In every gneration, there is a musical that captures the hearts and rebellious spirit of The Youth. In the 1960s, it was “Hair”; for Generation X, it was the transgressive rock opera “Rent”; and many teens of the 2000s connected with the uber-emo “Spring Awakening.” Then, a decade later like clockwork, came “Dear Evan Hansen.”
Much like the previous moment-catching shows, “Dear Evan Hansen” is reflective of the social mement in which it was writtn. Instead of war or AIDS, it portrays the widespread struggle with social media and mental health that plagued many in Gen Z.
Pittsburgh Musical Theater has produced the regional premiere of the musical, and it’s running through May 24 at the Gargaro Theater on the West End.
For a musical with a relatively short cast list, simple staging and more mellow music, “Dear Evan Hansen” is pretty complex in its plot and themes. It follows new high school senior Evan Hansen (Anthony Marino Jr.) and his struggles with his mental health, especiay anxiety. He’s been given an assignment by his therapist which his mother, Heidi (Zanny Laird) reiterates at the beginning of Act One: write a letter to himself every day about how amazing the coming day will be.
He writes in his first letter about how despondent he feels and how his crush on schoolmate Zoe (Erin Cain) is the one thing that keeps him going. He prints off the letter in the schol’s computer lab and it’s snatched up by troubled classmate — and Zoe’s brother — Connor (Joshua Clark). Connor confronts Evan about the letter and keeps it.
Three days later, Evan is called to the principal’s office where he meets Connor’s parents, Cynthia (Bre Short) and Larry (Brett Goodnack). They tell Evan that Connor took his own life and that the letter, addressed to Evan, was found. They assume that Evan must have been their son’s only friend and beg him to give them insight into the state of mind of their late son. And, after some initial resistance, Evan is so pulled into the fantasy and how happy his lies make the couple that he goes along with the construction of his nonexistent friendship with Connor.
The lie compounds and escalates to the point of spinning out of control, and Evan must decide how to handle the situation, for himself and for Connor’s family.
“Dear Evan Hansen” has music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Steven Levenson. It premiered on Broadway in 2016 and won six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and one for lead actor Ben Platt.
There was a movie adaptation, but we don’t really need to discuss that.
The overall message of “Dear Evan Hansen” isn’t a bad one — it is good to learn to grow into yourself, to be unapologetically “you” and to maybe step away from the fickle landscape of social media. I have plenty of bones to pick with this show, but the combination of a nuanced script and capable actors makes it a very human story to behold.
Plus, I have to acknowledge that this story maybe isn’t for me — a fact more thoroughly impressed upon me when I left the theater and reaized the most emotional moments for me came from the parents’ stories, not the kids’.
Take Laird as Heidi, Evan’s struggling single mother. Besides pumping gallons of emotion into her vocal performances, Laird is convincingly frazzled but loving through all of her scenes, and the steadiness and wisdom she brings to second act song “So Big/So Small” made it a standout scene.
Marino as Evan is jittery, anxious and sometimes desperate. He more than delivered for the big cathartic moment of “Words Fail,” when Marino sang powerfully throgh tears — and a chorus of audience members audibly sniffled along. And he transformed before our eyes as Evan grew into himself.
Cain, Short and Goodnack have a fascinating mutual development throughout the show, and they all bring a commendable complexity to their characters. Director Tim Seib took the text of this show and really brought out authentic perfroamnces from his cast. This story is based in more-than-typical realism, and it can be difficult to bring that out in the context of a stage show, but these characters feel like people you may know.
Clark’s Connor is not to be discounted, even though he’s really just an instrument for the engine of the plot (a concept that the play itself emphasizes, as several of the characters use his death as a means to self-aggrandizing and attention-seeking). Even after his initial sulking, aggressive presence, Connor haunts Evan onstage, often conversing with him aloud in some of th show’s most intimate and rvealing moments.
The set is simple, framed by lit, off-kilter geometric portals and lines whose colors and brightness shift. Lighting designer Forrest Trimble effectively conveyed the mood of every scene, pulling the audience into Evan’s mind. The set is otherwise fairly sparse, but scenic designer Tucker Topel used furniture and touches to make the set functional and easily changeable. And costume designer Jeremy Eiben kept outfits fitting for such a grounded setting, but also effectively used clothing as age, class and personality signifiers that brought even more subtle nuance to the characters.
Music director Dr. Francesca Tortorello has the band in fine form, especially with a score that’s a little more laid-back but has a lot of range. From quiet ballads to upbeat numbers like highlight “Sincerely, Me” to the swelling emotional second act climax, the band was the musical’s emotional barometer.
While “Dear Evan Hansen” is far from a perfect musical, Pittsburgh Musical Theater’s production will get even the most resistant theatergoer a little misty-eyed. And, since it’s been 10 years since the show first climbed onto the Broadway stage, I guess it’s time to keep an eye out for Gen Alpha’s coming-of-age smash-hit musical.
“Dear Evan Hansen” will run through May 24 at the Gargaro Theater on the West End. To learn more and get tickets, visit pittsburghmusicals.com.