[2] The character of Evan was originated on stage by Ben Platt, who won the Tony Award for Best Actor for his performance and reprised it in the 2021 film adaptation of the musical.

[8] Stacey Mindich, who produced the Broadway, national tour and West End productions, explained "A student in [Pasek's] class died tragically of a drug overdose.

It was someone who had been sort of a loner, didn't have a lot of friends or status at school, but suddenly in the wake the death, Benj watched as everyone wanted to claim that they had been friends with him and claim that they had been a part of this person's life..."[9] Author Steven Levenson, during a panel event at the 2019 New York Comic Con, added "We all [noticed] a really fascinating, bizarre phenomenon of public grieving [on social media].

[11] The overwhelming positive reception toward the production and Platt's performance resulted in the show being transferred to Off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater in 2016 and finally to Broadway at the Music Box Theatre later that year.

During the show's US tour, which launched in October 2018 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts' Buell Theatre and concluded on July 2, 2023 at the Koger Center for the Arts in Columbia, South Carolina, Ben Levi Ross originated the role of Evan, followed by Stephen Christopher Anthony (who served as the tour's first Evan alternate) and Anthony Norman.

[17] Internationally, Robert Markus originated the role of Evan in the Toronto production at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 2019, with Piser serving as his alternate.

[18] Sam Tutty originated the role of Evan in the West End production at the Noël Coward Theatre in London, which began its run that same year before closing in 2022, with a brief halt in performances from March 2020 to October 26, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.

[19][20][21] In the 2024 South Korean production, which opened on March 28, 2024, at the Chungmu Arts Center in Seoul by S&Co, the role of Evan was triple-cast, featuring Park Kang-hyun, Kim Sung-kyu and Lim Kyu-hyung.

[25] In the 2024 UK Tour, Evan is played by Ryan Kopel with Sonny Monaghan both serving as his alternate at every matinee performance twice a week, and being in the production's ensemble.

The novel, which features additional material based on scenes and songs cut from the show's development that flesh out and expand upon the story, was released by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on October 9, 2018.

"[40] In his review of the Broadway production of the musical for The New York Times, Charles Isherwood praised Ben Platt's performance, writing "...when Mr. Platt sings Evan's songs — including the touching introductory cri de coeur, "Waving Through a Window" — we can simultaneously hear the heartsore, conflicted young man and the intelligent, kindly kid buried inside him.

"[43][44] Sam Tutty's performance as Evan in the West End production also received acclaim, earning him the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Not giving voice to anger at Evan Hansen avoids the more unpleasant ramifications of his exploitation of a tragedy for his own personal gain, which might complicate the audience's reaction to him.

Instead, he takes side trips into tired knee-jerk liberalism and therapeutic healing ... Evan confesses his deceit and makes it clear that all he wanted, really, was to be loved, because of, well, that absent daddy, that inattentive mommy, and the nastiness of the world.

[51] Adrian Horton of The Guardian, referring to Platt's presentation as a teenager, and the film's treatment of mental health, stated, "The movie asks the audience to not look at two elephants in the room, and unfortunately, no amount of soaring music can relieve that heavy a burden.

"[53] Peter Debruge of Variety, however, liked Platt's acting, but disliked the choice to cast "actors born the previous century" as high school students.

[55] On August 8, 2021, in an interview with Zach Sang on his YouTube talk show, Ben Platt said "I think the reaction is largely from people who don't understand the context of the piece — the fact that I created the role and workshopped it for three years ...

Notable examples include a sketch during Season 47 of Saturday Night Live, which featured Kyle Mooney costumed in the character's design from the 2021 film version, and a segment of the Off-Broadway show Forbidden Broadway: The Next Generation, which parodied the "Waving Through a Window" sequence.