Ad disclosure: We were provided with press tickets for the purpose of this post.
Dear Evan Hansen is one of my all-time favourite musicals, and James and I were fortunate enough to see it last October. When it returned to Birmingham as part of the extended tour, I knew I wanted to take Lydia along to experience the show, and she absolutely loved it.
Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager struggling with his mental health. His white lie to save the feelings of grieving parents spirals out of control, only made worse by his fear of being forgotten. His single mother, juggling a full-time job and night classes, struggles to communicate with her son and help him.
This touching story explores loss and love, tackling challenging subjects like mental health and both the upsides and downsides of social media. Evan is part anxiety-ridden victim, part attention-seeking villain, and shows how making a bad choice can lead to terrible consequences.
After all, he says it himself in ‘Words Fail’ – he never thought it would go so far, and there’s nothing he can say to justify his actions. He simply wanted to believe he wasn’t a broken mess, someone everyone would hate, just as much as he hated himself.
I covered my thoughts on the cast, set, lighting, etc in my review last October, so I will save myself from too much repetition… but I have to say Ryan Kopel’s depiction of Evan is still utter perfection and he conveys so much emotion with every trembling mannerism and powerful note sung. We had the pleasure of seeing alternate Will Forgrave on stage last night as Connor, and he was fantastic at haunting the stage (and Evan!) throughout the show.
Last year’s show was right near the beginning of the tour, and now eight months later you can see how the cast have really got into their groove together and know how to perfectly play off each other on stage. ‘Sincerely, Me’ in particular was really well done and had the whole audience laughing out loud throughout the song.
Other moments of the show had goosebumps raising on my arms – a true accomplishment in this heat wave! It is a really strong cast, and they told the complex story in such a wonderful way – they absolutely deserved their standing ovation.
As a parent of two high school kids it terrifies me how things can get so out of control on social media and one of my worst fears is that I would miss somehow knowing that one of my girls was ever struggling like Evan and Connor did.
There is a scene where Alice, Evan’s mother, finds out how much he was struggling and how he felt at the beginning of the story, and I never want to feel that heartbreak myself. She feels like she has failed him and he thinks she won’t love him if he shows her all of his broken parts. I think every parent in the theatre was in tears, the final two songs are so full of emotion as everything comes to a head, Evan’s make believe world comes crashing down, and his mother is right there to comfort him.
I have struggled with my mental health on and off for decades. I know how hard it is to feel so alone, and I think that is a large part of why this musical is so moving to me – and to so many others. They say one in four people have had mental health problems at one time or another, and I’m pretty sure that during & after the pandemic almost everyone did! It’s such an important topic to talk about and this musical offers a way to tackle that conversation with your own friends and family.
I was delighted to see Lydia fall in love with this musical and getting to see her reactions to the show last night was a great experience for me. She turned 12 a few months ago, and I believe it would have been unsuitable for her before high school age as it’s peppered with some rather raunchy jokes and swearing. I know she will be adding the Broadway cast album to her music library after last night… and wishing just as much as I am that this extraordinary cast would record their own version.
Lydia says: I think it was a phenomenal performance! Many moments had me laughing, along with heart-warming songs that made me tear up a bit! The story is incredibly well written, as it is complicated yet still conveys important messages for all young people, along with parents and other adults.
As for the music, the songs are absolutely incredible! I came out of theatre with at least three of them stuck in my head; they’re all so catchy and well done, with a healthy mix of funny songs, like Sincerely Me (one of my favourites), and some sad songs, like the last two before the finale. All the choreography was also amazing, especially in Sincerely Me, and I loved how they showed two people either on the phone to each other, video chatting or some people posting videos online.
Furthermore, the characters are funny and relatable, and really make you think about the world around you. These incredible characters are brought to life by their spectacular actors, who are beautiful singers. One of the best singers is the actress who plays Evan’s mother, who was incredible throughout all her songs.
My three favourite songs were probably Waving Through a Window, Sincerely Me and For Forever. Overall, I truly love this story, music and talented actors and think it is a spectacular musical!
Dear Evan Hansen is on at The Alexandra until Saturday 21st June, before continuing onto the final two venues of the UK tour. You can find out more & purchase tickets over on the ATG website. Check it out before it’s too late!
