Evan Hansen is the main character in the musical Dear Evan Hansen. 24. How about do you feel about this, Steven? YouTube is the beginning. We can overcome vaccine hesitancy. I feel like its hard. Connor is his classmate and lives lavishly with his parents and sister. When we started talking about this idea and trying to abstract it and think about what was at the heart of it, we started to think about the idea of connection immediately, that all of this had to do with the desire and the need and the hunger to connect. Whats important now when youre doing that as youre moving to Broadway? What do you hope to accomplish, each of you? Its great to talk to you. I do feel like people are hungering for something that is ephemeral and something thats just here and now, because everything else is permanent and online. - The fourth letter in "Sincerely, Me" and the final letter of the first act. Dear Evan Hansen: Directed by Stephen Chbosky. Hes told to write these daily affirmations, Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be a great day, and here is why. That is the beginning of our story, is him writing one of these letters, and its the first day of school. It is the need to leave the show, and call. Dear Evan Hansen Opening Monologue - to call you mine, and to be yours SM: Hes not fictional to me anymore, because not only have I lived with him for so long, but I stand in the back of the theater. The Most Important Lesson From 'Dear Evan Hansen' (That No - HuffPost Stacey and Steven, welcome to Recode Decode. Theyre all by the time we meet them at the beginning of the show, they have been through hell already. 30 Dear Evan Hansen Quotes From The Smash Hit Musical Well, its also become a war zone too, I mean, at the same time like a hellscape, like sometimes this was a SL: Yes. The Complicated Truth of 'Dear Evan Hansen' | TDF Stages | TDF Gain full access to show guides, character breakdowns, auditions, monologues and more! Rent was one of those choices, and Angels in America I would say, probably, are two shows that the conversation had to continue after. Sign up today to unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. SM: Its so universal, because I think we all feel that way. Above photo: VOX teen reviewer Sydney with her mom Lisa at the April 28, 2019 performance of "Dear Evan Hansen" at Atlanta's Fox Theatre. Teens can still click right on through the new screen time limit. SL: Exactly. Its music, however, is fairly affecting. Its the hot ticket on Broadway right now. I had Jeffrey Sellers and Richard Hamilton on, and Ive been fascinated with theater my whole life. It was a smart way to talk about hard things. No lying. Thats all I mean. Weve talked a lot about the show itself, but lets talk about doing theater now. We didnt have Uber. Its a musical about a high school student with social anxiety disorder and social media problems. Just weaponize. Thats why I think its a character. Certainly, if the show continues to do well, its something well entertain, but right now More likely, youll go out and do shows all over the country? He has a cast from falling from a tree, and his mother urges him to get people to sign it as a way of making friends. Despite its Broadway credentials, "Dear Evan Hansen" hits screens faced with an inherent tension: Can its songs and cast, led by Ben Platt reprising his Tony-winning role, overcome the . Be yourself! Its so funny when youre looking up things, like, What is that, or what is that? I was at a party the other night, and someones like, What do you think happened in his first night? If only we had a device that we can search and find things out, but then I remember dinner parties where you just didnt know. SL: Never send an email when youre angry has been the best lesson. It started with the idea of a high school experience, that you had this high school experience, and then how it iterated itself. What were you going for to create that feeling of being on the phone or being assaulted by media? 3. SM: Were struggling and learning. Dear Evan Hansen ending monologue. Flashcards | Quizlet This one took a long time because it was not based on a book or a movie, or anything at all except perhaps a moment that Benj Pasek had in high school, except for the fact that Steven Levenson turned that all around. They might after hearing this. Thats the part of the story thats interesting to us. Im like, I told you.. SM: Well, its good to hear you say that. Where do you see theater going? Now theyre gone. It was mind-blowing to see Rent at that time. Just, uh, you knowbe true to yourself. I do hope and it seems to occasionally work this way that people are leaving the theater, and at least being more mindful I think of the way that they use technology. Why do people, especially our age, feel the need to broadcast their sadness and their mourning? Of course he is the ringleader of that and the instigator, but there is some complicity. Do you not put stuff online? SL: I think storytelling is going to continue to evolve into different forms and formats. CPAC used to be a barometer. Its quite enormous in terms of how it gets known. On his journey to be found, he discovers the consequences of risking it all for the chance to . Monologues. The unfortunate thing about my kids is both their parents are highly technically literate, and so they cant fool us or anything. It means, Do your homework, brush your teeth. Dear Evan Hansen (2021) centers on Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), a high school student with social anxiety disorder whose letter to himself, one that was not meant to be seen by others, lands into the wrong hands of fellow classmate, Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), who, as a result, commits suicide. Thats one of the things lets talk about how you weaponize social media. The new single "Found/Tonight," arranged by Alex . Letter #4: Evan Hansen to Connor Murphy. Yeah, but also, it is the agony of social media, and now you can see it. And especially with the pain. It was that and Angels in America were very big deals. Then we brought in the great director, Michael Grief, whos done Rent and Next to Normal. He also brought in his own interpretations. Thats not going to work. They may have started finding us because Ben Platt was about to come out in the second Pitch Perfect movie, or because Pasek and Paul had a following of millennials who were very adept at social media. Chloe? Platt is certainly not the first adult to play a teenager onscreen, nor is he the first to look his age while . When Dear Evan Hansen premiered on Broadway in 2016, it drew near-universal praise from New York's theater critics. - The second letter in "Sincerely, Me". We actually do. Its also a very traditional show, if you think about it. SL: I was struck immediately by this whole concept of the voyeurism and exhibitionism of grief, which was really what I think Benj was so interested in. My son had one with a bad video, and it went up. Today in the red chairs are Stacey Mindich and Steven Levenson, the producer and book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. Its a musical about a high school student with social anxiety disorder struggling to connect with people around him, including his crush, Zoe, and her social outcast brother Connor. It's a testament to the songwriting prowess of La La Land duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul that Dear Evan Hansen has gotten anywhere. I think she is an incredible depiction of contemporary motherhood, whether you're a single mom or not, busy, under pressure, trying . That process has taken us a long time. . September 21, 2021. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why: because because today, all you have to do is just be yourself. This is in the song "Sincerely, Me". DEAR EVAN HANSEN provides hope in a busy modern world Ive seen so much stuff that is very earnest about the show in the way that the stuff about Connors arent. Ben Platt in "Dear Evan Hansen." "Dear Evan Hansen" has been criticized because Ben Platt is a 27-year-old playing a student. Michael Grief and I are from another. At its core, Dear Evan Hansen is about the increasing temptations, and heartbreaking costs, of self-deception. I just saw it in San Francisco. Its the experience, sitting there in that theater in that one place with that one performance. When you do that, you can make silly mistakes that give you a laugh, and horrible mistakes that ruin your life. It's also come under fire for an irresponsible portrayal of mental health . We have parents who come with each other on their theater date night, and they come back and they bring their kids. I hope that the show makes people more present hopefully with the people that they are in the room with. Audition season's in full swing, so I thought I'd share a clip from my self-tape for the Dear Evan Hansen national tour! SL: We always wanted to thread that needle. But also confident; thats super important. The story alone is so icky, so offensive, so profoundly manipulative and fraudulent, that it really never should have gotten a single Tony (or six), much less a film adaptation. Support our mission, and make a gift today. Being as authentic as possible, realistic, organic, the way that you can depict things on the stage, the projections we have on our show are not something you would have seen in a show even two or three years ago. The power ballad that closes act one of Dear Evan Hansen, it marks the moment when Evan, a socially anxious teenager, delivers a heartfelt speech about a friend, Connor, who has recently met with tragedy.Shaking with emotion, Evan recalls a time that Connor helped him, and he . Hes the most awkward 17-year-old ever, Im going to have to tell you. That may be something else I would pay money for, but for me SL: But its different. That song is about isolation and about being on the outside looking in, which a lot of musicals are about really, but this one had a really big element of what social media does to us, and that was a very big plot point in the play. You can only reach so many people. You dont see his head, but you see a sea of faces surrounding him. Are you private? SM: I just think its an incredible conversation starter, and when you start talking about these things, all kinds of good can come from it, not just in terms of being mindful, and maybe youre too disconnected from the world by being on your phones, but also, we have issue of loneliness, and people bring what theyre going through to the show, so mental illness, suicide prevention. I start Talkbacks now by saying, Were going to keep our Talkback breath, because I know that you want to go home and hug your children, forgive your mother and perhaps download our CD, because that is the universal thing. You cant keep doing that. Steven, youve hit the meme exactly at the right moment, which is Did you think about that before? People have said to me, theyre sure he has Aspergers or something else. 'Dear Evan Hansen' Review: Superb Performances Elevate - Forbes I remember going on social media that night, the night of the election, people saying, Get in touch with me if you need somebody to talk to. It was actually genuine. Dear Evan Hansen Best Movie Quotes - MovieQuotesandMore Ultimately what is going to separate theater from everything else is not the content. As the performance began, Evan was alone. The first performance was in July 2015. Then there are those moments where it goes quiet, which is those are generally the emotional moments in the show. On Broadway. Its also a lot about the impact of the internet on teens and everyone. Dear Evan Hansen: An Updated Cast List | Cinemablend The "Dear Evan Hansen" Trailer Just Dropped, Featuring A Very 27-Year-Old Ben Platt. With its Broadway debut, "Dear Evan Hansen" took the world by storm, going on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Musical. Dear Evan Hansen - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Riding the wave . I like to insult him, but hes a genius on Twitter. EVAN. Its got to be something else. People are going back to handmade in some ways, and people are really hungering for SL: Exactly. SM: Thats angry old men shaking their fists at the internet. That requires a series of readings, workshops and developmental productions outside of Broadway to really see what you have and to learn from audiences and all of that. I look at Rent being really a grandfather to Dear Evan Hansen happening. Hashtag youre not alone. That problem, its the plot point. But they want to continue the relationship. Heres a clip from the show. Yes, she is. SM: I think if we want people to relate to the show, then the idea really is that I always said, If every mother in that audience doesnt ultimately want to hug Evan, then were not doing the right thing. We want everyone to essentially be kind and feel a warmth about our show. Right, and theyre all telling each other stories that arent true, which I think is fascinating. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? Why its so hard to get answers on long Covid. Right. Youll have it in your eyes. It was written by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek, and Justin Paul. Because today, all you have to do is be yourself. Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing and changing us. Of course, they still owe one to common, be entertained. Dear Evan Hansen | Shelf Awareness We didnt have to buy the rights to a book to make this. SM: Think about this, Steven, if they do a revival of this show in 25 years, they could do it in a retro way with no projections. I want to continue to have that experience that I saw A Chorus Line 28 times, not on VR. SL: Yes, and Cynthia is still, I think, struggling and fighting and searching for a way to get through to him, whereas Larry has by the time the show started just written him off, and so has Zoe. That was really where we began, was with that phenomenon, and I think what the three of us all found interesting was instead of parodying that or satirizing that, trying to look at what is underneath that impulse, and why do people feel the need to connect in that way, whats propelling that on a human level. But the lies are precisely what happened. Stacey, why dont you go through the story so people get a sense of what happens. Okay. SL: Absolutely. You see how this kind of thing can actually happen. If youre not that private, thats why you have that many and stuff like that. SL: For some reason, we always talked about the beginning of Bye Bye Birdie. Do you know that musical, and with the telephone chain, and how that is inextricably links to that technology of just an old-fashioned phone? There is haptic touch. SL: He is Evans family friend in quotes, which according to Jared means theyre not really friends. We werent going to do a very big thing about it right at this moment, but we did that. Then once she gets the letters, she uses them like shes almost a journalist, like, I got the memo, or something like that. SL: Totally, and she also represents someone who doesnt believe in privacy. SM: The song literally says you are not alone.. Dear Evan Hansen. I think people are hungering to feel a part of a community, and to be sitting in an audience with other people. It was so fascinating because it was so old and so relevant at the same time, so you felt the age of it because it felt old, like what youre talking about. Film adaptation of the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical about Evan Hansen, a high school senior with Social Anxiety disorder and his journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate. SM: I think the power of live theater is very potent, especially with a tale like this. Talk about how you got to Dear Evan Hansen which, by the way, I dont want to call it the Hamilton of this season, but it kind of is. Dear, Evan Hansen. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Absolutely. I heard this interesting statistic the other week, which feels related somehow, that young people are buying more books. Easy to talk to. This article originally appeared on Recode.net. "You Will Be Found" is the tenth and final song in Act One of Dear Evan Hansen. Is that retro like, Hey, lets put on our cashmere sweaters from the 50s, or not? I recommend it. What I found interesting maybe you want to talk about is I dont want to get to the idea of where shows are too like whats at the heart of all these shows and these connections is that you dont insult technology. No, I get it, but you have to feel the panic of social media. Its an interesting question, because throughout the preview process and throughout the out of town production in off Broadway, there were always a certain number of people whove thought he didnt suffer enough for what he did. And interesting. Oscars Set Design Archive | The Gold Knight - Latest Academy Awards It just continues. It becomes something else. 'Dear Evan Hansen,' Do You Actually Care About Teen Mental Health? You dont know theyre happy. Then a week later, two of them divorced. He plays off of Evan. Do you not do that? With Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Kaitlyn Dever, Amy Adams. Everyones happy on Instagram, and everything is All food is delicious. Dear Evan Hansen review: A too-old star is the least of this musical's I think what took so long from launch to the Music Box Theatre was actually eight years but it was crafting of what we call our underlying rights. I have been for so many years, and people come up to me and say, Im Evan. The musical opened on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre in December 2016, after the show's world premiere at the Arena Stage in . You know what I mean? Theres not a night where I dont shed a tear sometimes at a song, Im surprised, that never made me cry before. SL: Larry and Cynthia and Zoe, who is their daughter and Connors sister, are all really And Evan Hansen probably more who really SL: Yes exactly. SM: It does start with a 17-year-old boy alone in his bedroom scrolling through social media. Treacly and manipulative, "Dear Evan Hansen . Also, dont worry if your hands are going to get sweaty for no reason and you cant make it stop no matter what you do because no, theyre not going to get sweaty. SM: We dont have a current plan to do that. A battle over freedom of expression at a Concord, N.H., elementary school. Today in the red chairs are Stacey Mindich and Steven Levenson, the producer and the book writer of Dear Evan Hansen, which is an amazing musical right now on Broadway. Evan was the beginning of our story.