Tony winner Ben Platt’s L.A. high school days: He shone in different ways than Evan Hansen, teachers say

In “Dear Evan Hansen,” newly minted Tony winner Ben Platt portrays a high schooler who’s so nervous, unsure and desperately lonely that he seems to fold into himself, as though trying to make himself disappear. Before “Dear Evan Hansen” opened in December, he told The Times: “All I’ve ever really dreamed about since I was, like, 6 years old is to be in a new musical” like this one and “to tell stories that are relevant and try to show the world as it is and try to make some kind of serious or sincere statement.” He grew up among four performance-minded siblings in the musical-obsessed Westwood household of Julie and theater-film producer Marc Platt. Any show Ben was in, that was true.” Spears observed similar qualities in Platt’s contributions to the improv group: “He’s the kind of person you want to be onstage and play with: He’s open and genuine and present.” Platt landed leading roles in musicals all three years at Harvard-Westlake, also portraying the Baker in “Into the Woods” and the writer Stine in “City of Angels,” as well as appearing in non-musicals. “In developing character, his way into things was through the musicality.” It was as a choir kid that Platt got an early taste of performing music by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the lyricist-composers of “Dear Evan Hansen.” For a senior showcase, Platt and three friends chose “Like Breathing,” from Pasek and Paul’s novice show “Edges.” “We cried and had a fun, high-school-ending drama, the whole nine yards,” he told The Times.