DEAR EVAN HANSEN Reviews- Page 6

[benmangini]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 7:50am

Skimbleshanks2 said: "Saw it last night...I cried...The second act is one of the strongest out there... BEN PLATT is good... But I will still be rooting for ANDY KARL (whom I saw already in LONDON and WILL! be seeing again)....What a competitive year!!!

OLIVIA PUCKETT was straight out of theater school... NEXT! Loved EVAN's mom though....I prefer STEPHANIE J. BLOCK in FALSETTOS but it'll be a good TONY win...

Cannot WAIT to use "WAVING THROUGH A WINDOW" for my auditions...

 

"

What do you mean Olivia Puckett was straight out of theater school is that a good thing or bad thing. 

[Margo319]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 7:53am

Wonderful, moving show.  I had front row mezz and they were perfect seats.  

[haterobics]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 10:19am

hannhannham said: "Was anyone else not blown away by this show? I saw it Saturday evening with the highest expectations based on reviews and postings here -- maybe a little too high. It's objectively a good show, and Platt is carrying it extremely well, but I did not leave amazed the way I thought I would"

You're highlighting a common problem anymore. People no longer go in to see a show, but to measure the actual show versus their impression of the show...

[gypsy101]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 2:14pm

broadfan327 said: "The book of the musical in twenty years if this is ever revived may have to be updated. Facebook, Kickstarter, Twitter, etc. may not exist, and the next generation may not know what those things are...The way we communicate online will probably change by then. "

That won't change the fact that Facebook has existed for 13 years, Twitter for 10 and Kickstarter for 7... even if those websites go away and don't exist in 20 years doesn't mean that people will not recall what they were.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 2:22pm

Or simply update those things to the currently contemporary match.

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 11:20pm

I saw it again tonight (a friend had an extra ticket) and I still think that the writers fundamentally do not care about Connor himself at all and I'm still really really bothered by that.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 11:32pm

I'm not sure how they can, he's a catalyst only.   This is Evan's story, and Connor's family story, not Connor's.

[icecreambenjamin]

Posted: 2/5/17 at 11:53pm

BakerWilliams said: "I saw it again tonight (a friend had an extra ticket) and I still think that the writers fundamentally do not care about Connor himself at all and I'm still really really bothered by that.

 

"

I think they make it quite clear that Connor had severe mental health issues and probably would've ended up hurting someone if not not many someones.  His death, as talked about in Requiem, is not really a great tragedy.  I know that it isn't such a pleasant thing to say, but it is true.  Evan finds a way to create something beautiful out of a somewhat ugly person.  So, no the writers don't care about making Connor some poetic and tragic character.  Also, it isn't his story being told.  The show is about Evan.

 

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:01am

While I absolutely loved every second of this show, I can't help but think about all the problems I have with the story, personally, as I revisit it through the OBC. 

[LesWickedly]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:03am

Margo319 said: "Wonderful, moving show.  I had front row mezz and they were perfect seats.  

 

"

So great to hear, since that's where I'm sitting. 

[BakerWilliams]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:31am

icecreambenjamin said: "His death, as talked about in Requiem, is not really a great tragedy.  I know that it isn't such a pleasant thing to say, but it is true."

 

That's actually really upsetting to hear someone say. Let's just say that I have perhaps a too personal connection to the show and I firmly believe that treating suicide as a "catalyst" or anything other than an overwhelmingly tragic event is ignorant and selectively devalues certain lives.

[Harrisonmlewis]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:37am

Literally the best show I have ever seen. 10/10 would reccomend. It's so deeply accurate and touching on so many levels. This show has a brilliant script, concept, and score, with intense, real acting that really outshines anything else on Broadway. Call me crazy- I enjoyed this even more than HAMILTON, and I saw that with the original cast.

[aaaaaa15]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 1:07am

/ Updated On: 10/21/20 at 01:07 AM

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 7:39am

I agree that the story does not commit to the darker implications it teases. This could be interpretted as the story of a mentally ill teen who builds an online monument to a violent bully to cope with his own

 

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failed suicide attempt.

If they'd committed to that story I'd have found it more interesting than the one we get. I understand, of course, why the author's opted for something with a little more hope.

Updated On: 2/6/17 at 07:39 AM

[Nycat63]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 9:48am

BakerWilliams said: "icecreambenjamin said: "His death, as talked about in Requiem, is not really a great tragedy.  I know that it isn't such a pleasant thing to say, but it is true."

 

That's actually really upsetting to hear someone say. Let's just say that I have perhaps a too personal connection to the show and I firmly believe that treating suicide as a "catalyst" or anything other than an overwhelmingly tragic event is ignorant and selectively devalues certain lives.

Thank you BakerWilliams for pointing out the one thing that has bothered me about DEH.  Don't get me wrong, I loved the show and the score (and Ben Platt along with rest of cast is unbelievable), but  also related perhaps a bit too personally as a mother.  The overarching message that everyone "will be found" is way off when you think of Connor.  Connor was never found.  Not even his family "found" him because everything they thought they were learning about him was predicated on lies.  Creating a memorial to him didn't change the fact that Connor ultimately was alone, nor did all the social media activity actually create a tribute to his life (though I think the message of depersonalization by social media is very accurately and poignantly portrayed if that's indeed what they were going for - though I'm not sure they were).  I understand the book was not focused on Connor's journey but on Evan's, but the suicide, to me, ends up being trivialized because of the message the show tries to impart.  Perhaps a simple tweaking of the "you're not alone" theme would have helped me with this.  

"

 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 9:59am

No....to the family it IS a tragedy.  Requiem is about their dealing with it - and not too well, or there wouldn't have been the empty spot in their hearts FOR Evan.

 

The show is not about suicide, that's all that can be said.  It is not the journey they chose to tell.   And how can they make it about a character that is only "alive" for 5 minutes of the show?????

[Nycat63]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 10:15am

They didn't need to make the show about the suicide or Connor.  I think those of us with issues with the book are reacting to what we perceive as the trivialization of the suicide because the theme of the show is "you will be found" which completely ignores Connor.  While his suicide was certainly a tragedy to his family (I would hope nothing less) he still was never "found". 

And to the poster above who says his suicide was not such a tragedy because he likely would have gone on to cause harm to people due to serious mental health problems, that reflects zero understanding of mental health and teenagers (in which case I actually envy you).   Connor was obviously a depressed and angry teenage boy who acted out and had family and relationship difficulties because of how he felt about himself.  I have one of them myself and know many others.  It's sadly very common.  Connor was not portrayed as someone who was likely to become a serial killer.  He was simply a lonely and sad kid with poor coping skills, captured in time during probably the hardest age of a teenagers life.  Put depression on top of it and you are going to have some tough times ahead.  But to say it's ok he killed himself because he wouldn't have improved and likely would have hurt people?  Not even close.  

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 12:57pm

Nycat63 said: "Connor was not portrayed as someone who was likely to become a serial killer."

I totally agree with this. In fact, the one time we see the actual Connor on stage, he acts somewhat kindly towards Evan. It's his own messed-up sort of kindness, intermingled with his less noble qualities, but the kindness seemed evident to me. I actually wished there was a scene later in the show where Evan described that moment to Connor's family.

[Disclaimer: I only saw the show at Second Stage, so my thoughts here might now be off-base. But I gather there weren't any huge changes on the way to Broadway.]

 

[Nycat63]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 1:13pm

kdogg36 said: "Nycat63 said: "Connor was not portrayed as someone who was likely to become a serial killer."

I totally agree with this. In fact, the one time we see the actual Connor on stage, he acts somewhat kindly towards Evan. It's his own messed-up sort of kindness, intermingled with his less noble qualities, but the kindness seemed evident to me. I actually wished there was a scene later in the show where Evan described that moment to Connor's family.

[Disclaimer: I only saw the show at Second Stage, so my thoughts here might now be off-base. But I gather there weren't any huge changes on the way to Broadway.]

 

I only saw it on Broadway, but the only references to any physical aggression from Connor are that he threw a printer toward a teacher in elementary school and he shoves Evan when he thinks Evan is making fun of him.  While I'm not justifying that type of behavior, it is indicative of so many "mild" mental health or developmental disorders (ADHD, anxiety, depression) particularly in light of Connors age when he did those things.  There is plenty of hope for kids like that to turn things around and become wonderful, functional people.  Nothing about Connor even on Broadway suggested future psychopath or that he'd be dangerous.  Like Evan, he was struggling with his own mental health/developmental issues - he was just coping with them very differently.  Saying his suicide was no real loss is almost like saying Evan's would have been no big loss.  I don't think we should ever say that about teen suicide, but it definitely wouldn't have applied  here.  

Again, I'm a fan of the show as a whole - the overall message that everyone will be found/no one is completely alone just nags at me a bit in light of Connor's character and his suicide.  Just seems like a plot hole that no one cared to fill.  

 

"

 

[SarahNYC2]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 1:14pm

Wow some interesting thoughts on this show going on. First off the writers talked on Julie James about how the story was based on an incident at the school they attend. The way it was explained was that there was a tragedy and they got this idea to expand. For me and what I think they were getting at with the story is in this day and age is that that when there is a tragedy social media takes it to a whole new level-people start attaching themselves in any way they can. Any slight connection can be built on.

The other focus-at least from what I can see and what I took from it-is we are all searching for something. Think back to high school and how you felt-the cool kids seemed out of reach. But at someone in my 40s now I talk occasionally with people  I went to high school and most everyone from the coolest, most popular to the loners all had feelings of being lost.

In addition as a mother I can really relate to Anybody Have a Map. I have a well adjusted, outgoing 9 year old, but the teen years are coming, and  from the moment my daughter was born I am always asking-am I doing the right thing, right decision, if we do a will b or c happen. Parenthood is a journey with no map and instructions and when you really talk with other parents no one really knows that they are doing the right thing.

I will say it is hard to really know from DEH was Connor on his way to being a sociopath or was he just a kid having a hard time. I do think Requirem makes it sound like Connor was more than just a difficult, moody teen and may have caused will upset within the family.

I think it is an amazing show. And I think all teens should see it. In fact I plan to take my daughter this summer when she will be 9.5-I think it is a great story for discussions with older children and teens.

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 2/6/17 at 1:27pm

I feel like Connor was found, in some way, at the end, especially when

 

 

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Evan talks about reading Connor's list of 10 favorite books that was in an old yearbook.

To me, Connor's tragedy sparks a "wake up call" (though that sounds like I'm trivializing it - not my intention at all!). His family was so caught up in daily life that they failed to see what was going on. Everyone ignored or neglected to see that he was suffering until it was too late. "You will be found" is not only a message to those hurting, that they shouldn't be afraid to ask for help, but also to those who might know someone who needs help. It was too late to find Connor before he committed suicide, but then they try to find him after the fact, which is why they gravitate towards the letters and stories. 

 

I know "To Break in a Glove" isn't everyone's favorite, but I feel like it's that pivotal moment when Larry realizes he probably didn't put in all the time and energy he could have in trying to understand Connor. 

 

Or I could be completely off, and completely rambling!

[florida theatre kid]

Posted: 3/20/17 at 11:44am

I dawn DEH for the first time this Friday night and was just as blown away as I've been by all the other greats in contemporary musical theatre. Ben Platt's performance is super human. The whole cast is really incredible, but besides Platt, the performance I can't get over is Rachel Bay Jones. I'd not read much about her in DEH, but she was tremendous and absolutely heartbreaking. I hope she is awarded this Tony season. I have a feeling we will see some love for her and Platt.

Side note: I had a partial view seat on the aisle in Row D. From my seat, all I missed was the band on the platform, but I think any further forward on the aisle the seats really would have been partial view. 

[akmiller_98]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 8:15am

Olivia Puckett went on for the first time as Zoe yesterday. Did anyone see it?

[ethan231h]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 8:57am

My friend was there and said she was great especially for her first performance in the role! 

[phan24]

Posted: 3/27/17 at 11:12am

I'm pretty sure she had already gone on for Zoe before, no?

Updated On: 3/27/17 at 11:12 AM