YOU CAN’T STOP BEN PLATT
Singer, Actor + Broadway Star Can Do It All
Netflix concert films vary in production value and feel, often depending on the performer in question’s star power. Ben Platt might not be a household name. Still, his debut special, Ben Platt: Live from Radio City Music Hall, is every bit as grand and theatrical as Netflix’s concert films starring pop superstars such as Taylor Swift and Justin Timberlake.
And yet there’s also an intimacy and a coziness to this concert. Perhaps it’s the set, dressed up to look like a living room, an equalizer that brings Platt into your living room, despite being filmed live on stage in New York. Maybe it’s the conversations that Platt has with the audience in between songs — it’s almost as if he’s baffled as to how he got to this point, performing at Radio City Music Hall for a packed crowd, an incredibly humbling experience.
Though Platt has been performing since he was young, joining The Book of Mormon in 2012 when he was still a teenager and appearing in Pitch Perfect that same year, he’s had an uphill climb to solo stardom. His role in Pitch Perfect was small but didn’t go unnoticed; Platt was nominated for the Scene Stealer award at the Teen Choice Awards.
Platt returned to Broadway in Dear Evan Hansen, which occupied much of his time until his starring role on The Politician, which premiered last year. Also in 2019: the release of Sing to Me Instead, Platt’s debut album which forms the basis of his concert film.
In Live from Radio City Music Hall, Platt performs a full set from the album plus some fantastic covers of songs from Brandi Carlile and Elton John. The Elton John cover, “Take Me to the Pilot,” is accompanied by some lovely choreography performed by Platt and his backup vocalists.
Between Platt’s winning dynamic with the band and singers to his shoutouts to famous faces in the audience (try to play I Spy picking out celebrities in the crowd), this concert film truly feels like you’re hanging out in a living room with a bunch of theatre kids, and one of them is putting on one hell of a show.
Only that living room is on stage at Radio City Music Hall and the performer is none other than Ben Platt. Whether you’re already a fan or are coming into this show blind, Platt’s vibrant arrangements and incredible live vocals make for a joyous 90-minute odyssey.
