"Dear Evan Hansen"

When we learned last year that Tony Winner "Dear Evan Hansen" would be a part of this season's Broadway in Pittsburgh series, we began listening to the music from this show and learning as much as we could about it.  The best  summation of it that I came across was this from the 2017 Tony Awards ceremony:  "A letter that was never meant to be seen generates a lie that was never meant to be told and leads to a life that a young man never dreamed he could have."

"Dear Evan Hansen" is about a lot of things.  It is about being teenagers who don't fit in and feel lost all the time.  It is about anxiety that can lead to the worst possible outcomes.  It is about parents who constantly worry about their children and struggle with their own issues, and it is about how families, friends, and acquaintances struggle with death and grief.  From our ten years of volunteering at the Caring Place and working with families who have experienced death and loss, we know that the emotions and experiences seen in this show are presented in very real terms.  It is a powerful and an almost emotionally overwhelming show.

The music and songs are wonderful: "You Will Be Found", "For Forever", "Waving Through A Window", "Words Fail", and "So Big/So Small" are among those that are so haunting and beautiful that they may well stay with you, well, "for forever".

Ben Levi Ross as Evan

It is a small cast, only six actors, that perform this show.  In the touring company, young Ben Levi Ross plays Evan, and he is on stage for almost the entire show.  It is a fabulous role.  Also noteworthy in this cast are Jessica Phillips as Evan's mother, Heidi,  and Christiane Noll as Cynthia Murphy, the mother of Connor, the young man who commits suicide (but still "appears" throughout the show).

Ross and Jessica Phillips

I mentioned earlier how we had been listening to the music from this show for several months, and knowing the music ahead of time certainly adds to the enjoyment of the play, but seeing the full show certainly added to the meaning, impact, and enjoyment of the music as well. 

Much of the audience at Heinz Hall on Tuesday consisted of young people, teen aged boys and girls, who were there with their parents.  You could almost see and feel the emotions that were being felt by those young families around us as they watched "Dear Evan Hansen."

This was not a "musical comedy" in the traditional sense, although there were humorous moments in it.  I would describe it as a "musical drama", if there is such a genre in the American musical theater.  It no doubt deserved its 2017 Tony for Best Musical.  It is a show that is well worth seeing, and I can certainly see why it is so popular with younger audiences.

Four Stars from The Grandstander.

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This show wrapped up the 2018-19 Broadway in Pittsburgh season.  None of the shows disappointed us, and, indeed, a few of them were very pleasant surprises.  Herewith is a presentation of The Grandstander Theater Rankings (a variation of The Grandstander Power Rankings used during the past NFL season) for the Broadway In Pittsburgh season:

1. HAMILTON
2. COME FROM AWAY
3. DEAR EVAN HANSEN
4. FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
5. THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG
6. ANASTASIA
7. CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

(If you are interested in what I had to say about each of these shows at the time I saw them, just type the name of the show in the search box that appears in the upper left corner of this screen.)

Any of the first four shows on this list are shows that I would happily and eagerly see again if ever given the opportunity.  We have already renewed out subscription for 2019-20 and are looking forward to seven more terrific nights in the theater next year.