Quotes From Ben Platt, David Hyde Pierce & Andy Karl

We recently caught up with three of the five nominees for the 2017 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical and we thought we would share their thoughts with you ahead of this weekend's 71st Annual Tony Awards ceremony at Radio City Music Hall.

Along with Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 star Josh Groban, and Falsettos' leading man Christian Borle (who can currently be seen as Willy Wonka in the Broadway premiere of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), the nominees include David Hyde Pierce (for his performance as Horace Vandergelder in the Bette Midler-led revival of Hello, Dolly!), Andy Karl (for his portrayal of TV Weatherman Phil Connors in Groundhog Day) and Ben Platt (for his performance in the title role of Dear Evan Hansen)...

Tony and 4-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce on where Hello, Dolly! ranks in his illustrious career on stage so far:

"Well, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event! I've had many great experiences with many wonderful performers and productions. But Bette Midler is Bette Midler! And so to be doing this iconic show with this iconice star is quite a trip!"

Three-time Tony nominee and Olivier Award winner Andy Karl on this awards season and representing Groundhog Day:

"To be a part of an Awards show is fantastic and to be the only actor representing 'Groundhog Day' - I mean, I find the show brilliant, so I can't believe that I'm the only one, but I'm glad I can represent the show in that way. I'll take it! I'll take the torch and say: "Yes! It's that good!" I'm only as good as the material I'm given, so on many levels it's pretty surreal and pretty wonderful!"

Tony nominee Ben Platt on how he created the amazing title character of Dear Evan Hansen:

"I think it was a combination of things. Our book writer Steven Levenson had a really specific, jumping-off point of this kid that he had in mind in terms of the way he wrote his rhythm and his self-effacing comedy. His deep inability to connect was such a great place to jump off from and I think it was then a mixture of using that as an impetus for some instincts physically and also thinking about kids from my own past at high school that also had a difficulty connecting and were social outcasts and taking tidbits from them. I tried to create a kid that was specific enough that you felt you knew him from somewhere in your life, but universal enough that you could see yourself in him somewhere."

Originally published on

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