The second Broadway tour to come to the Ordway in as many weeks (and the second tear-jerker),
Dear Evan Hansen is back in town for one week only! The 2017 Tony Award-winning musical was
last seen at the Orpheum in 2019, and seeing the show again last night I was reminded just how good it is. When it premiered in 2017 it was so modern and relevant and almost revolutionary in the way it depicted the effects of social media on young people. Now, eight years later, some of the specifics of the technology have changed (Tik Tok and Snapchat and who knows what else have replaced Facebook and Twitter), but what hasn't changed is the power of social media to both join us together, and to further bullying and abuse. This musical also deals with mental health issues and suicide among our youth, which is still a very concerning problem. The power of musical theater is that it can bring awareness of these issues to the general public, as well as reach struggling individuals in a visceral way, and maybe help them to feel less alone, to reach out for help, to live for the promise of a better day. You, too, can
be found at the Ordway Center in downtown St. Paul through March 16.
The title comes from an assignment that Evan receives from his therapist, to write a letter of encouragement to himself. "Dear Evan Hansen, it's going to be a good day, and here's why." Spoiler alert: it's not a good day for this friendless young man dealing with crippling anxiety. But after a tragedy at school, and a series of misunderstandings and outright lies, Evan ends up getting everything he ever wanted - friends, a girlfriend, a family, popularity at school, and a purpose. But the price paid by him and those around him is high, and things get worse before they get better. Despite his bad choices, I have great empathy for Evan. He's just a troubled kid who wants to be seen, heard, and loved, and his actions bring about a greater awareness that every human needs that, in the world of the play and in the audience. This musical appeals to the outsider in all of us (or maybe it's just me).*
.jpg) |
| Michael Fabisch as Evan Hansen (Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) |
Leading this fantastic eight-person cast is
Minnesota's own Michael Fabisch, a Spotlight Award-winner from Buffalo who graduated with a BFA from University of Michigan less than a year ago. When your first gig out of college is playing the title role in a touring Broadway show, that speaks a lot for your talent, and Michael is very deserving of this honor and responsibility. I saw Ben Platt in
his Tony-winning performance originating the role of Evan Hansen, an experience I will never forget, but Michael completely makes the role his own and brings his own special sauce to it. He's adorably awkward, speaking in rushed sentences and stammering in front of his crush. But he also shows us the depth of Evan's pain, and when he collapsed in his mother's arms near the end of the show, there was not a dry eye in the house. And his voice is incredible too, with great variety and range, from a lovely soft falsetto to a strong belt. Michael seems like he was born to play this role, and his huge smile at curtain call, performing in front of his home-town crowd, was something to see. He has a bright future in front of him and I hope we haven't seen the last of him here in #TCTheater.
 |
best friends Evan (Michael Fabisch), Jared (Gabriel Vernon Nunag),
and Connor (Alex Pharo, photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade) |
In this intimate musical, there are only eight actors, so no one is in the background and everyone has a chance to shine, and they do. Bre Cade is so strong and sympathetic as Evan's single working mother, doing the best she can; Jeff Brooks and Caitlin Sams are the picture of grieving parents, each doing it differently; Hatty Ryan King is sweet and tough as Evan's crush; Gabriel Vernon Nunag is responsible for much of the humor (did I mention this show is funny, too?) as his buddy Jared; and Makena Jackson is the appropriately annoying do-gooder, until you see she's dealing with a lot too. Last but not least, Alex Pharo gets the chance to be dark and brooding as well as goofy and funny in the pivotal role of Connor Murphy.
 |
| photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade |
The set is super cool and fitting for this story that is so much about social media, the connections it can foster and the feelings of loneliness and unworthiness it can engender. As I wrote about the Broadway production, "The show is smartly and dynamically staged (by director Michael Greif, who also brought us
RENT,
Next to Normal, et al) on a modern set with social media images and videos projected everywhere (scenic design by David Korins, projection design by Peter Nigrini)." Small tableaux of a bedroom or living room smoothly glide in and out when necessary amongst moving vertical panels. There's a lot of movement in the show, but also some lovely quiet and intimate character moments.* The Tony-winning score sounds great performed by this cast and the eight-piece pit orchestra directed by Michael Hopewell, with an endlessly singable array of songs from fun upbeat numbers to gorgeous and moving ballads.
When I saw the show on Broadway, I called it "a brilliant new, original, and thoroughly modern musical about grief, loneliness, the pain of growing up, and finding connection in the social media age." It may not be new anymore, and some of the details of the technology may be dated, but if anything it's only more relevant and moving as we as a society, as a world, are still trying to figure out the best use of social media and other new technology, and the increasing complexities in being a teenager in this fast-changing and often scary world.
.jpg)
