Ben Platt — the Tony, Grammy and Emmy winner — was calling from his parents' house. That somehow seemed appropriate since he wrote his new album in his childhood bedroom during the pandemic. The album that will bring him on tour in arenas for the first time.
The 28-year-old star of film, TV and Broadway has belted out "The Star-Spangled Banner" in stadiums and performed his own songs in theaters. But the jump to sports arenas?
"It is new," said Platt, who comes to Target Center on Sept. 22. "I think a lot about if the arrangements and energy of the show are equipped to fill the space. In terms of what I'm delivering, my focus is to deliver vocally and give an authentic performance."
Platt stopped by his parents' Los Angeles home last month, dropping off his dog before going out of town.
In that house, in his old bedroom, is where he spent lockdown writing material for 2021's "Reverie," his second pop album. He revisited his parents' old records, chiefly those by Phil Collins, James Taylor, Peter Gabriel and George Michael.
"Lot of '80s and '90s power pop and power rock. And storytellers," Platt said.
His daily highlight during lockdown was a run or walk in the neighborhood listening to those tunes.
"There is a comfort in returning to that place and remembering all the things that happened in there," he said. "There's a safety in living at home that you experience growing up as a kid that it's hard to feel as an adult."