What is Dear Evan Hansen, the teen suicide musical that stormed the Tony Awards?
Most people are smart enough to gauge how welcome teen suicide can be as an artistic subject matter. Taken seriously, it can be acclaimed, if controversial, as proven by Netflix's Thirteen Reasons Why. Treated as a carefree satire, as Daniel Waters and Michael Lehmann did with Heathers in 1989, and box office failure is the price of a cultish fanbase. In short, there is little room for irreverence.
But what about taking teen suicide as something potentially life-affirming, and even going so far as to make it a musical? Dear Evan Hansen has taken these theoretically calamitous creative choices and been rewarded with the best new musical trophy at the Tony Awards on Sunday night along with five other statuettes, including best score, book and top actor honours for Ben Platt.
Here is Dear Evan Hansen's story so far:
What’s it about?
Evan Hansen’s life could be better: his extreme social anxiety permeates a high school career low in friends and high in unrequited love. Domestically, he is at odds with his divorced mother Heidi and there is little money available for college. To make matters worse, his arm is broken.
When fellow student Connor Murphy dies by suicide, it presents Hansen with a peculiar opportunity. Through lucky coincidences and his own inarticulacy, Evan finds the chance to live how he has yearned to when he is mistaken for a friend and confidant of the deceased. He gains viral internet fame and the acceptance of Connor’s family, not least Zoe, Connor’s sister (and Evan’s longtime crush). It comes at a price as Hansen struggles to maintain his mistaken identity.
Who created it ?
The show’s music and lyrics were written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, better known as songwriting duo Pasek and Paul. Before Dear Evan Hansen, they won an Oscar for writing the lyrics of La La Land’s Oscar-winning song City of Stars.
The idea for Dear Evan Hansen came from Pasek’s own high school experience. After a fellow student died, he noticed the way that some of his classmates were capitalising on the death and pretending to have been on familiar terms with the deceased.
Work began on the story in 2010 but it was not until 2014 that first readings were held. In this time, the story was restructured and streamlined, and once-central ideas were altered or removed completely. Pasek and Paul made swifter progress with casting, though: seven of the main cast members have been with the show since its 2015 premiere in Washington.
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What do the critics think?
The New York Times’ review says that Dear Evan Hansen “has grown in emotional potency” during its progression to a Broadway run, crediting this majorly to 23-year old actor Ben Platt’s work in the title role and saying that it is “not likely to be bettered” soon.
Variety has praise for (among many other things) the “stunning” set design choices, where screens and surfaces are decorated with social network feeds. They also highlight the “gentle” introspection and lack of sentimentality of the score, lyrics and dialogue.
The New Yorker's review gives Dear Evan Hansen more qualified praise, suggesting that the second act is “formulaic” and that the protagonist’s darker side has space left to explore; however, these flaws are a “smudge” more than a true “diminishment” of the musical.