Tag: dear evan hansen

Seeing DEAR EVAN HANSEN!!!

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<<<SPOILERS MAY BE AFOOT>>> On Friday, June 14th, I got to experience something incredible while sitting in Connor Palace at Playhouse Square in Cleveland. I got to see Dear Evan Hansen’s national tour! Dear Evan Hansen is arguably my number one favorite musical 3 days out of the week. (By that I mean that my favorite changes on the daily, but DEH is probably my all-time favorite.) And not only did I see the show, but I got to see Ben Levi Ross as Evan! (Ben if you ever find this, I love you way too much and I’m so sad I missed you at the stage door.) This show was nothing short of a masterpiece, with no exaggerations whatsoever.

One thing that stands out to me about the live staging of the show is the concept for the set. With a lot of musicals, the sets are extravagant and eye-catching, such as the barricade of Les Mis or the interchangeable parts of Hamilton. And other sets have intense detailing, like the Time Dragon Clock and gearwork on the proscenium of Wicked. DEH shies away from that tradition and aims for a set that keeps the focus on the action. The actual set pieces are very minimalistic and only present if necessary- no excess at all. The backdrop of the entire show, save for the orchard scene at the end, is made up of mobile screens that act as smartphone projections and show Evan’s self-addressed letters. I like this idea, because in all honesty, the plot of the show is so intense that you can’t be distracted for even a second.

On a different note, this show is REAL emotional. You wouldn’t expect to be tearing up at multiple scenes from the first act, but it’s true, I did. The first scene that had me on the verge of tears was “For Forever.” The fact that Cynthia Murphy was so moved by Evan’s lie just hit me hard for some reason. After that, I was pretty okay. Then “You Will Be Found” hit me. This song I don’t want to give too much away about because it’s just something you have to see for yourself. Let’s just say that from about halfway through Act II on, I was a goner. Pasek and Paul really hurt my heart putting “Words Fail” next to “So Big/So Small.” But kudos to everyone involved for making audiences feel so much.

I stagedoored at this show again! I don’t have much to say about it because it was all very fast and there were a whole lot of people there, but everyone was very sweet once again! I’m still so upset that I came too late to see Ben but I guess it’s fine… I don’t know what else to say about seeing Dear Evan Hansen other than it’s for certain the best show I’ve seen yet. Next I’m seeing Come From Away, so I’m pretty excited!

Friendships in Musicals- Rated out of 10

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First of all, Happy Tony Day! I’m excited to see how this year’s show unfolds. And speaking of “holidays,” yesterday was National Best Friends’ Day, so I thought I would talk about a few of my favorite friendships in musicals and just for fun give them “ratings.” Without further ado, here are the Broadway besties!

Number One: Elphaba and G(a)linda. What better way to start out this list than with maybe the most famous pairing? Elphie and Glinda meet in college, and it’s hate at first sight. For a long time, it’s hard for them to get used to each other, but as the story goes on, they become some of the best friends the world’s ever known. I think people could really learn a lot from their story, so I give them a 10/10.

Number Two: The Schuyler Sisters. Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy are not only a power trio of sisters, but also best friends, especially Angelica and Eliza. They represent ultimate platonic love, particularly when Angelica sacrifices her love for Hamilton so Eliza can be with him. I wish we got more of Peggy’s story, because she was just as much of a queen. 9/10 because we need more Peggy.

Number Three: Evan Hansen and Jared Kleinman. The typical high school boys who spend their free time doing not-typical things. Unless you think backdating emails you wrote claiming to be someone else because you need to prove you were friends with a dead kid you weren’t friends with in the first place is something typical. This friendship goes downhill fast when Evan is consumed by the lie, and Jared walks away from him. 6/10 for toxicity on both parts.

Number Four: Jeremy Heere and Michael Mell. This friendship is one that as soon as you witnessed it, you knew it would last throughout the whole show. Until Jeremy started ignoring Michael to be cooler, which caused Michael to feel hurt and eventually have an anxiety attack at a party. Nonetheless, Michael helps Jeremy out in the end, saving the day. 8/10 because it’s so one-sided. Poor Michael.

Number Five: the Barricade Boys. Barricade Day was just a few days ago, so I had to include them. They are the definition of loyalty- willing to die for each other, and unfortunately, most of them did. They spent all their time together, having as much fun as one could have during the June Rebellion. 10/10 I wish I had a squad like that.

Honorable Mentions: Winnie and Jesse, Tuck Everlasting
the Six, Six
Jack and Crutchie, Newsies
Dmitry and Vlad, Anastasia
The Fates, Hadestown

Who are your favorite Broadway best friends? Let me know!

P.S. I’m seeing Dear Evan Hansen on Friday, so expect a post about it next week!

Unique Things About Couples on Broadway

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Who doesn’t love love? And better yet, love stories? Broadway has some of the best couples, and a lot of them have something incredibly specific about them, which makes the love story even better! (Huge thanks to my good friend Alex who helped me with this!) Everyone says that “every Broadway show is the same- there’s love, music, and dancing.” I’m here to disprove that. (Spoiler warning!)

The first couple that comes to mind is Elphaba and Fiyero, from Wicked, of course. The thing that’s the most unique about them is that they are the underdogs of the love triangle between Glinda, Fiyero, and Elphaba. You expect Glinda to stay with Fiyero, but there’s a complete role reversal and Glinda is singing the same song Elphaba sang earlier on- “I’m Not That Girl.” The other thing that makes their relationship special is that they contrast so much with Fiyero’s relationship with Glinda, which was lighthearted and not serious. THe love between these two, on the other hand, is serious and deeper than the surface.

Another couple that is especially unique is Anya and Dmitry from Anastasia. They start off hating each other, with Anya being annoyed that Dmitry and Vlad are forcing her to play the part of the lost princess. After time, though, Dmitry develops feelings for her and she unknowingly does the same. Soon after, Dmitry helps Anya remember who she is- the lost princess Anastasia herself, and they realize that they have loved each other since they made eye contact when they were kids.

A particularly unusual couple is Evan and Zoe in Dear Evan Hansen. First of all, Zoe has just lost her brother, and is denying that she misses him when their relationship starts. But mostly, the whole relationship is based on LIES! Evan lies about Connor and fabricates this complex friendship that he and Connor didn’t actually ever have. The love story goes on between these two for a much longer time than you would expect, and then the truth comes out. Nonetheless, Evan and Zoe might be the cutest couple on Broadway right now.

Donny Nova and Julia Trojan from Bandstand have their own version of a love triangle, or “love” triangle, I should say. Julia’s brother was Donny’s best friend, and they fought in the war together. Donny made it home, but unfortunately, her brother did not. Donny struggles throughout the show with the guilt from this event, thinking it should’ve been him who died instead. Not-so-coincidentally, Julia joins Donny’s all-veteran band, and they fall in love, and she helps him cope with his thoughts. Unconventional, but beautiful.

Finally, Marius and Cosette in Les Mis. Are they a controversial pairing? Undoubtedly. But do I love them? Also undoubtedly. The first thing that makes them unique is the positve energy they carry into the dark and tragic world they live in. Some argue that Marius should’ve ended up with Eponine, but it wouldn’t be the same story if it weren’t for this perfect match. (Personally, I’m on team Cosette. She deserved a happy adulthood, since her childhood was complicated. What team are you on?)

Of course, musicals also have non-romantic love stories. Examples include love of a best friend, such as Elphaba and Glinda or Winnie and Jesse in Tuck Everlasting (though this is also usually considered romantic). Another common love story is mother and child, like Sophie and Donna in Mamma Mia, Kim and Tam in Miss Saigon, and Valjean and Little Cosette in Les Mis, though their family is not a typical one.

The love stories in musicals are some of the best love stories ever, and these examples prove that NOT ALL OF THE COUPLES ARE THE SAME! What couple is your favorite? Talk about it in the comments, and as always, thanks for reading this far!

Dear Evan Hansen: Exploring Connor Murphy

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I want to talk about the one main character the musical hardly gives us any information on. That character is the ever-present Connor Murphy. In the stage musical, we hardly get to know him, which is heartbreaking due to the fact that he is such a complex character. We need to remember that Connor isn’t just the stereotypical “emo” or “goth,” he has many components to his personality. I have been able to read both the novel version and the printed script, which has been so helpful in this case, as well as Through The Window, the informational book. Without further ado, let’s explore Connor Murphy!

The first aspect of Connor I want to discuss is his costume and appearance. When the average person hears the term “emo,” they probably think of someone wearing all black clothing, combat boots, over-the-top eyeliner, (or guyliner) and gauge earrings. But when Connor first comes onstage, those descriptions are not emulated in him at all. Connor wears a dark grey hoodie, a grey denim shirt, and black jeans. The costumer says that the production team wanted to put Connor in dark neutrals rather than complete black so that he seemed more approachable. The creators wanted us to like him at least a little bit. Connor’s hair, however, is long and slightly unkept, which symbolizes his internal thoughts and behaviors to an extent. Connor is not the stereotype some people tend to make him out to be.

Next, I want to talk about something that many people will not know, unless they have read the novel. So if you haven’t and don’t want spoilers, you might want to stop here. For those that have read the novel adaptation, we know that Connor had a friend when he attended an all-boys school. The friend’s name was Miguel, and they were so close that they were sometimes inseparable. Connor had a fallout with Miguel due to an incident at school, followed by the boys’ parents insisting they stop talking. Later on, we get the implied indication that Connor and Miguel may have been more than friends. If this is true, his feelings toward M may have been part of the reason for his emotional damage, substance abuse, and eventual death.

Following all of the pain he went through with Miguel, Connor turned to drinking and drugs. He also developed emotional conditions that were harmful such as using violence to cope. He tended to take out his anger on other objects and people, and eventually himself. In Connor’s segments of the novel we learn that Connor used to cut himself and covered the scars with wristbands and bracelets. His emotional trauma combined with the obvious misundertanding of his parents led Connor down a path he never wanted to go down.

Connor was never meant to be who he was demonized as. He is simply another teenager with flaws, like Evan, Jared, Zoe, and the rest of the cast. While all the things that are most prominent in the musical depict him as this mentally tormented soul, I personally think that Connor had good in him. Even if it was only at his very core, he still had it. It may have been overshadowed by hate, anger, and possibly repression, but the version of Connor that was showed to readers in flashbacks of the novel was still there. You just had to look for it. 🌠