Ben Platt is bringing his songs (and a little bit of Broadway) to Nashville this weekend

Ben Platt may be best known for belting out Broadway hits, but Nashville soon gets to see a different side of this mutli-hypanate entertainer: Arena-sized pop performer.

Platt brings his "Reverie" tour Sunday to Bridgestone Arena, playing the downtown room in support of his sophomore album of the same name. Tenured hitmaking duo Aly & AJ support Platt on the one-night show.

"[I'm thrillingly] excited," Platt, an actor and singer-songwriter known for roles in "Dear Evan Hansen" and "The Book of Mormon," among others, told The Tennessean about taking the leap to his biggest solo stages yet. "The fact that I ... get to go and live this dream is really insane."

Ahead of the show, Platt talked in a new Tennessean interview about writing new tunes with Music Row songwriting powerhouse Shane McAnally, his Beyoncé-level ambitions for the debut arena tour and if fans may hear a callback to his Broadway time in the show.

On stepping into arenas

For the "Reverie" tour, Platt wants to balance an intimacy felt between singer and fan — like during a Barbra Streisand performance — with head-turning pop layers often found in shows headlined by Ariana Grande or the aforementioned Beyoncé, he said.

He wants to maintain the "personable quality" fans experienced on his first theater tour without shying from a "bit larger, more vacuous, more theatrical" stage.

"[It's about] finding a really healthy crossroads between those two worlds, where there can be sections of celebration and dance and tempo and everyone's standing," he said. "And there can be sections where we're sitting and listening and convening and having experience."

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On working with one of Nashville's own

For "Reverie," Platt matches a retro-pop influence with slick, modern production and time-tested storytelling.

He co-wrote the album — which includes wistful standout single "Imagine" — on Zoom in 2020, largely logging on from a self-prescribed lockdown in his childhood bedroom. Shane McAnally, a standout Nashville songwriter, was one in a rotating cast of Platt collaborators who called in for the long-distance sessions.

The two met on McAnally's 2019 NBC reality songwriting show "Songland." The life-spanning song crafted from the session — "King of the World" — bookends "Reverie" as a three-part reprise.

"It ended up being an inspired choice, to start with that," Platt said. "Once we had constructed the song, it ended up having these three beautiful rounds in it. My producer Michael Pollack had a wonderful idea to use it as an interlude piece and use it as a framing device for the whole record."

On bringing Broadway to tour

Show-goers can expect plenty of solo material from Platt during Sunday's show in Nashville.

Still, he'll give a few subtle nods to the stages that helped build his career: Musical theater.

"There'll be a unique ability to get to know who I am separate from all those other characters and projects," Platt said, adding: "Also, I do plan to at least have one moment that plays homage to that part of my life and career. [A] little musical theater nod."

Ben Platt performs Sunday at Bridgestone Arena. Visit bridgestonearena.com for more information. 

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Ben Platt brings his solo show to Nashville this weekend