We saw this a week ago with Michael Lee Brown playing the part of Evan (the Saturday 2PM matinee) and the rest of the cast. He was outstanding, and so was the rest of the cast. This is my favourite musical of the last thirty five years. Having two sons in college, bringing them to the Music Box Theatre and see them enjoying and thinking about what they are seeing is priceless. The lessons about loss, loneliness, lies, owning up to your mistake, forgiveness, redemption, framed in a great musical score and great lyrics, with a great play underlying everything. There is nothing better in the musical stage at the moment (well, maybe My Fair Lady, but that's the greatest achievement in musical theatre history). Well worth the price of the tickets AND the trip to the city. I want to watch it again. And again. This musical speaks to me like no other musical has.
5
I would love to take my son to see this but who can afford these prices?! I got sticker shock when I realized that I could get a round trip airline ticket to NYC for the price of just one of the mediocre against-the-wall $199 + taxes and fee seats. Looking at a potential $500 for this outing for two is just obscene and/or financially irresponsible for me. Maybe you can broadcast it to movie theaters.
15
This is THE play of the decade! I'm not sure how they can replace Mr Platt---his outstanding performance will be hard to duplicate. Just WOW.
1
"It’s snatched up by another loner, Connor Murphy (Mike Faist), but one with a mean streak. He snickers, stuffs it in his pocket and then, noticing that no one has signed the cast on Evan’s broken arm, mockingly scrawls his name across it in giant letters." What? Did you people see the musical? Connor apologised for pushing evan,signed his cast so that "they can both pretend to have friends" but THEN sees the letter and how it's written about evan having a crush on his sister. This angers him as he's the only other one in the library and presumes it's meant to annoy him and storms off with it.
5
"Under the superb direction of the veteran Michael Greif, the show has been subtly refined, its brasher comedy softened, and the performances have grown in delicacy." Possibly the performance by Mr. Faist you saw is a reflection of that.
3
I took my Dad to see DEH knowing many of the major plot points and still thought it was tremendous--so much so that I am taking my wife back to see it in July. It deserves all of the accolades it's received, as well as the Tonys that are sure to come. Don't let this review keep you from going. The cast and music are spellbinding and it's not something you'll forget anytime soon...
3
I haven't seen this show, though it certainly intrigues me. I did listen to the "anthem" and it strikes me as subtly cynical rather than inspiring. The lyricist captured the faux intimacy of social media: all those "like" and "forward this" comments ring so hollow, even if well-intentioned. They've become cliches, these virtual hugs.
Funny, I can just imagine it becoming the "song of choice" on "The Voice," with the contestant over-emoting and eschewing any cynicism.
Funny, I can just imagine it becoming the "song of choice" on "The Voice," with the contestant over-emoting and eschewing any cynicism.
7
That’s kind of the point of the show! It’s putting a magnifying glass up to this social media reality we live. It seems like you don’t know much about the point of the show, just what you’ve heard from the cast recording.
2
"the misfit kid who’s too shy make friends and eats lunch in the cafeteria alone." I haven't watched this musical, but I can already tell you, as someone who has put alot of time and research into this musical, Evan is a teenager with SEVER SOCIAL ANXIETY! He's not shy.
2
@Michaela Moye If you see the show, it's clear he is seeing a therapist and taking medication for anxiety. In fact, his "Dear Evan Hansen.." letters are an exercise for his therapist.
3
Saw it last week and don't have much issue with a critic giving away plot points. I knew what happened before seeing it and it no way took away from my enjoyment of the work, but I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around what 'Dear Evan Hansen' is saying?
Rather than 'spoilers,' my experience suffered from high expectation and the chorus of those extolling the musical. The show is good, probably the best new musical of the current season, but it's in no way groundbreaking or the best thing since 'Hamilton' which many want it to be.
The production's beautiful and well done, songs are good. Ben Platt is terrific, will probably win a Tony, but for me, he often seemed too affected, overplaying the character's quirks. And frankly, I'm having trouble wrapping my heart and head around a character whose arc is based upon deception. Or maybe this is what is acceptable in the social media world? No one should tolerate bullying, but then Evan Hansen can only 'soar' by lying, benefiting from the death of a classmate who he hardly knew? What's the message there?
See the show, but it's not the end all and be all. Since most new Broadway musicals lack incredible songs, many will do cartwheels over a modest show like 'Evan Hansen.' But intended or not, the writers have created a world where bullies are coddled and where the end justifies the means. I'm not sure I want to celebrate such a world.
Rather than 'spoilers,' my experience suffered from high expectation and the chorus of those extolling the musical. The show is good, probably the best new musical of the current season, but it's in no way groundbreaking or the best thing since 'Hamilton' which many want it to be.
The production's beautiful and well done, songs are good. Ben Platt is terrific, will probably win a Tony, but for me, he often seemed too affected, overplaying the character's quirks. And frankly, I'm having trouble wrapping my heart and head around a character whose arc is based upon deception. Or maybe this is what is acceptable in the social media world? No one should tolerate bullying, but then Evan Hansen can only 'soar' by lying, benefiting from the death of a classmate who he hardly knew? What's the message there?
See the show, but it's not the end all and be all. Since most new Broadway musicals lack incredible songs, many will do cartwheels over a modest show like 'Evan Hansen.' But intended or not, the writers have created a world where bullies are coddled and where the end justifies the means. I'm not sure I want to celebrate such a world.
23
I love how I'm reading this starting to cry and the article starts to mention "You Will Be Found" as I'm listening to it. This musical is truly inspiring, being the kid who says they should most relate to Conner. I feel in a way that I am not forgotten, and that's partially why I'm crying right now. <3
6
I celebrated my 59th birthday on Saturday and sat front and center during the matinee performance and was overcome with emotion throughout this magnificent production. You see, I was Evan Hansen as a teenager: a skinny, goofy, insecure and lonely kid living in a similarly dysfunctional home.
Thank you Ben for a cathartic and memorable afternoon ! Despite your certain bright future as an actor, you will always be Evan Hansen to me !
Thank you Ben for a cathartic and memorable afternoon ! Despite your certain bright future as an actor, you will always be Evan Hansen to me !
13
This is a remarkably different type of musical. The cast is tremendous, the song lyrics are easy to understand, and the emotion is dramatic. The hype surrounding a Broadway show always concerns me, and many times I've been disappointed as a result, but Dear Evan Hansen captures you from the opening song. Ben Platt has a tremendous future.
13
Go see it!! Phenomenal performances by the entire cast....incredible talent.
I don't really even like musicals, but this one won me over - I even loved the music.
I don't really even like musicals, but this one won me over - I even loved the music.
7
If this musical continues to generate and hold our recent appetite for depth in musical theatre, we will survive the takedown of human goodness evident on the front pages. As a senior citizen, I was touched by the raw emotional response, not just for the performer, but for the complexity of what it is to be human and alone in the age of the internet. We need the theatre to take us to places where we learn about ourselves- and this one delivers - not with magic, but with characters who fight for themselves and grow to understand our interconnectedness. While almost like being literature, it never forgets the story is the story and those tears we all shed in the dark are an affirmation that we have ourselves a real connection in our battle between truth and its opposite.
Sure to be the Tony winner for original musical, may we all find a little touch of universal truth in this work of art to escape the siege of our better angels going on elsewhere.
Sure to be the Tony winner for original musical, may we all find a little touch of universal truth in this work of art to escape the siege of our better angels going on elsewhere.
23
To those who think the review ruins the musical: It doesn't!
And if you're of the persuasion that any plot element, no matter how insignificant, detracts even minisculely from your singularly selfish enjoyment ... then why are you reading a review in the first place?
And if you're of the persuasion that any plot element, no matter how insignificant, detracts even minisculely from your singularly selfish enjoyment ... then why are you reading a review in the first place?
5
Relax everybody. The show is fabulous, and not diminished in the slightest by having read this review before seeing it. Go see Dear Evan Hansen (as I did a few nights ago), and then comment. The show is as wonderfully done as this review describes. It's not a whodunnit or pot-boiler. Knowing the broad outlines of the plot did not detract. I'd be very surprised if you don't enjoy it thoroughly.
24