Ben Platt’s Vocal Range: Fans Debate Whether ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Star Is a Baritone or Tenor
Ben Platt is a Broadway star who’s making a big transition into movies and TV, and his most recent work is the film adaptation of his hit musical, Dear Evan Hansen. Not only is he still the youngest actor to win a Tony Award, but his singing ability is still renowned to this day. However, just like with many other singers, many fans have wondered about Platt’s vocal range, and many are curious about just what type of singer he is. Some think he’s a baritone, others think he’s a tenor, and a few think he’s something else. Here’s a look at the debate between fans about Ben Platt’s vocal range.
Ben Platt is an accomplished singer and actor
While Platt’s role as Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen may be his most iconic role to date, it’s not his only role. In fact, despite being 28, he’s had a pretty successful career on stage, in film, on TV, and even in music. For example, one of his bigger roles in musical theater before Dear Evan Hansen was in The Book of Mormon, which was a successful show as well.
In movies, some of his earliest roles were in the Pitch Perfect franchise, and he naturally sang a few songs in those movies, too. And, of course, just to show off how good his singing is, he even has two solo albums. His debut album was Sing to Me Instead, and it came out in 2019. His second album, Reverie, dropped in 2021. None of those gigs would’ve been possible if Platt didn’t have as good of a voice as he does.
What is Ben Platt’s vocal range?
Like fans on Reddit discussed, there are three theories about Platt’s vocal range. The first theory is that he’s a baritone who can hit some high notes. This is mostly evidenced by how he can easily hit the low notes in songs. The second theory is that he’s a tenor — evidenced by the fact that Platt can hit some pretty high notes. Furthermore, like one Redditor said, the timbre of Platt’s voice also gives some credence to the tenor theory.
However, the third theory is a little bit of both. Some fans think that he’s a “bari-tenor,” which is to say that he’s really a baritone, but he can hit high notes that tenors can, too. The difference is, a true tenor, like one Redditor explained, should be able to hit those high notes consistently, and it’s not clear if Platt can do that. Another Redditor said that his great musical range was probably possible thanks to how much vocal training he got.
As far as how high his range goes, Platt opened up about his upper limits during an interview with Wired.
“I don’t know how high I can sing, like period,” he explained. “I would say in a chest voice — which is like full voice belted — on a great day, I can do like a C or a C sharp. But on any given day, probably like B flat.”
And there you have it!
The ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ film adaptation dropped in theaters on Sept. 24
At the end of the day, though, it’s clear that Platt can sing really well. His singing ability was one of the reasons why Dear Evan Hansen, the musical, was so successful. Not only did it make a lot of money in its Broadway run, but it also got itself a film adaptation, which is pretty rare for a stage musical. Dear Evan Hansen, the movie, premiered in theaters on Sept. 24, 2021, and it does justice to the songs.
This is because not only is Platt reprising his role as Evan Hansen, but he and the rest of the cast did live singing for the movie. This means that the actors are singing the songs as they are being filmed, and it’s not being dubbed over afterward. As such, Platt was able to give yet another great vocal performance for his fans to enjoy.
