DEAR EVAN HANSEN Reopening Night Thread

Today is going to be an amazing day, and here’s why: Dear Evan Hansen reopens at the Music Box Theatre. The Tony-winning Best Musical welcomes back every returning cast member in the show at the time of the shutdown, led by Jordan Fisher donning the blue polo as the title character. 2021 Jimmy Awards finalist Mateo Lizcano and On Your Feet! alum Linedy Genao join the company as understudies.

A motion picture adaptation – directed by Stephen Chbosky and starring original cast member Ben Platt – was released nationwide in September but was poorly received; here’s hoping the original stage version (which was raved about when it first opened on Broadway in 2016) can wash away the mostly bad memories of the film.

In honor of the show’s reopening, the Empire State Building will light up blue this evening.

I’m expecting another electric reopening night audience… who will be found?

This week has been a killer, with anticipation building each day, and now the day is finally here I can't believe it! I know many people enjoyed the movie, and I'm happy for them, but it was overall a disappointment for me and I really need this to help cleanse me of the movie experience. Can't wait to see Jordan and I'll have a full report :)

35-second entrance applause for Jordan Fisher!

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CXXQmxRAs8f/?utm_medium=copy_link

Wow - what a night! Jordan - as was the whole cast - was absolutely phenomenal! He did things vocally with For Forever that I had never heard before. And his acting was of course superb. I'll have specifics tomorrow when I can get my head wrapped around everything. For people wondering about whether they would add one of the new songs from the movie - no that didn't happen. The show is exactly as was pre-pandemic.

Opening speeches were given by producer Stacey Mindich and director Michael Greif. And then senator Schumer came out in a DEH polo and made his obligatory remarks. I will upload this to my Youtube channel at some point.

As previously mentioned, huge opening applause for Jordan when he took the stage.

I also have the entire curtain call and surprise performance of YWBP by the Choir and will upload that at some point.

What happened was after Jordan and Jessica said a few words, Jordan invited everyone to take out their phones for a special surprise. The orchestra played the opening chord of YWBF and suddenly someone in the stage right box stood up and started singing! And then the choir members came down the aisle to join him. It was just beautiful. What was as big of a surprise was at least some - if not all - of the chorus members were in the audience during the show. Two of them were sitting right in front of me. I was busy recording the curtain call and didn't notice them get up and do a quick change but next thing I knew they were in the aisle with microphones singing! What was particularly interesting was it was clearly the first time at least one of the women choir members in front of me was seeing the show because she was making certain remarks about things that made it clear she hadn't see it before so how special for them to be in attendance at the show to see it in person!

Notable celebrities that I noticed were former Larry Murphy - Michael Park, former Evan - Andrew Barth Feldman, and former Jared - Sky Lakota-Lynch.

They gave out blue glow sticks and DEH hats to everyone as we departed the theater. Also, they noted the Empire State Building is lit up in DEH blue for tonight to mark the re-opening. Special playbills have a sticker on them that says "Broadway Re-Opening Night December 11, 2021".

So excited to have been a part of this!

Updated On: 12/12/21 at 12:15 AM

Wick3 said: "What an amazing evening!!! I also saw director Michael Greif, producer Stacey Mindich, and both songwriters Pasek & Paul in the audience.

I didn't realize this was the last show to reopen on Broadway.

The souvenir cap reminded me of the first preview back in Nov 2016 when they also handed out blue DEH caps."

It's not the last show to reopen on Broadway... it's just the last one of 2021. We've still got Beetlejuice reopening at the Marquis and The Minutes at Studio 54 in the spring.

Updated On: 12/12/21 at 12:32 AM

Words fail…we haven’t been back to B’way in almost two years. Tonight marked the return of Dear Evan Hansen. We couldn’t have asked for a better reason to revisit one of our favorite shows and come back to NYC. The electricity pulsing through the theatre was like nothing we’ve ever experienced. From the preshow speech by Senator Schumer, the brilliant performance, the Northwell healthcare workers singing Waving Through a Window, the ushers handing out hats, and the after party dance party on 45th, the night was perfection. If you haven’t seen the show …get tickets. Jordan Fisher knocks it out of the park. We've seen every Evan and Jordan brings an entirely different take on the role - his acting choices are superb - he did things we've never seen!! Thank you NYC for an incredible night

I know the show is closed this week but has anyone rushed the show prior to this week’s closure? If so, do you know what time people had been lining up?

How has Jordan's attendance been as of late?

Does anyone know how long Jordan Fisher will be in DEH? I was heading to NYC in April and was hoping to catch him.