Ben Platt wears both his nervous diffidence and his blazing talent on his sleeve.
Sometimes his neurotic, navel-gazing side gets the better of his artistry, as was the case at his concert at the Greek Theatre in the summer of 2024. Despite the glory of his singing and the enviable success of his award-lavished career, he made his life of enormous privilege seem like a tale of unremitting anguish and woe.
It’s not easy growing up LGBTQ+. Stigma and alienation are unavoidable even in the most progressive quarters. But it wasn’t always easy to sympathize with his trials and tribulations in the most elite enclaves of Los Angeles.
Many young queer people suffer a good deal worse, without a Tony, Grammy and Emmy to console them. But a new maturity is in evidence in his latest hometown concert, “Ben Platt: Live at the Ahmanson.” In this exquisitely staged show, directed by Tony winner Michael Arden, Platt recaps the story of his life with an ironic touch while singing songs that mark his fretful, meteoric journey.
Many of the anecdotes are the same, including some light-hearted mention of his round-robin dating with the few other out students at the prestigious Harvard-Westlake School. But Platt seems to have realized just how lucky he has been. Acknowledging the “horrible year” everyone has just lived through, he promises — and delivers — an evening of musical escape.
Judy Garland, the inspiration for his 2024 Broadway concert, “Ben Platt: Live at the Palace,” continues to serve as muse. Her rendition of “That’s Entertainment!” warms up the audience before Platt makes his kid-in-a-candy-store entrance.
The show begins with “Corner of the Sky” from “Pippin,” a piano bar staple that hard-core musical theater buffs could sing at any level of inebriation. But Garland quickly returns when Platt pairs two songs that grapple in different ways with the situation of unrequited love.
“Andrew” — from his latest solo album, “Honeymind” —delves into the experience of falling for a straight guy who can’t reciprocate. “The Boy Next Door,” which Garland made famous in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis,” tells a tale of heterosexual longing hiding in plain sight.
Selections from Platt’s studio albums make up a fair portion of the bill. All of them are personal, but the most affecting are those that are uninhibited in their introspective rumblings, such as “Grow As We Go” and the sublime “Before I Knew You,” which he prefaced with a loving tribute to his husband, fellow actor and singer Noah Galvin. From “Dear Evan Hansen,” the show that shot him to stardom, he opted for a song that his title character didn’t get to sing, “Requiem.” (Platt acknowledged that he had spent enough time living inside Evan’s troubled mind.)
Two songs that he sang on his Netflix drama “The Politician” tap into his reverence for Joni Mitchell and Billy Joel. Mitchell’s “River,” one of the highlights of the concert, draws out the shimmering range of his voice, which swoops effortlessly into a breathy falsetto that has the quality of a master jazz drummer pulling out the brushes. A robust homage to Joel’s “Vienna” brought out the storytelling showman in Platt, whose confidence soars in a song that’s right in his sweet spot.
Ah, but I’m burying the lede. Each performance features a different special guest, and at Friday’s show the visiting luminary was none other than Josh Groban, whom Platt referred to as “the G.O.A.T.” Both grew up in Los Angeles, and both expressed gratitude to the arts educators who inspired them and to the Los Angeles theater scene that spurred them onto greatness.
Josh Groban, left, makes a cameo in Ben Platt’s show at the Ahmanson Theatre.
(Makela Yepez)
Groban thanked Platt for the opportunity to make his debut at the Ahmanson, a stage they know well, especially Platt, who not only attended performances there regularly but twice appeared in productions, in his own playful words, as an “effeminate, sad child.”
The two men sang a duet of “What I Did for Love” from “A Chorus Line” that was memorable mostly for the way it permitted these sometimes rivals who have competed for Tony Awards a chance to revel in the communal ties that bind them. The audience was breathless not only with excitement but with phone activity recording the encounter for digital posterity.
Psychologists will make of it what they will that the song Platt chose to perform after Groban left the stage was “The Winner Takes It All,” which he said he included for no other reason than that he was so moved by Christine Sherrill’s performance in the new Broadway production of “Mamma Mia!”
His version of the number, expertly balancing camp with sincerity, was a complete delight — and utterly devoid of sinister subtext. Platt just wanted to have fun, as was the case in his moodily reworked rendition of Addison Rae’s social media hit “Diet Pepsi,” which he cheekily introduced as an American songbook treasure.
Arden, who directed “Ben Platt: Live at the Palace,” brings the same level of meticulous care that earned him a Tony Award this year for the musical “Maybe Happy Ending.” Matt Steinbrenner’s production design artfully exposes the historic character of the Ahmanson stage. Ryan Healey’s sublime lighting supplies the enchantment that makes this offering such a perfect holiday gift.
Two backup singers, Shaunice Alexander and Allen René Louis (who did the vocal arrangements) seemed as thrilled to be playing the Ahmanson as Platt. The homey feeling they shared was supported by a band that has the stylistic grace of a well-honed orchestra. (Platt gave musical director Chase Foster a shout-out for the bespoke arrangements.)
Adorning himself in a white boa, Platt channeled Liza Minnelli, whom he called the greatest nepo baby of all time. It was a high compliment from the son of “Wicked” producer Marc Platt, born out of respect for the virtuosity and work ethic that enabled her to move out of the shadow of her mother’s once-in-a-century talent. He then sang a version of “Maybe This Time” from “Cabaret” that no doubt would have had Minnelli cheering as vociferously as the bowled-over Ahmanson crowd.
But making sure to give mother Garland her due, Platt returned for an encore with “Over the Rainbow” in a rendition evoking Rufus Wainwright’s haunting interpretation of this classic from “The Wizard of Oz.” Whatever the influence, Platt’s parting number sent us home on a cloud of ecstasy.
‘Ben Platt: Live at the Ahmanson’
Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave.
When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Thursdays; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturdays; 3 and 8 p.m. Sundays. Through Dec. 21.
Tickets: Start at $44.85
Contact: (213) 628-2772 or CenterTheatreGroup.org
Running time: 1 hours, 40 minutes (with no intermission)