I never get out of Los Angeles.
I'm working all the time.
I have weekends off.
That's all I have.
But I have heard so much about this play.
And everyone raves about it.
You won a Tony Award for it, congratulations.
Well, thank you very much.
So explain to everyone what Dear Evan Hansen is.
Sure, so Dear Evan Hansen is a musical--
it's still running on Broadway-- that we start developing
like 3 and 1/2 years ago.
The music by Paschim Paul, who wrote the music in La La
Land, and they have a movie Greatest Showman coming out.
And it's about a really lonely, sort
of anxiety ridden teenager, who struggles to connect.
And that's kind of amplified by hyper connectivity,
and social media, and all that good stuff.
And so I think fabricates this big lie
the whole show is about, a friendship that he
had with a kid in his class that was untrue with a kid that
has taken his own life.
And through this fake friendship,
kind of, finds a new confidence and a new voice.
Although, it's kind of predicated on a lie.
So it's sort of this moral story of whether
or not that's the right path or not.
And then social media also plays a big role in it.
There's lots of projections and sort
of interjections from the world around him.
But it's a really--
I mean, all Broadway is intense, because how many
shows a week did you do?
We did eight shows a week.
So we did up production in DC, a production
off Broadway, and now on Broadway.
So it's been quite a long journey.
And we eight a week.
And it's a lot of sort of discipline,
and a lot of not eating dairy or gluten,
and not going out, not drinking, and not smoking.
Why I mean, I agree with all those things anyway, but why
not the dairy and gluten?
What's that got to do with performing?
So as a singer, it's caused a lot of mucus.
Like, it's bad for like--
and also, in the show, I had to cry a great amount.
So there's a lot of, like, mucus coming out anyway,
not to be disgusting.
But--
I'm sorry I missed it.
So I heard that you didn't like talk.
You didn't do anything on your downtime.
I didn't, I mean, especially when
I was feeling a little bit shaky in the voice.
Because it is a really vocally demanding part and I
wanted to really give it my all every night.
But that gave me sort of a great opportunity
to meditate on the experience and have a chance
to take everything in.
Because I've been doing theater since I
was six or seven years old.
And so, to be an original Broadway musical that
wins the Tony, and create a character from scratch,
and have all this wonderful stuff happen,
has been my dream since I was a little kid.
So it gave me an opportunity to have time
to process all of that.
I'm glad you did.
And you're only 24, right?
Yes, indeed, 24.
So to achieve all this by the time you're 24--
I'm just going to go to bed now.
Yeah.
You should rest.
You need to rest for a little while.
That's a lot.
I mean, that's a lot to take on.
So Beyonce came to see you, which I know that was--
I mean, from what I understand, everyone
went to see you except for me.
I think I'm the only person who didn't.
And I'm sorry.
That's all right.
I can see you've got stuff going on.
I've got a few things.
But did you know she was in the audience before you went out?
I had some morning, which was good,
because I don't think I would have really been
able to handle myself if not.
Beyonce is my, sort of, number one of all people.
Like, I can't really be around her
without fully just going crazy.
And so I had two days' notice.
I like planned a haircut, planned an extra voice lesson,
really wore my favorite outfit, and then
as soon as I walked out on stage,
I saw just the silhouette her hair on the aisle.
It was just everything I had ever dreamed.
She took the time to come back and see us
and was kind enough to talk about the show.
And it was everything I dreamed.
It was unbelievable.
And then you just got signed to a record deal.
I did.
I'm going to make an album at Atlantic Records.
And will you have her on your record?
There is nothing that I would love more than that.
The thought of that really makes me sweat.
I would be the most--
even if she wanted to just, like, say a single word
at the start of a track, or appear
on the cover of the album-- just, anything
she wanted to do.
You make her hair seem so long.
I mean, every time you motion her hair,
it gets longer and longer.
It's just a wavy sea of glory.
- Of glory?
It is a wave.
You're right.
It's a wavy sea of glory.
All right, well, it's so nice meeting you.
And thanks for being here.
It's my pleasure.
And congratulations on everything
that's going on in your life.
And you're in sexiest man in People.
And so you're a sexy man.
Oh.
You've got all these things going on.
So the name of the book is Dear Evan Hansen,
Through the Window.
Everyone in the audience, you're going home with a copy.