It was nearly two years ago that musical Dear Evan Hansen opened at Broadway’s Music Box Theatre — and quickly went on to become a phenomenon winning multiple Tony awards, including best musical. But the show’s evolution is far from finished: the original cast album became one of only seven in the past 50 years to reach the top 20 of the Billboard 200; a book based on the show recently came out and a national tour is underway, with international productions planned in Toronto and London next year.
And, now, a digital deluxe cast album released today (Nov. 2). Dear Evan Hansen (Original Broadway Cast Recording) — Deluxe Album adds to the original cast recording’s track list previously unreleased songs, demos and acoustic versions performed by current and original cast members, plus a special new version of signature song “Waving Through a Window” performed by Katy Perry, who’s said the show left her “emotionally transformed forever.”
In advance of the album’s release, the Broadway production’s current stars shared with Billboard their Spotify playlists of the tunes they imagine their characters would listen to. Read all about, and hear them, below.
Related
Taylor Trench (Evan)
“I think Evan would listen to a podcast before he’d listen to an album. Eventually I settled on this mix of instrumental music from film scores and composers around the world that he’d use for meditative purposes and dreamy, mellow, sometimes romantic, sometimes heartbreaking songs by singers whose voices come from deep in their guts.
“‘Alone is Kyoto’ by Air best describes what it’s like to be in Evan’s body day-to-day. If Evan’s life were a movie, Cat Power’s cover of Phil Phillips’ “Sea of Love” is what would play when he sees Zoe slow-motion walk down the hallway on the first day of school. “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” as performed by Natalie Cole is kind of a wild card. It’s maybe a glimpse of the hope and joy that is sometimes available to Evan — or maybe it’s just me, Taylor, thinking it’s a really really good song.”
Alex Boniello (Connor)
“My Connor playlist has a lot of emo/hardcore music on it. I think a lot of young people use music as an outlet to let out their frustrations, rage, or aggression. I can see Connor trying to do that, too. I can picture him trying to learn those songs on the guitar in his bedroom. Some of the music is more than ten years old as well. Connor strikes me as the kind of person who would think it was cooler to listen to some stuff that came before him.”
Sky Lakota-Lynch (Jared)
“Jared Kleinman is too cool for the music of the times. He is proudly a walking 90’s movie… but he doesn’t mind sneaking a little of his parents Manischewitz and listening to a dusty Bette Midler record.”
Phoenix Best (Alana)
“Alana isn’t someone who comes off to me as a person who only explores one genre. I tried to show all of the moods Alana might feel and how they are portrayed musically.”