Despite being a seasoned performer, Ben Platt detailed a time in 2019 when he experienced severe stage fright.
In a conversation with The New York Post, Platt shared that in 2019, when he was previewing his studio album Sing to Me Instead, he got a strong dose of a Dear Evan Hansen level of anxiety hours before performing.
"I'm not necessarily someone who gets nervous or afraid to perform," Platt said about himself. "I've been doing theater my whole life. I love singing, and I don't necessarily get jitters. But I got incredibly scared."
According to the Pitch Perfect star, he had "really bad stage fright" in the hours before his show.
"And I think I took for granted how different it was going to feel performing," he recalled.
Performing in front of a packed theatre is almost a muscle memory for Platt as he swept critics and fans alike when he sold out shows in Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway in 2016. He won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical in 2017 by playing the titular role that he reprised in the movie adaptation of the musical.
"In theater, you can get nervous that something is going to go awry, but at least you know exactly what's supposed to happen," Platt elaborated. "And when you're doing your own show, it's entirely your call. Like, there's so much freedom, and it's very shapeless. And so I just felt so much more control than I'd ever felt before, which is just a scary thing for the first time."
Platt has since embarked on his three-week concert residency at the historic Palace Theatre in Broadway, New York. In the past few days, he has invited stars like Kristin Chenoweth, Kacey Musgraves, Laura Dreyfuss, Leslie Odom Jr., Rachel Zegler, Alex Newell, Adrienne Warren, and even his husband, Noah Galvin.
Platt also made the bold move of pursuing a career as a pop singer. The "Grow As We Go" singer released his latest album, Honeymind, on May 31, 2024.
"I think people expected a very particular musical-theater sound and type of thing," Platt said about his transition from Broadway to pop music. "And I think that there is an earnestness and a seriousness that comes with being from the theater that sometimes pop music in particular is very against."
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