A group of Springfield teenagers is taking on one of Broadway's heaviest musicals this weekend, staging Dear Evan Hansen at the John Legend Theater with a mission that goes well beyond the footlights. Bringing Awareness to Students, known locally as BATS, is presenting the Tony Award-winning show for the first time as a live production, using its story of teen anxiety and a classmate's suicide to push conversations about mental health into the open. The two performances, set for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 700 S. Limestone St., are dedicated to the memory of Pierre Damas Bel, a Springfield student whose death in August has weighed heavily on the group.
A Dedication Rooted in Loss
Bel, a Haitian immigrant and college student, died by suicide on August 31 after losing his Temporary Protected Status in July and being required to wear an ICE ankle monitor, according to ABC News. As reported by the Springfield News-Sun, Bel was a Haitian college student from Springfield who was friends with several BATS students, and the group had already held a memorial service for him before deciding to dedicate the production to his memory. BATS adult advisor Beth Dixon said the production's message matters because reducing stigma around mental health is necessary, per the same account.
Dear Evan Hansen depicts a high schooler struggling with anxiety who becomes trapped in a growing lie after a classmate's suicide, and the production addresses teen mental health, social media pressure and thoughts of self-harm. The show includes a projection showing social media messages and the lives affected by them, with a system designed by Bailey Compston and lent by the Springfield Civic Theatre. Dixon said social media can spread like wildfire and affect a high school student navigating personal problems, the news outlet reports.
From a Coffee Meeting to a Full Production
The idea for the show came together from a coffee meeting between Dixon and Andrea Migliozzi, who works with Springfield High School's Hope Squad and Rocking Horse Community Health Center. Dixon had grant money left from a previous BATS project, and Jason Hanrahan helped book the production at the Legend Theater. Migliozzi and Dixon both hope the production will help students view mental health in a different and more relevant way, and the pair support cross-collaboration among the arts, prevention and education, according to the Springfield News-Sun's reporting.
The production is presented by BATS, the John Legend Theater and Hope Squad, which functions nationally as a peer-to-peer suicide prevention initiative in which students nominate trusted classmates who are trained alongside adult advisors to spot warning signs and connect struggling peers to professional care, according to Hope Squad. BATS itself was founded by students in 2019 as a Clark County youth-led, arts-focused prevention group open to students in grades 7 through 12, per Bringing Awareness To Students. The group previously received funding from the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation to organize peer-led prevention summits connecting high school leaders with Clark County middle schoolers.
A Venue With Its Own Springfield Roots
The performances take place inside the 680-seat John Legend Theater, which opened in 2016 within the former Springfield South High School building after a major community renovation supported by a $500,000 donation from Springfield native and musician John Legend, according to the Springfield Symphony Orchestra. The building now houses the Springfield Center of Innovation, known as The Dome, home to educational and cultural programming for the community. Tickets are $17.82 for adults and $12.62 for students and seniors, and performances will include resources and items tied to suicide prevention.
Pairing Theater With Crisis Resources
BATS planned to perform the show during Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month in September, and the production will include information on a local youth empowerment task force in the lobby. A school-day preview is set for Friday for middle and high school students, after which BATS members and Hope Squad members will lead a discussion to help students process and talk through the production.
Part of that push centers on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Lauren Crane leads an effort with senior students at Wittenberg University to collect project data and increase awareness of 988, after a recent survey found that around 60% of people do not know what 988 is or how it can help or potentially save a life. Gavin Crawford created a short video about the lifeline, and BATS participants painted suicide prevention awareness rocks for theater attendees to exchange for a gift.
That awareness gap persists even as national data show the hotline's impact. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April found that U.S. teen and young adult suicide rates fell by 11% — nearly 4,400 fewer youth deaths than expected — during the first 30 months after the July 2022 launch of 988, according to the Health Policy Institute of Ohio. States with larger increases in 988 call volume saw significantly greater drops in expected youth suicide deaths, the same analysis found.
A Statewide Stake for Ohio Youth
Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Ohioans aged 10 to 14 and 20 to 34, and the third-leading cause for those aged 15 to 19; one person aged 10 to 24 dies by suicide statewide every 36 hours. Ohio's 19 call centers respond to roughly 19,000 monthly 988 contacts with an average response time of 25 seconds, the department reports. Nationally, 20% of high school students seriously considered attempting suicide during the previous year and 40% reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, according to America's Health Rankings data drawn from the CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
Migliozzi works with Springfield High School's Hope Squad and Rocking Horse Community Health Center. Dear Evan Hansen is a Tony Award-winning musical. The production brings the musical to a Clark County student group's stage.
