Pride walk: Ben Platt takes The Post on a tour of the NYC spots that made him loud and proud
For Ben Platt, his coming-out party as a pop artist on “Sing to Me Instead,” his 2018 debut studio LP, was no big queer reveal.
“When I made my first album, it was sort of received as, like, a ‘coming out’ — and it’s not even something that I anticipated,” Platt, 30, said in The Post’s exclusive video series, “Music to My Years.”
In fact, for Platt, it was all a matter of fact: The Tony-winning star of “Dear Evan Hansen” had come out as gay long before that — “when I was 12 or 13,” he said.
“If I’m going to write about my relationship or I’m going to depict it in a music video, it’s a queer relationship,” said Platt of openly expressing his sexuality. “So it was kind of a no-brainer to me. And then I didn’t really realize till after the fact that it was, like, still somewhat radical.”
And just as Pride Month begins, “Honeymind” — Platt’s third studio album that arrived on Friday, three days after the beginning of his 18-show residency at Broadway’s historic Palace Theatre — is a sweet reminder that queer love has always been here.
Get used to it.
It’s a rainbow flag that Platt is proud to wave all year round. “Having a lot of queer fans who feel like their relationships and the specific complexities and experiences of being in a queer relationship are reflected in my music … is something I love to see in my audience,” he said. “Queerness has just always been an intrinsic part of my art.”
There is an easy openness about the queer experience on “Honeymind” — with Grammy-winning producer Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Brandi Carlile) behind the boards — but the album harks back to another time when the LGBTQ community didn’t live so out loud in the music world.
In fact, it’s ’70s singer-songwriters such as James Taylor, Cat Stevens and Paul Simon (with and without Art Garfunkel) who are the touchstone troubadours.
But right after the airy acoustic-guitar balladry of opener “Right Kind of Reckless,” you realize that we’re not in Kansas anymore. The LP’s second track, “All American Queen,” comes sashaying on out as the queer anthem we needed for Pride 2024.
“He was born in the sticks, right in the middle of fall/He wants to be a cheerleader, runs away from the ball/He’s got a song in his heart and a collection of dolls/And there’s a pale shade of pink on his bedroom wall,” Platt sings on this shimmering sunshine-pop bop.
“I wrote it with Alex Hope … and they’re also queer,” said Platt. “We loved the idea of writing about, like, a young kid growing up in America who is, like, cliche American and traditional … but he’s incredibly flamboyant. He’s a queen. I just think that that is part of the fabric of America that always has been there.”
Meanwhile, “Before I Knew You” is a heartfelt dedication to Platt’s fiancé, Noah Galvin. The two singer-actors got engaged in November 2022 and are getting hitched this fall in Brooklyn, their home borough.
The couple met when “we were like 19, 20 years old, doing a web series that never saw the light of day,” said Platt. “And we immediately had, like, an attraction to each other and started dating pretty quickly. But then I panicked and … I sent him a long text message, and I was like, ‘We should just be friends.’ ”
While the two remained friends, they eventually rekindled their romance. And last Friday, Galvin joined Kacey Musgraves, Kristin Chenoweth and Leslie Odom Jr. as one of the surprise guests that Platt will have on each night of his residency that ends June 15.
But there’s always one special spirit in the house: Judy Garland, who famously played the newly renovated venue in her career. Respect is paid when Platt closes his show with a stunning rendition of “Over the Rainbow.”
“She inspired me to want to perform and also just, you know, helped me realize my queer identity,” he said. “She’s the queen.”
For more, watch Platt give The Post an exclusive tour around the NYC spots that shaped him — including the Bowery Hotel, Joseph Leonard and the Palace Theatre.
