• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Body
  • Daily Resist
  • POLITICS
  • Travel
  • Music
  • Theatre
  • Film
  • TV
  • Sports
  • Business
  • Men
  • Marriage Equality
  • Space
  • Trans Rights
  • Books
  • Science
  • Gay Iconography
  • TowleREAD
You are here: Home / Teen Angst Musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Opens on Broadway: REVIEW

Teen Angst Musical ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ Opens on Broadway: REVIEW

December 5, 2016 by Naveen Kumar Leave a Comment

evan-hansen3

Call him a nerd, a spaz, an anxious outcast — there is a bit of Evan Hansen in all of us, especially those who may have struggled to find our tribe in high school hell and beyond. Dear Evan Hansen, which opened at the Music Box Theatre last night, is a winning, insightful, and totally of-the-moment teen dramedy for the digital age.

If its Heathers meets Ordinary People vibes don’t always combine in perfect harmony, its humor and extreme heart are sure strike chords with viewers of all walks.

The title character, as embodied by a virtuosic Ben Platt, is almost impossible not to root for from the very start, and even as he gets caught up in an elaborate host of lies that become nearly impossible to escape.

Entering his senior year of high school with a broken arm (which he says he got falling from a tree), Evan is virtually friendless, on anti-anxiety meds, and being raised by a devoted single mom (Rachel Bay Jones) who’s often too busy juggling work and night school to be there for him.

evan-hansen

When the circumstances of a tragedy at school lead a couple to believe their late son was Evan’s close friend, Evan plays into the story — both because he thinks it will help them mourn, and because he’s desperate for connection himself.

It doesn’t hurt that their daughter, Zoe (Laura Dreyfuss) is also Evan’s biggest crush. So he spins a web of fiction (which the internet makes easy, of course) and grows close with what seems like the picture-perfect family he never had (his dad left when Evan was young).

evan-hansen1

That’s only the beginning of the story (written by Steven Levenson), which spins out of control once it crosses over into online territory. Director Michael Greif, who joins the rest of the creative team and cast from the show’s off-Broadway run at Second Stage earlier this year, does expert work in familiar territory (2009’s Next to Normal shares this show’s focus on family and physiological drama). David Korins’s screen-panel set and Peter Nigrini’s digital projections recreate the digital language that surrounds us at every turn.

evan-hansen2

Platt, best known for his roles in Pitch Perfect and The Book of Mormon, brings a frenetic sensitivity to the role of Evan; every nervous tick or bout of word vomit feels painfully real — to the point that you may find yourself fighting the urge to climb on stage and give the kid a hug.

The eight-member company is uniformly strong, and Dreyfuss and Jones are particularly lovely as Evan’s reticent love interest and salt-of-the-earth mother.

Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s score is lyrical and emotionally rich, with an emo-pop, singer-songwriter feel that’s perfectly matched with the story, and offers Platt in particular many moments to shine. If a similar message pervades more than a few numbers, it’s one that bears repeating for every listener, young and old — that no one is ever alone, no matter how lonely or hopeless they may feel.

Recent theatre features…
Sutton Foster Headlines Intimate ‘Sweet Charity’ Off-Broadway: REVIEW
‘Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812’ Shines on Broadway: REVIEW
‘Notes From the Field’ Should Be Required Viewing for All Americans: REVIEW
‘Falsettos’ Revisits Gay History on Broadway: REVIEW
Liev Schreiber and Janet McTeer Smolder in ‘Les Liaisons Dangereuses’ on Broadway: REVIEW
‘A Life’ Starring David Hyde Pierce Will Shake You to Your Core: REVIEW
Nathan Lane and John Slattery Head Starry Revival of ‘The Front Page’ on Broadway: REVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar (photos: matthew murphy)

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ben Platt, Entertainment, Naveen Kumar, New York, Review, theater, Theatre, Theatre Review

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Mayer Delivers A President’s Day Address: WATCH

    Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Mayer Delivers A President’s Day Address: WATCH

    3 hours ago
  • Adam Lambert Just Announced He’s Performing With Queen At The Oscars: WATCH

    Adam Lambert Just Announced He’s Performing With Queen At The Oscars: WATCH

    5 hours ago
  • Lil’ Xan Is Having A Lil’ Baby, Marvel’s Done with Netflix, A Hot Brazilian Artist Saves Dogs, The Bronx Is Getting A Hip-Hop Museum, and More: HOT LINKS

    Lil’ Xan Is Having A Lil’ Baby, Marvel’s Done with Netflix, A Hot Brazilian Artist Saves Dogs, The Bronx Is Getting A Hip-Hop Museum, and More: HOT LINKS

    6 hours ago
  • In Wake of Gay Assault, Out Utah Senator Calls For Hate Crime Bill To Pass

    In Wake of Gay Assault, Out Utah Senator Calls For Hate Crime Bill To Pass

    8 hours ago
  • Dylan Matracia’s ‘Slow’ is a Love Letter to Queer Sex, Summer Romance, and Provincetown: WATCH

    Dylan Matracia’s ‘Slow’ is a Love Letter to Queer Sex, Summer Romance, and Provincetown: WATCH

    8 hours ago
  • Channel 4 Exposes America’s ‘Gay Cure’ Camps: WATCH

    Channel 4 Exposes America’s ‘Gay Cure’ Camps: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • Mike Pence ‘Greetings from Donald Trump’ Met with Humiliating, Deafening Silence at European Speech: WATCH

    Mike Pence ‘Greetings from Donald Trump’ Met with Humiliating, Deafening Silence at European Speech: WATCH

    9 hours ago
  • Young, Gay, Latinos Left Behind In The Battle Against HIV In the Bronx

    Young, Gay, Latinos Left Behind In The Battle Against HIV In the Bronx

    9 hours ago
  • Shawn Mendes Fills Calvin Klein’s Iconic Briefs in Break-The-Internet Underwear Campaign

    Shawn Mendes Fills Calvin Klein’s Iconic Briefs in Break-The-Internet Underwear Campaign

    11 hours ago
  • Trump Melts Down Over ’60 Minutes’ Andrew McCabe Revelations: WATCH

    Trump Melts Down Over ’60 Minutes’ Andrew McCabe Revelations: WATCH

    12 hours ago

Keep up with Provincetown:

Follow @PtownHacks on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and sign up for the Ptown Hacks email list.

Footer

Copyright © 2019 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in