Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Washington Pavilion

The touring production of DEAR EVAN HANSEN opened on Thursday, April 18th in the Mary Sommervold Hall at the Washington Pavilion with the preshow sounds of social media alerts and a visual array of platforms streaming via projections on a stage with 25 foot panels that also moved throughout the show to create the scenes of this complicated, emotional story of a young man caught up in a heartbreaking lie. The sheer noise of the social media monster is deafening at times, and definitely distracting at points.

You can see, hear and feel the anxiety and tension in the character of Evan Hansen in large part due to the enormous weight of a modern society obsessed with social media. Anthony Norman as Evan Hansen, brings his character to life with a sincere and authentic portrayal of a high school kid navigating all the things we all went through to a degree at his age, but with the complications of a chance encounter in a computer lab soon to become the crux of the plot of this story. His performance also appears to utilize the behavioral signs of a young man on the autism spectrum.

Coleen Sexton, plays a believably driven and distracted mom just trying to provide stability for a child that has essentially been all but abandoned by his father, with a sometimes manic energy. When she does slow down long enough to discover the real pain that her son is going through, there is some truly thoughtful tenderness.

Alaina Anderson, August Emerson, and Micala Lamas all bring the variety of personality facets of a group of teens growing up in a digital age, with a multitude of platforms on the internet, that when combined, and mixed with misinformation or complete untruths present a miasma of society's worst behaviors broadcast to every corner of the world. I personally wouldn't know how to be a teenager in all of that muck. Pablo David Laucerica as Jared, the "friend" by way of family affiliation" is a delightful surprise in the production with his razor sharp wit, his ironic sarcasm and gawky yet agile physical presentation on stage.

John Hemphill and Kelsey Vetter's portrayals of the grieving parents of Connor Murphy, are compelling to watch on stage. They are navigating the unimaginable waters of losing a child to suicide and desperately grasping for any peace in a situation that is horrific for a parent. The initial loss of their son and subsequent loss of what they believed to be the truth of the narrative around the last days with Connor, is so tense, so volatile, and in many ways, so palpably fraught with doom that as an audience member I squirmed in solidarity.

As modern musicals go, this one has some very mature and powerful emotions and themes, but I can see why it captures the imagination of so many theater goers and brings the really difficult themes, and sheer messiness of growing up and through this stage of life. The music is emotional with beautiful melodies and all the appropriate highs and lows of character portrayals are infused into the lyrics. This cast is a stellar example of the musical talent in Broadway touring companies. They are all confident soloists and create a big beautiful sound as a group as well. This script ( adapted from a book, based on a true story) is smart and timely and infused with humor that feels real and spontaneous to the audience.

Ultimately, the resounding message of DEAR EVAN HANSEN and all this strife is our common humanity; that "you are not alone", and there are people in this world that will "see you", and that part of being human is the quest to find those people through our shared experiences and maybe a little bravery to create those "in person" human connections.

There are still tickets available to all performances with the best availability of "seats of choice" being this weekend. Tickets are available online at washingtonpavilion.org, or by calling the box office at 605-367-6000. There are some really important talking points for parents and the support people of teenagers that can be taken away by viewing this play with your family.

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