The Sing to Me Instead Tour was the debut concert tour from American actor/singer-songwriter

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor, singer, and songwriter. He began his acting career in musical theater as a child and appeared in productions of ''The Sound of Music'' (2006) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (201 ...

, in support of his debut solo album, ''

Sing to Me Instead ''Sing to Me Instead'' is the debut studio album by Ben Platt. It was released on March 29, 2019. Two songs were released from the album on February 1, 2019: "Bad Habit" and "Ease My Mind". It is the actor's first creative project after originatin ...

''.

Background

On February 11, 2019, Platt confirmed he would embark on his debut solo concert tour in promotion for his new album.Playbill
"Ben Platt Announces Cities and Dates for Sing to Me Instead Concert Tour

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

, February 11, 2019 His shows included telling personal stories about his life and how he became who he is today, using his music from the album and a few covers of popular tunes to weave it all together. The tour featured opening acts

Ben Abraham Ben Abraham (born Henryk Nekrycz; December 11, 1924 – October 9, 2015) was a Polish-born writer and historian who became a naturalized Brazilian citizen. He was the son of Abraham Nekrycz and Ida Nekrycz. Abraham was born in Łódź, Poland ...

and

Wrabel Stephen Wrabel (born January 7, 1989), known mononymously as Wrabel, is an American singer, songwriter and musician based in Los Angeles. Life and career Wrabel attended high school at The Kinkaid School in Houston, Texas. After high school ...

, who co-write songs on ''Sing to Me Instead'', and ended on September 29, 2019 at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Tour dates

Concert film

On September 9, 2019, it was announced in advance of Platt's concert at Radio City that it would be filmed as a TV special for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Alex Timbers Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He is the recipie ...

and Sam Wrench served as directors, and Platt, Timbers, Adam Mersel, Heather Reynolds and

Fulwell 73 Fulwell 73 is a British television, film and music production company based in London. It was founded in 2005 by brothers Gabe and Ben Turner, Leo Pearlman, and Ben Winston. James Corden became the fifth full time partner in January 2017. Ful ...

Ben Winston Ben Winston is a British producer and director who established the production company Fulwell 73 with Gabe Turner, Ben Turner, and Leo Pearlman. He is co-executive producer of ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' alongside Rob Crabbe and Mike ...

and Lee Lodge served as executive producers. This was also done to help build anticipation for the premiere of the

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series, ''

The Politician ''The Politician'' is a Caroline era stage play, a tragedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1655. Publication ''The Politician,'' along with another Shirley play, '' The Gentleman of Venice,'' was published by the bookseller Hu ...

'', which Platt also starred in. The concert special, entitled ''

Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall ''Ben Platt Live from Radio City Music Hall'' is a 2020 American concert film by actor, singer and songwriter Ben Platt. The film documents the final stop of his debut Sing to Me Instead Tour, in which the one-night-only event was recorded live on ...

'', was completed months later and was released on Netflix on May 20, 2020.

Set list

Bad Habit A bad habit is a negative behaviour pattern. Common examples include: procrastination, overspending and nail-biting. Development Research on habit formation generally suggests an individual can acquire a new habit on average over 66 days. Thi ...

" #"Temporary Love" #"Honest Man" #"Hurt Me Once" #"New" #" The Joke" (

Brandi Carlile Brandi Marie Carlile ( ; born June 1, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and producer whose music spans many genres, including folk rock, alternative country, Americana, and classic rock. , Carlile has released seven studio albums. She has ...

cover) #"Better" #"Share Your Address" #"Ease My Mind" #"Rain" #" Overjoyed" (

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

cover) #"In Case You Don't Live Forever" #"

Take Me to the Pilot "Take Me to the Pilot" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, and performed by John. It was originally released on John's eponymous second album in 1970. It was recorded at Trident Studios in London in J ...

" (

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

cover) #"Grow As We Go" #"Older" #"Run Away"

Musicians

Crystal Monee Hall Crystal Monee Hall is an American singer, vocal arranger, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Crystal holds a master's degree in Education from the University of Virginia's Curry School of Education as w ...

- background vocals * Kojo Littles - background vocals * Allen René Louis - background vocals * Mike Ricchiuti - piano, keyboards *

Nir Felder Nir Felder (born Dec 30, 1982) is a Grammy-winning American jazz and session guitarist, composer, and music producer. In addition to leading his own band, Felder has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists across the jazz and popu ...

- guitars *

Justin Goldner Justin Goldner is an American music producer, songwriter, arranger and session musician based in New York City, originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His performances have been featured on Grammy, Latin Grammy and Tony award-winning projects ...

- guitars * Amanda Lo - violin * Reenat Pinchas – cello * Julia Adamy - bass * Derrick Wright - drums * David Cook - musical director, piano (London, Radio City)

Reception

Caroline Cronin of

BroadwayWorld BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City covering Broadway, Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres ...

wrote, "Interspersing each performance with personal anecdotes, Platt appears quietly confident owning a stage as a solo artist. His joyful performances of each track were complemented by a series of very honest, heartfelt stories about his life, ranging from relationships and his coming out journey to his struggles with anxiety. Earnest without being saccharine, Platt is a naturally endearing presence, and it's clear why he's become the breakout star that he has."

References

{{Ben Platt 2019 concert tours LGBT-related music events