Dear Evan Hansen Age Rating: A Parent’s Guide to the Show and Film

The recommended Dear Evan Hansen age rating is 13 and up, with a strong note that the musical and the 2021 film center on a teen suicide and its aftermath — material that is appropriate for most middle schoolers but genuinely too heavy for younger children. The Broadway production closed in September 2022 after a six-year run, but the show continues to tour regionally and is regularly produced by high schools and community theaters. The Universal Pictures film adaptation is available to stream in 2026. Here’s what parents need to know before booking tickets or starting the movie.

Key takeaways

• The recommended Dear Evan Hansen age rating is 13 and up for both the stage musical and the 2021 film. Common Sense Media rates the film 13+; the Broadway production was historically marketed as appropriate for ages 12 and up.
• The plot centers on a teen suicide and its aftermath. Mental health, anxiety, social media misrepresentation, and family grief are the show’s core subjects, and the material does not soften them.
• The film runs 2 hours 17 minutes and is rated PG-13 by the MPA for “thematic material involving suicide, brief strong language, and some suggestive references.”
• The Broadway production closed September 18, 2022 after 1,672 performances. National tour stops and regional productions continue through 2026 — check the official site for current cities.
• The show is genuinely affecting and uses music well, but it should not be a child’s first introduction to suicide as a subject. Plan a conversation before and after.

What is Dear Evan Hansen about?

Dear Evan Hansen is a contemporary musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Steven Levenson. It opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in December 2016 and ran until September 18, 2022, closing as one of the highest-grossing contemporary musicals in Broadway history. The show won six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

The story follows Evan Hansen, an anxious high school senior who, after a classmate named Connor Murphy dies by suicide, becomes entangled in a lie that he and Connor were close friends. As Evan’s deception grows, he is pulled into the grieving Murphy family’s home, into a relationship with Connor’s sister Zoe, and eventually onto a national stage as the face of a viral movement called “The Connor Project.” The musical traces the consequences of the lie — for Connor’s family, for Evan’s mother, for Evan himself — and the cost of building intimacy out of a story that isn’t true.

The score is the part most teens know first. “Waving Through a Window,” “You Will Be Found,” “For Forever,” “Words Fail,” and “Sincerely, Me” became cultural touchstones — they appear on choir set lists, TikTok montages, and audition reels. Pasek and Paul went on to write the songs for La La Land and The Greatest Showman, which gives you a sense of the musical style.

What is the Dear Evan Hansen age rating?

The Dear Evan Hansen age rating recommended by most major guides is 13 and up. Specifically:

• Common Sense Media rates the 2021 film for ages 13 and up, citing themes of suicide, anxiety, depression, and deception.
• The MPA rates the film PG-13 for “thematic material involving suicide, brief strong language, and some suggestive references.”
• The Broadway production’s marketing recommended the show for audiences ages 12 and up. The producers’ published guidance noted “themes of suicide, mental illness, and substance use,” and the show ran without a strict age minimum.
• Many high schools have produced the licensed school edition for ninth-grade casts and up.

Our take after seeing the show twice on Broadway and watching the film with a 12-year-old: 13 is the right number. The musical handles the subject with care, but it does not soften it. The opening monologue, the way Connor’s death is conveyed, the scene at the funeral, and the climactic confrontation with the Murphy family are all genuinely heavy moments. A 10- or 11-year-old who has never thought about teen suicide should not be introduced to it here first.

What content should parents know about?

The big content notes for both the stage show and the film:

• Suicide. A teenage character dies by suicide before the events of the show. The death is not depicted on stage, but it is discussed in detail throughout — the discovery of the body, the family’s grief, the speculation about motive. In the film, the discussion is somewhat more visual.
• Mental health. Evan has severe social anxiety, sees a therapist, and is on prescribed medication. His distress is a central element of the show. The film opens with Evan attempting to write a daily “Dear Evan Hansen” letter as part of a therapy exercise.
• Substance use. Connor Murphy is shown to have struggled with drug use in flashbacks and references; the discussion is brief but real.
• Family conflict. The Murphy family is depicted in active grief and tension. Evan’s relationship with his single mother is a central thread; their fights are emotionally intense.
• Mild profanity. The film includes scattered profanity including one use of stronger language; the stage show is similar.
• Suggestive references. One scene includes references to teenage sexual experience, mostly through humor in the song “Sincerely, Me.” There is no on-stage or on-screen sexual content.
• Deception and bullying. The mechanics of the lie at the heart of the show — including viral social media manipulation — is portrayed with nuance, but younger viewers may struggle with the ambiguity of Evan’s complicity.

Dear Evan Hansen: stage vs. film comparison

	Stage musical	2021 Universal film
Runtime	~2 hours 35 minutes (with intermission)	2 hours 17 minutes
Rating	Recommended 12+ by producers	PG-13 (MPA)
Lead	Originally Ben Platt; many actors since	Ben Platt
Original Broadway run	Dec 2016 – Sep 2022	Released September 24, 2021
Songs cut from film	—	“Disappear,” “To Break in a Glove,” “Good for You” cut or shortened
Where to see it in 2026	National tour + regional/school productions	Streaming on Universal-affiliated services
Age fit	13+ ideal	13+ ideal

Where can you see Dear Evan Hansen in 2026?

The Broadway production closed September 18, 2022, after 1,672 performances at the Music Box Theatre on West 45th Street. Lead producer Stacey Mindich announced the closing five years and nine months into the run, citing the post-pandemic Broadway recovery as a factor.

Three current paths to see Dear Evan Hansen in 2026:

1. The North American tour. The non-Equity national tour has been routing through regional presenting houses since 2018 and continues to book new cities through 2026. Tour stops are typically one-week engagements at downtown performing arts centers and Broadway-series venues. Check the show’s official site at dearevanhansen.com for the current schedule.
2. Regional productions. The licensed regional rights have been picked up by professional theaters across the country. Music Theatre International (MTI) licenses both the standard and high school editions of the show.
3. The 2021 Universal film. Streaming availability has shifted over time. As of 2026, the film is available on Peacock and via digital purchase on Apple TV, Amazon, and other transactional platforms.

How does the film compare to the stage show?

The 2021 Universal film adaptation, directed by Stephen Chbosky and starring Ben Platt in the role he originated on Broadway, is uneven. The casting was widely debated — Platt was 27 at filming, playing a 17-year-old high school senior, and reviewers noted the visual incongruity. Three songs from the stage show were cut or shortened (“Disappear,” “To Break in a Glove,” and “Good for You”), and a new song, “The Anonymous Ones,” was written for the film for the character of Alana Beck.

The film received mixed reviews on release — 30% on Rotten Tomatoes, 39 on Metacritic — though audience response was more positive. We’ve watched the film with several teenagers and the consensus is that the songs land emotionally even when the casting feels off. The musical’s central themes survive the screen translation; the high-school setting suffers.

If you can only see one version, see the stage show. The musical was written for live performance, and the emotional dynamics of the score work better in a room.

What is the school edition of Dear Evan Hansen?

Music Theatre International released a high school edition of Dear Evan Hansen in 2022 for licensing by school theater programs. The school edition trims some profanity, modifies a few staging requirements, and includes a detailed conversation guide for educators on how to address the suicide content with student casts and audiences. The score is unchanged.

If your child’s school is producing Dear Evan Hansen, it is almost certainly the school edition. The conversation guide is good — it includes resources from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), which partnered with the original Broadway production from 2017 onward to provide mental health resources to audiences. AFSP and the show’s production team published a joint media guide on responsible discussion of suicide that the school edition references directly.

How should you prepare a tween or teen for Dear Evan Hansen?

We always do three things before taking a kid to a heavy show:

1. Tell them what the show is about. Surprise is not a tool with material like this. Give them the basic premise: a high schooler dies, another high schooler gets pulled into a lie about being his friend, and the lie spirals. This is not a spoiler — it’s the first ten minutes of the show.
2. Listen to the cast album first. The original Broadway cast recording is widely streamed. Hearing the songs in advance lets a kid know the shape of the score, recognize the moments, and process the emotional peaks without the in-theater pressure.
3. Plan the post-show conversation. Don’t ambush them with it in the car ride home. Tell them you’d like to talk about it the next day. Ask specifically: what did you think about how Evan handled the lie? Did the family’s grief feel real to you? What do you wish had happened differently?

If your child has a personal connection to mental health struggles or a family loss to suicide, talk to them before you book tickets. The show is not gratuitous, but it is direct, and for some kids it will be a difficult experience.

Is Dear Evan Hansen appropriate for middle school?

Dear Evan Hansen is appropriate for middle schoolers in seventh and eighth grade (roughly ages 12 to 14) if the child has a reasonable level of emotional maturity, can handle a serious dramatic subject, and is prepared in advance. We would not bring a sixth grader. The show is also a regular pick for ninth and tenth-grade student trips, where it tends to land well — high schoolers see themselves on stage in a way that hits harder than parent-pleasing musicals do.

For an eleven-year-old who loves musical theater and has been begging to go, we’d suggest: listen to the cast album with them, watch the film at home first (where you can pause), and then decide on a live ticket. The album-to-film-to-stage sequence is the gentlest on-ramp we know.

What are the songs in Dear Evan Hansen?

The full song list, in performance order, is:

• “Anybody Have a Map?” — opening number, mothers
• “Waving Through a Window” — Evan’s anxiety anthem; the show’s breakout song
• “For Forever” — Evan’s first invented memory of Connor
• “Sincerely, Me” — comic relief; Evan, Jared, and Connor in fake-email mode
• “Requiem” — the Murphy family processing Connor’s death
• “If I Could Tell Her” — Evan and Zoe; widely streamed
• “Disappear” — the genesis of the Connor Project (cut from the film)
• “You Will Be Found” — the Act One finale; the show’s emotional centerpiece
• “To Break in a Glove” — Larry Murphy and Evan (cut from the film)
• “Only Us” — Evan and Zoe’s love song
• “Good for You” — Heidi (Evan’s mother), Alana, and Jared confronting Evan (shortened in the film)
• “Words Fail” — Evan’s confession; the show’s hardest emotional moment
• “So Big / So Small” — Heidi and Evan’s reconciliation
• “Finale” — the company

The film added a new song, “The Anonymous Ones,” for the character of Alana Beck, sung by Amandla Stenberg.

Frequently asked questions

Is Dear Evan Hansen okay for a 12-year-old?

Dear Evan Hansen is appropriate for most 12-year-olds with parental preparation. The show centers on a teen suicide and includes serious themes of anxiety, mental illness, and family grief. We recommend listening to the cast album in advance, talking through the basic plot before going, and planning a post-show conversation. For a younger 12-year-old or a child sensitive to heavy themes, wait until 13 or 14.

Is Dear Evan Hansen still on Broadway in 2026?

No. The Dear Evan Hansen Broadway production closed September 18, 2022 after 1,672 performances at the Music Box Theatre. The show continues to tour regionally across North America in 2026, and regional and high school productions are licensed through Music Theatre International. Check the show’s official site for current tour dates and cities.

What is the Dear Evan Hansen movie rating?

The 2021 Dear Evan Hansen film is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for “thematic material involving suicide, brief strong language, and some suggestive references.” The runtime is 2 hours 17 minutes. The film is directed by Stephen Chbosky and stars Ben Platt, who originated the role of Evan on Broadway.

Is Dear Evan Hansen sad?

Yes. Dear Evan Hansen is one of the most emotionally heavy contemporary musicals. The show explores teen suicide, severe anxiety, family grief, and the consequences of a sustained lie. It includes moments of warmth and humor, particularly in songs like “Sincerely, Me,” but the overall tone is serious. Most audience members cry at some point during “You Will Be Found” or “Words Fail.”

What is Dear Evan Hansen rated for school productions?

Music Theatre International licenses a high school edition of Dear Evan Hansen designed for student casts and audiences. The school edition modifies some language and includes a comprehensive conversation guide for educators on addressing the suicide content with students. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention has partnered with the show to provide mental health resources to school productions.

Who originally played Evan Hansen on Broadway?

Ben Platt originated the role of Evan Hansen on Broadway when the show opened at the Music Box Theatre in December 2016. He won the 2017 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for the performance and reprised the role for the 2021 Universal film. Other notable Broadway Evans include Noah Galvin, Taylor Trensch, Jordan Fisher, Andrew Barth Feldman, and Jimmy Smagula.

What does the title Dear Evan Hansen mean?

The title refers to a therapeutic letter-writing exercise Evan’s therapist has prescribed. Each letter begins “Dear Evan Hansen” and is meant to help Evan articulate hopes for his own day. The plot’s central conflict begins when one of these letters falls into the wrong hands and is misinterpreted as a suicide note written by another character. The title frames the entire show as a self-addressed letter.

Should I show Dear Evan Hansen to my child after a death in the family?

Not necessarily, and not without consideration. The show portrays grief, suicide, and family loss with real intensity. For a child recently bereaved — particularly by suicide — Dear Evan Hansen may be retraumatizing rather than cathartic. Consult with a mental health professional or grief counselor, watch the film first yourself, and talk with your child about what kind of media feels supportive right now. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) can also help connect families with resources.

Where to go from here

If you’re building a year of family theater outings, our coverage of age-appropriate live performance is a good starting point. Read our Westchester Philharmonic family guide for orchestra outings, our NYC theater on the cheap guide for affordable Broadway tickets, and the broader arts and culture section for theater, museum, and concert recommendations.

For more on the team writing what you read here, see our editors page. For NYC family day plans beyond the theater, our hands-on science museum guide covers MoMath, the Hall of Science, and more.