As much as I love Broadway, and for as long as I have loved Broadway musicals, I have never seen a Tony-award winning show, or an actor in that show, before they win the statuette.
Until now. Yesterday I watched Ben Platt and the amazing cast of Dear Evan Hansen in the most powerful, relevant, heartbreaking, real, hopeful musical I have ever seen. This young man will win the Tony; there simply is no other acceptable outcome to that contest. The show should win as well, but Platt’s performance was like nothing I’ve ever witnessed.
Platt is Evan Hansen, a high school senior battling anxiety along with the usual angsts of adolescence. He has no friends, he likes a girl who doesn’t know he exists, and his single mother is treading water while working and attending night school.
On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?
‘Cause I’m tap, tap, tapping on the glass
I’m waving through a window
From “Waving Through a Window” in Dear Evan Hansen
His therapist gives him a daily assignment: write yourself a letter. “Dear Evan Hansen, Today will be a great day and here’s why…”
SPOILER BELOW, although if you listen to the soundtrack the plot is fairly evident.
The letter ends up being mistaken for another teen’s suicide note, and Evan’s lie of omission propels him into the life he always wanted.
There is tragedy, there is grief, but at the heart of the show is a boy just trying to be seen. Trying not to be alone.
END SPOILER
I experienced Dear Evan Hansen as a mother, feeling the pain of the parents searching for a connection with their teenagers. As I watched, I was thankful my own children aren’t struggling the way Evan is, and then I was afraid that maybe they were and I didn’t know it. I felt the teens’ pain, wanting to hug them and tell them, as Evan’s mother tried to tell him, that one day all of this will seem very small.
But adolescence is about everything being very big, of utmost importance, right NOW. The show’s creative team has a freakishly accurate finger on the pulse of today’s teenagers, who live through a social media lens that my generation never did. Social media allows for constant connectedness, but that connectedness isn’t necessarily genuine. A person can feel utterly alone among his thousands of Instagram followers; he can still feel unseen.
This is not your grandmother’s musical. It doesn’t hide behind flashy musical numbers or extravagant costumes and dances; the ending isn’t wrapped up in a neat bow. It makes you feel, and hurt, and laugh, and hope.
Even when the dark comes crashing through
When you need a friend to carry you
When you’re broken on the ground
You will be found
From “You Will Be Found” in Dear Evan Hansen
It is a multi-tissue show, and I saw many eyes as swollen as my own as I climbed from my seat in the mezzanine into the lobby. I cannot fathom how Ben Platt performs eight times a week; he embodies Evan Hansen so completely that his mother worries about the toll it takes on him. Every tick, every crouch, every sob appears effortless, as if Platt actually becomes an anxiety-plagued seventeen-year old for two hours a day. This is the magic of live theater, witnessing this transformation happen in front of your eyes.
I am amazed at the talent of writers and musicians who can create a show that takes the viewer from crying to laughing without it feeling forced. While the show was emotionally draining, I would see it again in a heartbeat. I would take my teenagers and my husband, and I would bring the tissues.
If you know me or follow this blog, you know that I am a super Hamilfan. How does Dear Evan Hansen compare to Hamilton?
It doesn’t. It’s not even like comparing apples to oranges; it’s comparing apples to steak. They are both musicals, they are both superbly written and performed, but they are in completely different orbits. That’s the beauty of Broadway; there is enough greatness to go around.
Tickets are hard to come by, and New York may be too far for you to travel. But a national tour has been announced, beginning in 2018. For now, however, watch the Tony Awards on June 11th, because Dear Evan Hansen is going to win.
I would love to see this! Some day, I hope.
Do you ever enter digital lotteries for shows, Liz? It’s so easy to do if you are in NYC and can get to the show if you win tickets. If I lived in NYC I would enter every day!
Haha, I don’t want to write about much either (hence why it took me two months to finally put up a new blog post!). But now you made me want to see Dear Evan Hansen, it sounds spectacular. I’ll have to ask my mom if she heard about it, she’s very into seeing Broadway shows. (I would be too if I still lived closer to NYC!)
Oh, she should see it – and you should make the trip down to see it with her! You’ll have plenty of time to plan since you’ll have to get tickets way in advance. But I promise it’s worth it.
What a great review! I’m so hoping it comes to Minneapolis! I’ve heard of the show, but have never really known what it was about until your post. Thank you!
My pleasure, Nina. I hope you get to see it when it tours.
I’ve been following the hype re: Dear Evan Hansen and am stoked that it’ll be on tour starting next year. In the mean time I think I’ll get the soundtrack. If it is as much of an ear worm as Hamilton, I’m in trouble! Lol. Thanks for sharing this review, Dana.
It’s not quite the same earworm as Hamilton, but there are some great songs on the soundtrack. Enjoy!
Thank you for increasing my exposure to musical theater. I haven’t seen many, and have never been to Broadway. Considering my interest in YA, this sounds like a good one for me. Thanks!
You would LOVE it Julia, and so would your teens.
WOW Dana. You have me DYING to see this- and take my kids to see it too. Your review is excellent and your passion for this musical makes me feel the same emotions just reading how you described it!
I’m off to go see if it’s coming to Columbus. I trust your opinion and well, now I NEED TO SEE THIS SHOW.
And btw- I was totally wondering how you compare it to Hamilton, knowing you are a SUPERFAN. Loved that you mentioned it at the end! 🙂
I am a superfan, but there is room in my heart for both shows! I don’t think they’ve announced the cities for the tour yet, but I hope they make it to you!
**On the outside, always looking in
Will I ever be more than I’ve always been?**
This sounds exquisite and relevant! x
It truly is such a relevant show – the lyrics are, as you say, exquisite.
I adore you passion for Broadway. And now, because of this post, I may finally have to watch the Tony Awards.
At least record it and watch the musical numbers! I’m so excited to watch :0
I am glad you decided to write about this musical. It sounds intensely powerful, and in being that, very well done. We need timely messages presented in a new way to audiences that have been numbed by the barrage of social media. This is a subject we desperately need awareness on, and hopefully it will begin some conversations that need to happen before it is too late.
J’s Journal: Betrayal
I completely agree!
You are the second person I’ve heard rave about this musical. I live three hours from NYC and have never been to a broadway musical. Maybe 2017 is the year?
Yes it is!
I haven’t heard of this show and I haven’t seen Hamilton yet. I hope that it comes to my city soon. I’ll keep an eye out for this production as well.
I hope you get a chance to see both of them, April.
I’ve never heard of this show but it sounds amazing! I hope it does win the Tony and you can be all “yup, I knew it!” 🙂
And I’ll only brag a little 🙂
OK, I am admit I haven’t heard of this show until your post here, but now I am intrigued. So, am going to see if I can get more info on tickets now. Thanks Dana!
It’s fairly new, Janine, but I guarantee it will win some Tonys!
Sounds amazing! YEs to the difficult life of teenagers. I despised high school and would not go back for all the money in the world. I cannot imagine adding int he social media cloud that surrounds today’s teens and I just hope that I am not missing something big with my own girls!
I think it is tougher than it was when we were teens, that is for sure!
You hit the nail on the head, my friend… what an experience! Glad to share the day (and a few tissues) with you.
Me too, Ginnie – thank you for sharing the day, the tears, and the tissues.
Really interesting – I honestly hadn’t heard of this one. I skipped the spoiler paragraph. So hard to do! Not that I think I’m heading to NYC for hard to come by show tickets, but you know…just in case.
Yes, just in case! And it’s going on tour next year, so maybe you’ll be able to catch it then.