Imogen's A Theatre Nerd: Dear Evan Hansen

I have been immensely fortunate when it comes to exposure to musical theatre and live-stage performances. When I was younger, my aunt used to purchase tickets for myself, my younger sister and my mother to see shows on the West End, some of which, I still have the programs for now. I remember the first West End show I went to was Hairspray when I was around eleven or twelve years old. We got to stage door after the performance and the programs we bought were covered with signatures from cast members that were delighted that we had enjoyed the show. The last time I went on one of those trips was when I was sixteen. I had seen Wicked with my family and not everyone had enjoyed the performance as much as I had. But I was still much too young to go to the theatre alone. However, my love for musical theatre in particular didn’t cease.

It was only recently, in October of 2018, that I went to another West End performance, where I saw Heather’s on tour with two of my friends, just weeks after I’d managed to purchase Hamilton tickets for myself and my mother in the new year. It was then that I realised I had happened across an expensive habit. Since then, I have made four more trips to see shows in London; Hamilton (twice), Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Harry Potter and The Cursed Child and The Great Gatsby at Gatsby’s Drugstore.

I figured that, I would share some anecdotes about my experiences, because, honestly, I just love to share and remember the fun I had!

SO, Dear Evan Hansen!

I was first introduced to Dear Evan Hansen, when I was on YouTube, listening to songs from Hamilton. But, I was not in a situation where I actually listened to it until my housemate played one of the songs and I recognised Ben Platt’s voice. That night, I listened to the entire soundtrack and I made the thorough descent into obsession.

We bought presale tickets for the show, having freaked out when we found out it came to the UK. And, managed to watch the show within the first two weeks of its run.

I had gone into the show with high expectations and all of them were met; we had a great view and were made very emotional by the cast’s handling of such an emotional and raw, heavy subject like suicide and having context of the story at my disposal made me weep.

Characters I didn’t initially understand the motives of, like Alana Beck came alive and were so easy to relate to - Nicole Raquel Dennis’ acting was superb and really changed my opinion on Alana, who I initially just thought was pushy. The show really provided the chances for the most minor characters to make mistakes in desperation, like Alana releasing Connor Murphy’s supposed suicide note onto the internet. I related immensely to her struggles to feel accepted by her peers while desperately looking for a place where she would fit.

My favourite part, however, was the staging, everything from the use of artificial social media feeds, which had me convinced it was a live twitter dashboard, to the way that phones were cast down onto the stage in the form of spotlights was phenomenal. The nuanced movements between feeling shut out and welcomed was so emotive, when it was something as simple as a 180 degree turn. I had not seen these methods being used before and I was absolutely floored.

I hope to get the chance to see the show again soon, but until then, I keep the soundtrack downloaded on my phone.

Dear Evan Hansen is playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London and tickets are available to purchase up to 30^th May 2020

Thank you so much for reading and I hope that you check this show out! It really is amazing!

And remember:

Per Ardua Ad Astra!

- Imogen. L. Smiley