DEAR EVAN HANSEN Reopening Night Thread

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 12:10am

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?

[soulmistin]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 1:51am

Bit of an odd choice of show for the Empire State Building to commemorate, but the recognition for Broadway is good I guess 

[DEHFanatic]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 7:39am

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 :)

[David10086]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 2:17pm

Fisher was on 'The View' earlier this week, interviewed by hosts Whoopi Goldberg (who referred to him and everything he's done as 'amazing' and Sarah Haines. Fisher is a very sexy guy, though very impressed with himself during the interview. (He needs a lesson in humility). Goldberg urged everyone watching the interview to get to NYC and get tickets for the show. 

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 7:59pm

35-second entrance applause for Jordan Fisher!

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

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/11/21 at 10:40pm

Their Instagram went live for curtain call. Speeches were made by the Hansens - Jordan Fisher and Jessica Phillips - and the Northwell Health Nurse Choir was in attendance to perform "You Will Be Found" (did anyone watch the last season of "America's Got Talent"?). 

The indoor festivities ended with a blast of light blue streamers right before the exit music. Celebration to continue outside the Music Box

I'll post a YouTube link as soon as I get one. Eagerly awaiting tonight's full show report for the rest of the weekend.

[DEHFanatic]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 12:15am

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]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 12:28am

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.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 12:32am

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

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 1:04am

Whoops! Sorry! I guess it's the last show to reopen on Broadway in its original theater.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 1:16am

 

 

 

 

 

[bfreak]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 9:23am

It was a great reopening night! The energy from the audience was electric, and all of the celebrations were beautiful, emotional, and impactful. All of the events that went down have already been explained so well, I’ll only give my opinion of the show itself.

 

I think the show is overall in really good shape after all these years. The cast did feel a bit off at first, but found their footing relatively quickly, and there were some standouts particularly from Jessica Phillips, Gabrielle Carubba, and Ivan Hernandez (this was my first time seeing the show with this cast). The emotional impact of the show still hits where it needs to, and the production still feels tight. However…

 

Jordan Fisher’s performance did leave me cold at times. While his performance did improve in the second act, I found it it to be inconsistent and never reaching the same emotional heights as some previous Evans. I never really bought into him being an outsider or having anxiety. He constantly seemed in control of himself and the situation, which made me begin to feel some of the criticisms people have had of the show itself. I was not on his side. 
 

He had some very strong moments, especially with a lot of the comedy, and Words Fail and his final monologue were standouts. I appreciated the nuance and different take on the character there, but it just felt that the emotional payoff wasn’t as strong because of some of his Act 1 choices. Act 2 didn’t match what was set up before, and this was jarring. He was overall fine, and the show is definitely still worth seeing, but yeah, he is the weakest Evan I’ve seen so far.

[timrobb1414]

Posted: 12/12/21 at 11:35am

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

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/13/21 at 12:56pm

I heard there were 3 different Evans (Jordan Fisher, Zachary Piser, and Josh Strobl) who performed this reopening weekend! Kudos to all of them! Am really glad this musical is back on broadway and hope it'll be ok.

[tagiunagi]

Posted: 12/24/21 at 1:46am

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? 

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 12/24/21 at 11:07am

I’ll be interested to see about Fisher’s attendance when the show reopens. His run was very short pre-Covid and I know he missed a lot of shows. DEH only had 11 performances back before it got shut down again, and Jordan was only scheduled 8 of those. From what I could piece together on social media, he only performed 3 or less shows, non consecutively. I was really disappointed to miss him as he was why I bought tickets, but Josh Strobl was great. 

[windowwaving]

Posted: 12/29/21 at 8:44am

How has Jordan's attendance been as of late? 

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 12/29/21 at 9:37am

He’s been scheduled for 2 performances since they reopened after their Covid closure and he’s done both. If you search his name on Twitter around showtime people are always either happy he’s in or upset he is out.

[batchels]

Posted: 2/1/22 at 11:02pm

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