BEN PLATT’S NEXT STAGE

We’ll just say it: Ben Platt has too much talent for one person. The multifaceted performer, who is only an Oscar away from being an EGOT, has announced an 18-concert residency at Broadway’s freshly refurbished Palace Theatre starting on 5/28, just three days before the drop of his brand new Interscope album, Honeymind.

Said album was produced by Grammy magnet Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile) and features material Platt co-wrote with such tunesmiths as Hilary Lindsey, Natalie Hemby and Alex Hope. Honeymind’s lead single—and the first indicator of its folky, organic sound—is the incandescent love song “Andrew,” the enchanting video for which was helmed by Sam Wrench, who directed Taylor Swift’s Eras movie.

Playing the Palace, meanwhile—which the Adam Mersel-managed Platt will do through 6/15 (ticket info here)—is a major benchmark for a theatrical star; just ask Josephine Baker, Harry Belafonte, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Liza Minelli or any other legendary performer who ever trod its venerable boards. OK, maybe you can’t ask all of them. But you can ask Ben.

"It is far beyond my wildest imagination to play a residency of my own music in a house as storied as the Palace,” reads a quote from the entertainer. "I feel blessed to be part of the theater community, and to have the opportunity to perform as myself and from my own perspective on a Broadway stage is one of the greatest honors of my life. I can’t wait to introduce my new record on the beautifully revived stage. My hope is to bridge my musical-theater roots that I hold so dear with the world of classic Americana songwriting that I’ve fallen so deeply in love with. I mean, Liza! Judy! 'Dreams come true' doesn’t even begin to cover it!"

Photo: Vince Aung