By Darlene Donloe
Dear Evan Hansen, I had a great time watching you last weekend at the opening in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre.
There are many reasons to like the show. The writing is exceptional, the story is heartbreaking, the acting is heartwarming, the music is fulfilling, the set design is stunning and the direction brings it all together.
This is the first national tour of the six-time, Tony Award-winning musical, directed by four-time Tony® Award nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Next to Normal). Having just opened in Los Angeles, according to reps at the Ahmanson, advance sales for this first national tour are higher for Dear Evan Hansen than for any show in the theater's history. Here in Los Angeles, the show is expected to gross well over $4 million.
The infectious musical opens with a single bed located downstage center. The projection panels behind the bed are illuminated with images of social media.
The story begins to unfold. Evan Hansen is a nerdy 17-year-old high school kid who doesn’t feel like he belongs anywhere. He wonders if anyone actually “sees” him. As one of the songs in the show conveys, he just wants to be found.
Evan is being raised by a single mom who is seldom home. Her time away from her son, doesn’t diminish her love for him.
In therapy, the anxiety-ridden Evan is told to write letters from himself to uplift himself and reassure him that everything is going to be alright. He begins each letter with the words – Dear Evan Hansen.
As luck would have it, one day he prints out a letter he has written to himself. In the letter, he refers to a girl at his school for which he secretly lusts. Before he can retrieve it, a troubled teen, who is also a school bully named Connor Murphy who also happens to be the girl’s brother, finds the letter in the printer and immediately thinks Evan left it there to torment him.
When Connor kills himself, his parents find the letter and immediately assume it’s a letter their son wrote to Evan Hansen. What happens after that is a snowball effect of confusion. It shows clearly how quickly information is passed when using the internet and how it’s almost impossible to reign in the information once it’s been let out into the ether.
It’s an emotional story that finds Evan trying to comfort Connor’s family by allowing them to believe some untruths about their son. Their need to believe he was something he wasn’t, coupled with Evan’s need to be noticed – creates poignant chaos. It’s all at once frightening and fascinating to watch how easily a story can catch fire. It's also startling and captivating to watch a family grasp at straws as they desperately try piecing together the complicated puzzle that was their troubled son.
Connor’s parents and Evan’s mother, Heidi (Jessica Phillips), play pivotal roles. Of course, they agonize over the well-being of their children. They wonder about where their personal responsibility begins and ends when it comes to their children’s happiness. It’s a minefield. Heidi is empathetic to her son's issues and emotions. She wants to do better but she's distracted because she's fighting her own internal war.
I must admit, for a minute I thought the show was ending right after the first act’s song finale. It seemed appropriate. I wondered where the story was going in act two, and whether it would be warranted.
Ok, Evan, you got me. It was good. It was worth the 40 minutes, especially since it holds two impactful songs from the show.
When things seem to be coming to a head and Evan’s secret is revealed, he sings Words Fail and his mother, Heidi sings a teary-eyed So Big/So Small, both of which received extended applause at Friday’s opening night performance.
Michael Greif has directed a solid, engaging, hilarious and uplifting piece of theater. Even pacing keeps the story moving forward.
Ben Levi Ross, who plays Evan Hansen, is brilliant. A one-time understudy for the show in New York, Ross takes over the role from Ben Platt.
Seldom leaving the stage, Ross seamlessly weaves himself in and out of scenes and in and out of some powerful songs. Ross, who is barely a buck 0-5, envelops the stage. His personality and vocals fill the theater. The supporting cast is exceptional. Each brings their own brand of magic to the production.
Jared Goldsmith plays Evan’s ‘kind of friend.’ Well to be more accurate, he wants Evan to know that he is just a “family friend.” Goldsmith brings comic relief to the proceedings.
Phoebe Koyabe, who plays Alana Beck, a classmate who is a social media whiz and who can easily find ways to make money off of Connor’s death, shines on stage. This is Koyabe’s debut and she hits it out of the park.
The set design, which is like a character until itself, is about as visual as a set can get. While the actual stage is sparse, the projections on the backdrops are in constant movement with email conversations and social media images. And then there is the music. There are some great songs in this show, including the popular Waving Through A Window, sung by Evan in the first act. There's a lot more where that came from. Standouts include You Will Be Found, To Break In A Glove and Sincerely, Me.
Dear Evan Hansen opened at the Music Box Theatre to rave reviews on December 4, 2016, where it’s broken all box office records and become a favorite for critics and audiences alike.
Dear Evan Hanson, directed by Michael Greif, stars Ben Levi Ross in the title role, Jessica Phillips, Tony Award nominee Christiane Noll, Aaron Lazar, Marrick Smith, Maggie McKenna, Jared Goldsmith, and Phoebe Koyabe.
Dear Evan Hansen, book by Steven Levenson music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, choreographed by Danny M., projection designer by Peter Nigrini, orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, music director by Austin Cook, vocal arrangements by Justin Paul, choreography by Danny Mefford and Stacey Mindich (producer).
On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent) Dear Evan Hansen gets an E (excellent).
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