‘Dear Evan Hansen’ finds hope amid teen angst
Show’s brilliance is in shining a light on emotional problems, insecurities
A self-described loser becomes a fleeting voice of hope and comfort for his generation in “Dear Evan Hansen.” But the show’s brilliance is not in showing how the kid gains confidence but in shining a light on deep emotional problems and insecurities that persist in him, and which exist in so many young people today.
The first national tour of the Broadway hit is at The Bushnell through Sunday.
When a tragedy befalls the school misfit Connor Murphy (described by his classmates as “weird” and “tough”), Evan Hansen — who’s had minimal and not very positive contact with Connor — is mistakenly thought to be the troubled boy’s best friend. Evan, who has his own social issues, lets the lie grow, then willingly feeds it. Ultimately this insecure, withdrawn kid dupes the entire Murphy family, one of his only friends, his school and the Internet. Only Evan’s mother, who’s depicted as overworked and inattentive, is somewhat skeptical.
The musical lets you watch Evan’s little lies snowball into a global viral deception by constantly reminding you of the big old World Wide Web out there. Before the show begins, we are treated to the bleeps and bloops and fleeting images of random text messages. Evan’s main confidant Jared (who’ll only go so far as to call himself a “family friend” of the hero) is one of those stock young-tech-wiz characters who can create untraceable computer accounts and backdate fake emails without breaking a sweat.
“Dear Evan Hansen” takes placed in a hyperdriven world, but this is a personal story lived by a handful of close-knit char
acters.
The musical deals pretty casually, though not recklessly, with such weighty topics as teen suicide, anxiety disorder, depression, grief and dysfunctional families.
But as somber and serious as the story (scripted by Steven Levenson) gets, it regularly resets its mood with expressions of hope and understanding. “Dear Evan Hansen” will make you think of downbeat Broadway fare like “Next to Normal” yet it also has a surprising amount in common with “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown,” or all those Disney Channel movies where kids tell outrageous lies in order to be popular.
The national tour now finally at The Bushnell was originally due to hit Hartford two years ago.
There’ve been cast changes, the show settled into a smooth-running machine and the shiny excitement of when it was newer (and before the film version of it was released) has dissipated. But “Dear Evan Hansen” remains a classy piece of modern musical theater which comes off as much grander than it actually is.
A mere eight-person cast manages to make you feel that you’re visiting a full school or a bustling family home. The action is focused by small stages that whisk in and out and by a brilliant lighting design (by Japhy Weideman) where every major thought or action a character has is illuminated by a spotlight. It works not just as a way to focus our attention in a show without detailed backdrops, but also to underscore that common teen dilemma of feeling that you are constantly on public display, and constantly messing up in front of the whole world.
The songs — by Benj Pasek and Connecticut’s own Justin Paul are played by an octet in a small balcony overlooking the stage.
It’s basically a four-piece band gorgeously augmented with a violin, viola and cello. Many of the numbers, like “Good for You,” start with folky pop chords then morph into sweet ballads with soaring vocals. That’s when the classical instruments go to work. In Evan’s big confessional workout “Words Fail,” the strings make all the difference, as they do on the big first-act closer “You Will Be Found.”
For the show’s first Bushnell performance on Tuesday night, Evan Hansen was played by Sam Primack, who has usually been playing the role only for Saturday matinees and Sunday evenings on the tour. (The main Evan is Stephen Christopher Anthony.) Primack has a true command of this hard-to-play character, who must own the stage and sing like an angel while also playing a credibly soft-spoken, unconfident, self-doubting, passive and meek boy who’s barely a blip on the radar of those around him. As Connor’s sister Zoe, with whom Evan starts a tentative relationship, Stephanie La Rochelle captures that teen spirit of beauty without attitude, assertive yet vulnerable. As Evan’s school chums Alana and Jared, Ciara
Alyse Harris and a rather old-looking Alessandro Costantini take high school geek stereotypes and manage to inject some freshness.
“Dear Evan Hansen” is mainly a tale of teen angst, but parents are key to how the plot — and Evan’s self-worth — develops. As Evan’s mom Heidi, Jessica E. Sherman is believably ruffled and on edge, exuding worried motherhood all the while. As Connor and Zoe’s parents Larry and Cynthia, John
Hemphill and Claire Rankin have the tricky task of demonstrating not that they are a united couple but an unsettled, fractious one.
For now, this week at The Bushnell, “Dear Evan Hansen” is maintaining the same charm, emotional grit and shocking twists that endeared it to Broadway in the first place. Even the social media technology aspects haven’t gotten dated yet. And certainly the theme of teens feeling unloved and unwanted will never die.
”Dear Evan Hansen” runs Tuesday through April 3 at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Ave., Hartford. Performances are Tuesday through Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. $45-$200. bushnell.org.