Dear Evan Hansen is a masterpiece that any human will enjoy and appreciate. The show is currently playing at the gorgeous Music Box Theatre on Broadway and I was lucky enough to see it. The genius story by Steven Levenson with Music and Lyrics from the dynamic duo that is Benj Pasek & Justin Paul is sure to spread light and warmth through your heart.
The
Music
From
catchy songs like 'Waving Through a Window' to heartbreaking ballads
like 'Words Fail', Pasek & Paul have written something that you
don't come across very often. In a world increasingly filling with
darkness, the music helps pull you out. The stunning Orchestrations
put together by Alex Lacamoire really entrance you. A personal
favourite of mine has to be 'Sincerely Me' which takes place in Act
One when Evan and Jared are writing pretend emails to and from Evan
and Connor. It is like 'Master of the House' from Les Miserables,
although tune wise they are completely different, it still gives you
a humorous break from the hardship of the show.
The
Story
Dear
Evan Hansen is set as though it could be taking place right now. The
clever use of social media really makes us relate to the story and
understand it. The show is driven through lies. Lies that escalate
and are impossible to break free from so they must be kept and made
larger.
The
Cast
Ben
Platt (Evan Hansen) is the star of the show everyone is talking
about. With a vocal range from the gods, he really gives a flawless
performance. His acting skills make the show so real and the emotion
in his eyes just makes you want to break down. Co-starring with him
is Laura Dreyfuss (Zoe Murphy). Don't confuse her for a pretty face
though, the character of Zoe is a really demanding role and Laura is
absolutely perfect for it. She is a character who sort of goes along
with the story and we don't really get to know much about until she
starts opening up to Evan. Rachel Bay Jones (Heidi Hansen) and
Jennifer Laura Thompson (Cynthia Murphy) who play “The Mothers”
really do give a heart rendering performance. Any mother or child
will relate to almost everything they say, the good and the bad. Mike
Faist (Connor Murphy) also gives a gripping and very real
performance, you can see the struggle he is going through literally
in his eyes at some points.
Throughout
Act One, we see Michael Park (Larry Murphy) as quite a typical
businessman father, unlikely to show emotion. What is so nice about
this character is we actually do get to see inside him briefly and it
is so relieving to see him chilled out later on in the show. Evan
seems to end up with 2 main friends from high school, Will Rowland
(Jared Kleinman) and Kristolyn Lloyd (Alana Beck), the trio fall in
and out of friendships during the show. Rowland's comedic timing and
Beck's stereotypical 'nerd' performance brings light to the dark of
the performance giving it a perfect balance.
The
Verdict
I
can't say this show is easy to watch, most parts I really did feel
emotional, but in a really wonderful way. I learnt so much about
myself from this complete masterpiece. I haven't actually cried so
much in a show in a life, there were parts where it was
uncontrollable and I just let it out (only problem was I cried the
most at the end of act one, and then of course the lights came up for
the intermission and everyone could see I was a mess!). The angelic
melodies, mixed in with the gripping tale, then put all together with
the gorgeously talented cast really does create something refreshing
and new that the world of theatre has been looking for for a long
time. I really look forward to this show being made available
worldwide.
5
Stars
