The cure to Ben Platt's anxiety? The controlled chaos of performing

Ben Platt describes himself arsenic a highly anxious person, but determination is 1 spot that keeps his nerves astatine bay: the stage.

That mightiness dependable counterintuitive to astir people, but Platt grew up successful the spotlight, and finds the immersive immediacy of unrecorded show soothing. His caput can’t rotation a web of interest erstwhile he’s belting retired “Maybe This Time” by Kander and Ebb, oregon “Ease My Mind” from his debut workplace album, “Sing to Me Instead.”

“I emotion having a directive, and besides the suspension of clip erstwhile you’re performing and you’re forced to beryllium present,” Platt says during a caller interview. “It’s similar my favourite thing. It’s benignant of a drug.”

Platt volition beryllium successful his saccharine spot, opening Friday, for a 10-day engagement astatine the Ahmanson Theater. The performance series, directed by Tony victor Michael Arden, is simply a West Coast hold of Platt’s 2024 residency astatine Broadway’s Palace Theatre, which featured an awesome array of impermanent stars, including Cynthia Erivo, Kacey Musgraves, Kristin Chenoweth and Leslie Odom Jr.

The L.A. shows, which consciousness similar a homecoming to Platt, volition besides see peculiar duets, but Platt is staying mum connected conscionable who volition articulation him onstage. The astonishment is portion of the fun. Platt cites Judy Garland and her 1960s CBS assortment amusement arsenic his inspiration “in presumption of the mode that she would stock herself successful her solo shows, and however she had truthful galore celebrated collaborations and moments that she created with bringing successful different singers she admired.”

While the Palace amusement was highly tailored to Platt’s 3rd workplace album, “Honeymind,” which was released that aforesaid year, his Ahmanson gig is much holistic, showcasing the full breadth of his career, including each 3 of his albums, his deed Broadway musicals similar “Dear Evan Hansen” and his Netflix bid “The Politician.”

“There’s truly nary task I tin deliberation of that won’t beryllium represented,” says Platt. “It feels similar a small jewel container of each the stuff.”

Platt has a boyish look and a soft, self-assured speaking voice. In conversation, helium is benignant and centered, contiguous and interested. At 32, helium feels arsenic if helium is reaching a caller plateau successful life. One successful which helium is nary longer precociously young, but not yet aged — and each the wiser for it. He joined histrion and vocalist Noah Galvin past year. The mates thinks astir having children, but Platt fears helium would ne'er slumber again with each the fretting he’d bash astir his child’s future.

That anxiousness joins others: trouble flying, a inclination toward hypochondria, and existential worries astir happiness and fulfillment for himself and his loved ones. Platt touches wood often.

“At the halfway of it is the unknown,” says Platt. “The other of anxiousness isn’t calm, it’s certainty. That’s wherefore I emotion the controlled chaos of performing truthful much, due to the fact that there’s adrenaline and there’s spontaneity and there’s feeling alive, but I cognize what the program is. I cognize what’s expected of me. I cognize that I tin present it and I cognize it makes maine consciousness bully to bash it.”

“I privation radical to travel to my shows. I privation radical to cognize the projects I’m doing. As a queer person, I privation to stock my marriage,” Ben Platt says. “But successful a curated and harmless way.”

(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Platt is besides pivoting successful his usage of societal media to beforehand his enactment and prosecute with fans. When helium was younger, helium took a much bare-it-all approach, but helium present sees large worth successful drafting steadfast boundaries astir his backstage life.

“I privation radical to travel to my shows. I privation radical to cognize the projects I’m doing. As a queer person, I privation to stock my marriage,” Platt says. “But successful a curated and harmless way.”

Platt admires the old-school enigma that stars of a erstwhile procreation enjoyed, and seeks to emulate that arsenic overmuch arsenic imaginable wrong a modern scenery filled with oversharing. Talking astir himself — connected his presumption — onstage feels conscionable right.

Acting and singing for a surviving isn’t precisely the astir unchangeable profession, and contempt his fame, Platt is inactive astatine the whims of a changing and progressively volatile industry. He tapes auditions regularly, and tries to find bully enactment amid stiff competition. When things consciousness unsteady successful that realm, Platt feels particularly grateful for his quality to execute solo residencies similar the 1 astatine the Ahmanson.

The shows thrust the enactment betwixt theatrical communicative and popular concert, and lucifer Platt’s uniqueness arsenic a performer. Since helium began acting and singing arsenic a child, Platt has ne'er been conscionable 1 thing.

As the lad of movie and theatre shaper Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, Platt says helium had a “comically wide upbringing.”

“I see myself hugely privileged and blessed to person grown up here,” Platt says of L.A., wherever helium attended the elite Harvard-Westlake School earlier studying astatine New York’s Columbia University. He felt drawn to New York due to the fact that of the theater, but besides “to person a abstraction to truly signifier myself arsenic a person, and find who I americium arsenic an big and arsenic an creator extracurricular of the intensive assemblage that I grew up in.”

Coming backmost to L.A. for the Ahmanson shows represents a full-circle moment.

“It’s a ellipse that hopefully volition proceed for galore years and change,” says Platt, knocking connected wood 1 much time. “But astatine slightest for this chapter, it’s specified a bully return.”