The power of advertising never ceases to amaze me. There is a car dealership who used to, and maybe still does, run ads on TV, with an ear worm jingle which I can’t help but recall every time I see anything connected with this show. Their name is Evans Halshaw, so you too can suffer the same fate as I, now that the seed has been planted in your brain. Should anyone from the dealership be reading this, I am not above accepting an unfeasibly large sum for this plug!
The show itself is a child of the 21st Century, as are most of the characters, and is an interpretation of a scenario which we have seen a hundred times before, if not more. Someone tells a lie which spins out of control and takes on a life of its own, so much so that everyone believes the fabrication rather than the truth. A lot like politics really, especially as the more outlandish the claim, the bigger the chance it has of being believed. When you now factor in the internet, you have the opportunity for the fantasy to go global, rather than just be shared verbally amongst a close knit group.
Ryan Kopel as Evan Hansen on his first day back at school
The eponymous character is a painfully shy boy, so much so that he is at best shunned by his peers, and at worst bullied by them. This was the case here when the action opened on the first day back at a US high school after the summer holidays. Heidi, Evan’s mother, has resorted to enlisting the help of a therapist, who puts Evan on medication and gets him to write a letter to himself every morning which begins ‘Dear Evan Hansen, Today will be amazing because….’ the rest a list of why that statement is true. He has recently been to a concert by a jazz band and become besotted with Zoe, one of the members. He decides to complete that day’s letter by extolling her virtues and explaining why he likes her so much.
Killan Thomas Lefevre as Connor Murphy
Being a loner and needing money for college, Evan had taken a summer job in a nature park working in the forest. During his employment he fell from an oak tree and broke his arm. The school bully and general troublemaker, Connor Murphy, played by Killian Thomas Lefevre, has arrived for the new term high on drugs and accuses Evan, Ryan Kopel, of laughing at him whilst commencing to exact revenge. Rather than beat up Evan, he writes his name on the arm cast, but does it in large capital letters so that it is obviously a label showing that he owns Evan, rather than being a supportive tribute to his courage. Connor is also Zoe’s brother, and during the altercation, Evan drops his letter, which the assailant reads. He pockets it and walks away.
Alice Fearn as Heidi Hansen
Evan’s home life is not conducive to one with his mental problems, his father left home when he was seven years old and his mother, played by Alice Fearn, works at the hospital where she takes on extra shifts in order to make ends meet, as well as going to law classes where she is studying to be a paralegal. The result is that he is neglected and lives on take-aways, or at least he would do if he could summon up the courage to pay the delivery driver, so it is pizzas from the freezer.
When Evan arrives at school the following day, he gets the news that Connor has committed suicide, which comes as somewhat of a relief as it means that his most dangerous threat is out of the picture. The problem, and the basis for the rest of the show, is that Evan’s letter has been discovered in Connor’s pocket and been mistaken for his suicide note. His parents are baffled as to why it should be addressed to him.
Tom Dickerson as Jared Kleinman
Enter Jared Kleinman, played by Tom Dickerson, a fellow student who was the nearest thing Evan had to a friend. He suggests that he tells the Murphys that he and Connor were secret friends and that he should use the cast and the letter as proof. Being a computer nerd he said that he could concoct some back-dated emails from both parties to prove the point. There would obviously be a charge for this service!
Richard Hurst, Larry Murphy
Evan is invited to the Murphy’s home by his parents, Larry and Cynthia, so they can give the note to him and discuss their son. Cynthia, played by Helen Anker, refuses to believe that her late son is anything other than misunderstood, whereas Larry, Richard Hurst, realises he is a waster and Zoe, Lauren Conroy, who is also present, actively hated him. Not wishing to upset Mrs Connor, Evan says that the two boys were close friends but, because he wasn’t cool they kept their friendship a secret so as not to harm Connor’s reputation. He then went on to say that Connor thought the world of Zoe, even though he didn’t show it, again to protect his macho image. He then went on to embellish the story even more by saying that he broke his arm whilst on a day out with Connor, who he said had a shared passion for trees, at an apple orchard when they were climbing and he fell, with Connor summoning help for him. Although the orchard was a favourite picnic spot for the Murphy family when the children were younger, they were stunned by these revelations. Now in full flow, he added that there were lots of emails he could show them.
Helen Anker as Cynthia Murphy
Meanwhile, the news of Connor’s suicide has shocked the other students and turned him into a cause célèbre, so he and Jared continue with their PR exercise to convince them too that Evan and Connor were buddies which would assure his acceptance by the whole school. It is decided to set up The Connor Project with another social outcast, Alana Black, played by Vivian Panka, who, although only being a passing acquaintance of Connor, jumps on the best friend bandwagon. So much so that she suggests crowdfunding the reopening of the orchard in his memory and takes over the project sending it viral with fake videos and articles.
Alana Black, played by Vivian Panka
Things progress and Evan comes out of his shell, begins a relationship with Zoe and is all but adopted by the Murphy family in whose house he now spends most of his time, telling his mother that he is at Jared’s. Needless to say, things don’t go well when Evan’s mother is invited to dinner at the Murphys’ and it is discovered that the whole story is a lie and the real reason for the broken arm revealed. This causes a split up of the Evan/Zoe relationship and his banishment from the Murphy family circle. The revelation causes a huge backlash on social media affecting the lives of all involved.
Lauren Conroy as Zoe Murphy
Being set in a US high school, the dialogue was delivered very quickly, just as well as the show lasts 2 hours 40 minutes including interval! I found it reminiscent of something a chap of my age would come across whilst surfing channels rather than making a note to watch, but I must say I am very pleased I went to see this show as it was brilliantly performed in all aspects; acting, singing, dancing, humour and music. It might also help me gain a little rizz!
Evan, Jared and Connor (deceased) in lighter mood
Ryan Kopel, as Evan, deserves a special mention as he took his character from clinically introvert to overly self-assured personas then returning to strike a mature balance. That is not to denigrate the other cast members, who didn’t need to cover the wide range of the eponymous lead, but still had to convey a variety of emotions. The music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who were also responsible for The Greatest Showman, were totally in keeping with the changing moods of the piece. The band under the musical direction of Michael Bradley, more than did the score justice.
I loved the direction by Adam Penfold, especially in the way in which the conversations between Evan and the deceased Connor or other characters who were on the stage to speak their part of an on-line conversation ended with the disconnect sound and their immediate disappearance.
Ryan Kopel as Evan and Lauren Conroy as Zoe in the renovated orchard.
The set, by Morgan Large, who also did the costumes, was very imaginative being divided into sections front to back which sometimes had translucent panels suspended to act as dividers, or screens on which to project the social media posts and video, by Ravi Deepres, relevant to the action. The furniture was either deftly added or taken away by the ensemble or, in some cases, magically made its own way off the stage. The lighting by Matt Daw, sound by Tom Marshall, and choreography, Carrie-Anne Ingrouille, were also amazing.
The set showing the barrage of social media posts
So, if you would like to join millennials like me (not saying which millennium) for a great night out, then write yourself a letter between now and Saturday, 9th November beginning ‘ Dear (insert your name), today is going to be amazing because I am going to Leeds Grand Theatre to see Dear Evan Hansen.’ Just don’t forget to sign it so you know who it’s from and for goodness sake don’t let it fall into someone else’s possession or you never know what will happen.
For more details and to book, please go to https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/dear-evan-hansen-2024/ but hurry, spaces are limited.
To see what else is on at Leeds Grand Theatre it is https://leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/?theatre=leeds-grand-theatre
For further tour dates see https://www.evanontour.com/
To buy a car try https://www.evanshalshaw.com/
All photographs by Marc Brenner
Tyke It To The Limit 