Every day is opening night.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

Dear Evan Hansen Press Contacts:
Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett / Chelsea Nachman / Sammy Wolfin
rick@omdkc.com / molly@grapevineprny.com / chelsea@grapevineprny.com / sammy@omdkc.com

ARTSCONNECTION AND DEAR EVAN HANSEN
ENTER THIRD YEAR OF PARTNERSHIP
BRINGING NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL
STUDENT ARTISTS
TO THE TONY AWARD-WINNING MUSICAL

FALL 2019 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

New York, NY (September 25, 2019) — Producer Stacey Mindich is pleased to announce that Dear Evan Hansen will continue its innovative partnership with ArtsConnection, NYC’s leading arts-in-education organization, for a third year, bringing student artists from public school students across New York City to the Tony-Award-winning musical. This ongoing initiative, named ‘ART2ART – DEAR EVAN HANSEN,’ has already helped bring hundreds of students to see the show and continues now thanks to funding from The Shubert Organization, The Nederlander Organization and Ambassador Theatre Group.

Before attending Dear Evan Hansen, students participate in a workshop led by representatives from the cast and creative team of Dear Evan Hansen, during which they explore the relevant and very real themes within the show. The students use this time to prepare for not only the viewing of the show but also for the creative process of making art. Following the performance, each student expresses his/her response to the show by creating an original work of visual art.

“I’m thrilled to be able to continue working with ArtsConnection for a third year,” Mindich said. “Every year, I am overwhelmed by the incredible talent, passion, creativity and vulnerability I see in these students through their gorgeous artwork, and I’m so proud to display it around the Music Box Theatre. It is incredibly moving to recognize how deeply Dear Evan Hansen affects each and every one of them.”

Applications for the Fall 2019 session are now being accepted, and students throughout New York City are eligible to participate in ART2ART.  From its applicant pool, fifty students will be chosen to participate in each session. This program will be offered three times during the 2019-2020 season, and the resulting artwork will be preserved as part of a growing online gallery. These works are included in a curated online gallery (http://art2art.dearevanhansen.com/), and select pieces are displayed throughout Dear Evan Hansen’s Broadway home, the Music Box Theatre.  Cast members even choose selections for their dressing rooms. To watch a video highlighting the ART2ART experience, please click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFTiFtRx3xw

About ArtsConnection
ArtsConnection is a nationally recognized non-profit arts education organization with a 41-year history of giving New York City public school students, pre-kindergarten through grade 12, the skills, motivation and positive reinforcement they need to succeed academically and personally.  Their award-winning arts programs support literacy and foster communication, creativity, collaboration and critical thinking.  They direct their work to the most high-needs communities, and each year reach 45,000 students through partnerships with over 200 public schools annually  across the 5 boroughs and through after-school and weekend initiatives that engage middle and high school students in the cultural resources of New York City. Children and teens are learning to better understand themselves and the world around them through the music, dance, theater, media and visual arts programming led by a faculty of over 125 specially-trained professional artists who share their distinctive artistic perspectives to inspire, guide and teach students.   https://teens.artsconnection.org/art2art/

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The winner of six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Dear Evan Hansen features a book by Tony Award-winner Steven Levenson, a score by Academy Award, and Tony & Grammy Award-winning composers Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, and direction by 4-time Tony^® Award nominee Michael Greif.

Declared “one of the most remarkable shows in musical theater history” by the Washington Post’s Peter Marks, Dear Evan Hansen opened at the Music Box Theatre to rave reviews on December 4, 2016. There, it has broken all box office records and struck a chord with audiences and critics alike, including New York Times critic Jesse Green, who, in his May 2019 re-review of the show, declared it “more and more ingenious with each viewing. It is more hopeful than ever.”

The Broadway production celebrated its two-year anniversary with a special donation to the Smithsonian, where the show’s iconic blue polo and arm cast will now be part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. In addition to the Broadway and Tour productions, Dear Evan Hansen is currently on-sale for its highly anticipated London premiere, which starts performances October 29 and opens November 19 at the Noel Coward Theatre.

The Grammy Award-winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at #8 – the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961 – and went on to win the 2018 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album and hit Gold Record status, a rare feat for a Cast Recording. A deluxe version of the cast recording, including six bonus tracks and a pop cover from Katy Perry of “Waving through a Window” is now available digitally.

A special edition coffee table book authored by Levenson, Pasek and Paul, Dear Evan Hansen: through the window (Grand Central Publishing / Melcher) is now available, offering an in-depth, all-access look at the musical, including never-before-seen production photos and cast portraits, behind-the-scenes stories, and a fully annotated script by the authors.

In addition to winning six 2017 Tony awards and a 2018 Grammy Award, Dear Evan Hansen has won numerous other awards, including the 2017 Drama League Award for Outstanding Musical Production and for the off-Broadway production, two Obie Awards, a Drama Desk Award, and two Outer Critics Circle Awards and two Helen Hayes Awards. Dear Evan Hansen is also the winner of the Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards three years running, and was just proclaimed the Best Long-Running Show and the Best Touring Production in the 2019 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards.

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