By Anay Simunovic ’18

On Sunday, June 11 the Tony Awards, hosted by Kevin Spacey, were held at Radio City Music Hall where members of the theatrical community were recognized for their excellence in live Broadway theatre.

Among the award winners were “Oslo” for best play and” Dear Evan Hansen” for best musical.

“Dear Evan Hansen” tells the story of Evan Hansen, played by Ben Platt, a high school senior with a social anxiety disorder who finds himself in turmoil after the death of a classmate.

“The message of the musical is so important for teenagers to hear,” Brooke Kessler ’18 said. “The show has such an amazing platform to convey that message.”

Benj Pasek and former Staples graduate, Justin Paul, wrote the music and lyrics for “Dear Evan Hansen”. Pasek and Paul won best original score for their work.

“This is sacred ground to us, and nothing compares to it,” Paul said in a backstage interview upon receiving the award.

Members of the Westport community are excited to see a former Staples student achieve such a high honor.

“It’s amazing that Justin Paul went to Staples and was recognized in such a huge way,” Juliette Schwebel ’19 said.

“Dear Evan Hansen” was the big winner of the night winning a total of six Tony Awards including best musical, best lead actor in a musical, best featured actress in a musical, best book of a musical, best orchestration and best original score.

“I really liked the show,”Alyssa Hyman ’18, who recently saw the Broadway performance, said,  “because I thought that the actors did an amazing job portraying their characters, especially, Ben Platt, whose character was definitely difficult to act out.”