Dear Evan Hansen,

Whenever I watch a television show or film in which the lead character tells a lie, for whatever reason, and that lie becomes the fuel for the plot, I always get extremely anxious for the point when the lie has become so large and out of control that the lead must get caught or come clean. I feel uncomfortable, sometimes so much that I have to stop watching the show or film. It becomes too stressful for me sitting with the knowledge that the lie, growing in meaning and power, will bring disaster in the guise of shame and judgment by those affected.

The introverted and anxious Evan (played by the super talented Ben Platt), the lead of Dear Evan Hansen, this exceptional new musical I was lucky enough to see at the lovely Arena Stage in Washington, DC, gets himself trapped and entangled in this…