Inside STAT: Dear Evan Hansen’ is fiction, but its actors hear from real people in pain

ALEX BONIELLO AND ANDREW BARTH FELDMAN IN “DEAR EVAN HANSEN” ON BROADWAY. (MATTHEW MURPHY)

Shows and plays that portray suicide often try to prepare by hiring mental health consultants to look at the script or adding resources to their credits. But they still have to grapple with another problem after the premiere: handling deeply personal messages from fans, including some that signal a person is in crisis. This has been the case for Alex Boniello, who plays Connor Murphy in the Broadway show “Dear Evan Hansen,” which deals with teen suicide and severe social anxiety. “I get so, so, so many letters sent to the theater of young people telling me their story,” Boniello tells STAT’s Megan Thielking. Now, three years after the show’s premiere, the team has a streamlined approach for responses, including flagging potentially concerning messages and sharing mental health resources with the senders. Read more here.