Westport’s Justin Paul and fellow songwriter Benj Pasek said in authoring their Broadway hit “Dear Evan Hansen” they took great care in writing about teen suicide.
Justin Paul (l) with writing partner Benj Pasek at the Oscars in February. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo from ABC-TV
“We wanted to make sure the subject was treated thoughtfully and sensitively,” Paul told Variety, the show business publication.
“There was vetting of the script and of the story with mental health professionals, to make sure what we were telling felt truthful and honest, and like we weren’t trying to sugarcoat things, but that also wasn’t trying to provoke anything.”
Paul disclosed there was a small change made in the show as it moved from off-Broadway to Broadway.
The change was an “addition of two little lines toward the very, very end of the show, that we added after some feedback that we’d gotten from families of teenagers or people who had taken their own lives,” he said.
Click HERE for full interview.
