He flies into a rage and refuses to give the piece of paper back to its owner. While you may leave the theater singing Evan’s Act One number “Waving Through a Window,” just as moving are “Disappear,” “For Forever” and Heidi’s late-show epic, “So Big/So Small.”. Evan clearly loves his mom, but she’s busy with her job as a nurses aide and taking classes to become a paralegal. Dear Evan Hansen Themes & Motifs. The magazine is published once a month during the academic year (September-April) by the Gateway Student Journalism Society (GSJS), a student-run, autonomous, apolitical not-for-profit organization, operated in accordance with the Societies Act of Alberta. Dear Evan Hansen revolves around a lonely teenager who is encouraged by his therapist to write letters to himself highlighting what will be good about each day. The company of the first national tour of "Dear Evan Hansen" perform amid the show's purposefullydizzying projections of social-media streams and videos. Heidi has encouraged him to get it signed by classmates, but his handful of attempts — an aborted try with Zoe among them — do not go well. Continues through June 30 at Playhouse Square’s Connor Palace, 1615 Euclid Ave., Cleveland. The second act is where the real drama comes, when “Dear Evan Hansen” hits you with emotional punches — moments earned from what has come before them. Evan is a demanding role — at one point late in the affair, the actor in the part must transition seamlessly from crying as he speaks to singing — and Ross handles it all with grace. And although it is impossible to note all worth noting in a review of “Dear Evan Hansen,” the production design and its related components are deserving of significant praise. Fortunately, this musical does so in such a way as not to crush the audience member; it manages to leave one with a sense of optimism even though a toll has been taken over the previous two-and-a-half hours of theater. LaRochelle describes seeing the impact of Dear Evan Hansen’s message and themes first hand during her time on the show. Val Emmich. Mental health and youth suicide are major themes in Dear Evan Hansen. The story has also provided and encouraged open dialogue about its themes of mental illness and youth suicide. “It’s really inspiring for me to hear stories from people who have seen the show, whether it be online or at the stage door, people are sharing their stories with us,” she said. Rare is the work that lives up to its lofty expectations. Dear Evan Hansen highlights the need for every human to feel valued, important, and needed. Throughout its various runs, the show has earned recognition for providing and encouraging dialogues about mental illness, youth suicide, and mental health. The Power of Fiction. The latter is high from smoking weed the morning of the first day of school and has no interest in going; he lashes out at Mom, as well as father Larry (Aarn Lazar) and sister Zoe (played nicely on the second night of the run by understudy Ciara Alyse Harris). Reach the author at mmeszoros@news-herald.com or follow Mark on Twitter: @MarkMeszoros. Overall, Dear Evan Hansen promises to be a heartfelt, emotional, and hopeful experience accompanied by an acclaimed story and endearing set of songs. The Gateway is the official student publication at the University of Alberta, founded in 1910. “It’s an anthem for people going through whatever sort of struggle they’re facing,” LaRochelle said. With a smart book by Steven Levenson and impressive music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, it confronts not-so-pleasant topics that include anxiety, depression, isolation, suicide and the effect social media is having on our society — and, especially, on its young people. mmeszoros@news-herald.com “They can just hear that song and feel like they’re not alone and know it’s okay to open up and talk about the things that you’re going through.”. Evan's nonprofit, the … Also, Evan is sporting a cast on his left arm stemming from a recent fall from a tree in a park. Themes of bullying, loneliness and suicide may not sound like the makings of a hit musical, but those are the elements that make "Dear Evan Hansen" this year’s hot Broadway ticket. “Dear Evan Hansen” — a winner of six Tony Awards in 2017, Best Musical among them — is such a show. “The show is about a boy named Evan Hansen who’s struggling with social anxiety and struggling to connect and fit in,” Stephanie LaRochelle, who plays Evan’s longtime crush, Zoe Murphy, said. But, the ordeal did highlight what was important to him, and even if he ended up in the same place, he had more of an identity at the end than he started with. Social media is playing an increasingly important role in society. He has sever social anxiety and therefore has few friends and overthinks every situation. Even the closest thing Evan has to a friend at school, Jared Kleinman (Jared Goldsmith) — a “family friend” whose parents insist he be nice to Evan if he’d like them to continue to pay for his car insurance — declines, giving him a hard time about it instead. For tickets, $39 to $159, 216-241-6000 or PlayhouseSquare.org. Christiane Noll, left, and Jessica Phillips portray mothers dealing with difficult situation in “Dear Evan Hansen.”. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Mental health and youth suicide are major themes in Dear Evan Hansen. Symbols & Motifs. “It’s special to be a part of something that is empowering people to feel safe to open up and helping to erase the stigma.”. Seeing Zoe’s name is peppered throughout it, Connor believes Evan meant for him to see it — he believes Evan is trying to taunt him with it. It speaks to the feeling of being left behind, forgotten, or invisible, while also emphasizing that there’s always a light at the end of the dark tunnel. Fitting in simply is no small task for this young man. Dear Evan Hansen Themes . As the story progresses, Evan for a while gets better at putting on this ruse — it becomes harder to manage as the interest in Connor it has spawned grows and grows — and his social anxiety lessens, with at least one major exception late in the first act. Dear Evan Hansen has touched audiences all across North America throughout its runs already. This section contains 2,634 words (approx. Evan Hansen, the main character of the novel struggles with finding his identity. Throughout the novel, all of the characters learn just how little they know about the interior of one another’s lives. “The show is opening up a conversation for mental health,” LaRochelle explained. Themes. News is able to spread within seconds and there is more pressure to keep up an appearance for the hundreds or thousands of people that follow you. Connor has killed himself, they tell Evan, and they — Cynthia especially — very much would like to know all about this friend they didn’t know their son had. Jessica Phillips doesn’t see the audience until the finale, when the house lights are turned on. 7 pages at 400 words per page) View a FREE sample . Although the show in part is so dramatically effective because it is so dialogue-heavy, the compositions by Pasek and Paul — who wrote the lyrics for writer-director Damien Chazelle’s 2016 Academy Award-nominated movie musical, “La La Land” — are quite memorable. These mistruths allow Evan not just to become closer to Zoe — who initially is understandably suspicious of the niceties about her in her brother’s letter considering he was never anything but hostile toward her — but also to Larry and Cynthia. When a classmate commits suicide, shy Evan Hansen finds himself at the center of the tragedy and turmoil. OK. You have permission to edit this article. In “Dear Evan Hansen,” Evan (Ben Levi Ross, left) becomes close with the Murphy family — Larry (Aaron Lazar), Cynthia (Christiane Noll) and Zoe (Maggie McKenna) — after the death of Connor Murphy, Evan’s classmate. Dad left them when Evan was 7, so the Murphys quickly become the family he never had. Understand, though, that while it is an easy show to love, “Dear Evan Hansen” is no easy show. Create your own unique website with customizable templates. ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ with its myriad challenging themes, lives up to hype at Playhouse Square | Theater review, ‘Dear Evan Hansen,’ with its dealing of myriad challenging themes, lives up to hype at Playhouse Square, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Based on a performance of the national touring production running at Playhouse Square through June 30, “Dear Evan Hansen” is a composition not to be missed, a piece of musical theater art that is as entertaining as it is moving and impactful. The musical has received critical acclaim, particularly for Ben Platt's leading performance, the lyrics, and the book. @MarkMeszoros on Twitter, the national touring production running at Playhouse Square through June 30, playhousesquare.org/news/detail/dear-evan-hansen-lottery-information, Emotionally impactful Tony Award winner ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ soon to hit Playhouse Square, Specialty grocery store proposed on Sawyer House site in Mentor, Marc's to open new store in Willoughby Hills, Mentor, minus Ian Kipp, falls to Pickerington Central in state semifinal, Florida men accused of targeting Ohio elderly including Mentor man in 'grandparent scam', High school football: OPSWA Northeast Lakes District football team, Painesville City Manager Monica Irelan to resign, 'Boutique' inn approved for Tall Oaks wedding, event complex in Kirtland, Program set for Nov. 10 to commemorate 45th anniversary of Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck, Mentor officials talk possibilities for Lagoons property with passage of charter change, More than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases reported in Lake County in past week. Community is a primary theme in Dear Evan Hansen, whose central character is looking for love — albeit through morally questionable methods. Get information on a digital lottery for $25 tickets at playhousesquare.org/news/detail/dear-evan-hansen-lottery-information. Throughout its various runs, the show has earned recognition for providing and encouraging dialogues about mental illness, youth suicide, and mental health. Evan, meanwhile, is dealing with social anxiety. Instead of telling them the truth, Evan gives them what they want to hear, in a moment deftly written by Levenson. Mark is a lifelong Northeast Ohioan and an Ohio University grad. A minimal amount of furniture is used to convey the setting of the moment, allowing near-omnipresent sliding transparent panels on which social-media streams and video clips are projected to grab the eye. (Jared is used as comic relief throughout much of “Dear Evan Hansen,” and Goldsmith is consistently hilarious.). Perhaps “Dear Evan Hansen” won’t change your life, but it will have you thinking about youth, social media and the intersection of the two. Essay Topics. “It’s very empowering and ends off with a very uplifting message and I think people can walk away feeling hopeful and uplifted,” LaRochelle said. “Dear Evan Hansen” hopes to open up a conversation about mental health, has earned recognition for providing and encouraging dialogues about mental illness, youth suicide, and mental health, Crowdfunding campaign hopes to launch a new kind of bed and breakfast. Mental health is a serious problem and is only in recent times beginning to be addressed. Evan voices his concerns as to what Connor might do with the letter to Jared, who delights in spinning worst-case scenarios for Evan that involve the ruining of Evan’s life. Print Word PDF. Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter to receive the best of thegatewayonline.ca, delivered straight to your inbox. After a couple of days in which Connor has not been at school, Evan is brought into a room to meet Cynthia and Larry, who found the letter and believe it to be something Connor had written for Evan. He takes prescribed medications, but his therapist also has given him an assignment: to write letters to himself in which he will lay out what will be good about the day ahead. By continuing to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy. Evan Hansen, the main character of the novel struggles with finding his identity.

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