced backlash because of his age (the character is meant to be a 17-year-old high school student while Ben was 28 years old at the time of filming).
Personally, I don't think this is such a big deal. This is certainly not the first time an older actor has portrayed a younger character: hello - nobody was buying John Travolta as a high school student in Grease, James van der Beek was in his 20s when he played the whiney, narcissistic Dawson not to mention 90210's Andrea Zuckerman. So I did not pay much attention to the haters and neither did Ben, stating: "People like to have something to say that is negative, regardless of what it is...And so if my thing is something that I can’t control at all — which is my age — then bring it on. I’m glad it’s not about the performance or my voice or anything that actually matters.”
And his voice definitely matters, as proven on his sophomore album, Reverie, which was released last year. The album is the work of a talented songwriter who has constructed a cohesive story about love, trials and nostalgia with songs that showcase his vocal prowess, at once powerful and tender, whether autotuned or acoustic. My personal highlights from the album are: imagine (the original and the incredible Tiësto mix made it onto my lists of top 10 favourite songs and remixes of 2021), I want to love you but I don't, childhood bedroom (a carefree ballad that evokes familiar memories of singing and dancing in... your childhood bedroom), leave my mind (with a fantastic falsetto), dance with you and chasing you (which Broadway World described perfectly as an "uptempo and synthy ode to the toxicity of the neverending chase").
He brought his Reverie Tour to Madison Square Garden last week (after postponing it from March this year). It was certainly worth the wait. His vocals were flawless (those falsettos!) and his dance moves were fun and full of energy (I thought some of them were reminiscent of Madonna's on-stage moves circa Blond Ambition) - it was clear that he was having the time of his life which always elevates the performance for the audience, who were on their feet for most of the show, including the ballads. They went crazy when his husband, Noah Galvin, briefly joined him on stage for a dance during dance with you. Being a NYC crowd, there was also a lot of audience adoration for his cover of Sara Bareilles' She Used To Be Mine (from Waitress) and a bonus performance of The Wizard and I from Wicked. I also loved his cover of Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way with opening act, Aly & AJ.
Overall, a sublime show that made me love the Reverie album - and Ben - even more.
The complete set list was as follows:
king of the world, pt. 1
childhood bedroom
leave my mind
happy to be sad
RAIN
Ease My Mind
She Used to Be Mine (Sara Bareilles cover from Waitress)
The Wizard and I (Idina Menzel cover from Wicked)
king of the world, pt. 2
I wanna love you but I don't
chasing you
dance with you
Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac cover)
Share Your Address
Monsters
Yoü and I (Lady Gaga cover which featured on the Born This Way Tenth Anniversary album)
Grow as We Go
king of the world, pt. 3
Encore
imagine
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