DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Off-Broadway's Second Stage Theatre- Page 10

[HSky]

Posted: 5/7/16 at 2:50am

Dancingthrulife2 said:" I still can't believe how I missed it the first time..."

Depending on when your first time was, it wouldn't have been in.there. Based on the talkback with Michael Greif, I think that rewrite was in place starting April 1.

[wish i were here2]

Posted: 5/8/16 at 1:25pm

My friend and I did the in person rush for yesterday's matinee. If you were curious we got there at like 10:30 AM and were the first in line. Yesterday, there were 5 for sure seats and 8 standby tickets, which meant they would buy a ticket and be given any like cancelation seats or would stand in the back of the whole performance, depending on how many seats were open about 5 minutes before the show. I think everyone managed to get a seat in the end though. But, they said that if there were no seats and you did not want standing room you could get refunded!

Anyway, the show was breathtaking. I really do hope the rumors of it transferring to Broadway are true. I found the show very moving and very real. I walked in truthfully knowing nothing, which is my favorite way of watching new shows since you get the "what's gonna happen next" attitude if a good show draws you in. Ben Platt is giving the performance of his life. Everything about him was thought out and well executed. From the stutter, to the ticks, to the voice. His voice is amazeballs. The rest of the cast are all seriously talented and amazing in their own way; I could not fathom having to do this nightly since its such a heavy emotional show. In the end my friend and I agreed that Alana and Jared are both unnecessary characters, but are also like necessary to the plot. We couldn't really describe it. Alana is that girl you went to high school or college with that you really just don't like cause she's too involved and too in your face annoying. While, Jared is that guy who is just there. TBH Jared's jokes did not really make me laugh. It was too like "12 year old boy funny" idk I found myself rolling my eyes during his jokes rather than laughing, cause I didn't know what else to do.

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Also, I feel that "high school gunman joke" that Jared says in the beginning is so wrong for all the right reasons. It shows how Connor feels alone and separated from every person around him.  

The music is fantastic and I can't wait for the cast recording. The book is very good, I feel like it needs a little fixing here and there, especially Jared's jokes. Lastly, the set is serviceable, but the projections, especially during the Act 1 finale, are amazing. I can't wait to see how these two might evolve if it does go to Broadway. I could it see it being even better. 

All in all it was a great day out in the theatre. My friend and I cried, which is a lot to say considering I don't cry.

 

[nycward]

Posted: 5/8/16 at 3:58pm

I saw this show Friday night and have to agree with all of the posts that speak highly of this piece. It was by turns funny, heartbreaking and achingly real. For those that question the motive of Evan I would answer that there is a dark part in all of us. There is an expression that states "if every person shared exactly what they thought of everyone else around them, we wouldn't have two people that spoke with each other."

Life's battle is a conflict with the Ego (necessary functions) the Id ( our darker impulses) and our Super Ego ( sort of our conscience...Jimimy Cricket calling!!) Evan knew that he was taking a big risk and rationalized his motives (something we all do at some point or other practically on a daily basis.) Watching this all play out was so refreshingly honest with stakes that were almost insurmountable for everyone on that stage. It is what makes theatre so special for all of us. It deserves all of the acclaim it has gotten and I suspect will stand alongside Next To Normal and Fun Home as examples of what original minds can create with a small palate of stagecraft. 

[KnewItWhenIWasInFron]

Posted: 5/8/16 at 7:08pm

wish i were here2 said: "My friend and I did the in person rush for yesterday's matinee. If you were curious we got there at like 10:30 AM and were the first in line. Yesterday, there were 5 for sure seats and 8 standby tickets, which meant they would buy a ticket and be given any like cancelation seats or would stand in the back of the whole performance, depending on how many seats were open about 5 minutes before the show. I think everyone managed to get a seat in the end though. But, they said that if there were no seats and you did not want standing room you could get refunded!

Anyway, the show was breathtaking. I really do hope the rumors of it transferring to Broadway are true. I found the show very moving and very real. I walked in truthfully knowing nothing, which is my favorite way of watching new shows since you get the "what's gonna happen next" attitude if a good show draws you in. Ben Platt is giving the performance of his life. Everything about him was thought out and well executed. From the stutter, to the ticks, to the voice. His voice is amazeballs. The rest of the cast are all seriously talented and amazing in their own way; I could not fathom having to do this nightly since its such a heavy emotional show. In the end my friend and I agreed that Alana and Jared are both unnecessary characters, but are also like necessary to the plot. We couldn't really describe it. Alana is that girl you went to high school or college with that you really just don't like cause she's too involved and too in your face annoying. While, Jared is that guy who is just there. TBH Jared's jokes did not really make me laugh. It was too like "12 year old boy funny" idk I found myself rolling my eyes during his jokes rather than laughing, cause I didn't know what else to do.

 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Also, I feel that "high school gunman joke" that Jared says in the beginning is so wrong for all the right reasons. It shows how Connor feels alone and separated from every person around him.  

 

The music is fantastic and I can't wait for the cast recording. The book is very good, I feel like it needs a little fixing here and there, especially Jared's jokes. Lastly, the set is serviceable, but the projections, especially during the Act 1 finale, are amazing. I can't wait to see how these two might evolve if it does go to Broadway. I could it see it being even better. 

All in all it was a great day out in the theatre. My friend and I cried, which is a lot to say considering I don't cry.

 

I really enjoyed it, too but "the performance of his life?" He's 22.

"

 

[James2]

Posted: 5/9/16 at 9:06am

wonderfulwizard11 said: "Went to see this tonight- spoilers below for those who care or haven't seen it.

 

Prior to tonight, I had heard very little about this show, but I knew that the title character dealt with social anxiety and that got me very interested in the show. I've dealt with social anxiety for a number of years now, and while it's not as debilitating as Evan's is (and truthfully, es excellent as Platt is, all the tics felt excessive in a sort of performative way), I was very intrigued to see a musical that deal with it. Curiously, I don't think I've ever had a more puzzled reaction to a show. There's some great work being done by the cast, especially from Rachel Bay Jones and Jennifer Laura Thompson, and I cried a few times, but ultimately I was kind of upset with how the show addresses suicide and mental illness.

The premise of the plot was almost completely unbelievable to me, though apparently it was based off of a real incident, so I guess I can give it a pass, even if I never really bought that everyone would so easily fall for Evan's lie. But I just cannot get over that Evan suffers virtually no retribution for his actions. While it's arguable that his intentions start off as noble, he ends up using the memory of a severely troubled kid in order to make friends, get a surrogate family, and worst of all, start dating the sister of the the same person who killed himself. I guess his social anxiety is supposed to excuse his actions to a certain point, but it is on a core level a pretty terrible thing to do. Certainly, the character knows this, but when he finally tells the truth...nothing happens! Yes, the family first gets angry with him, but that initial shock and anger (which was devastating) is all that we see. I'm not saying everything needs to be so cut and dry, but it left a sour taste in my mouth that the character basically is allowed to get away scot free with the fact that he used the memory of a dead kid for his own purposes. Not to mention, as the show progresses, Evan seems to get over his social anxiety as the lie grows bigger, so I guess he got very lucky that Connor decided to kill himself so he could learn a lesson? Connor is a barely developed character in the show, and that must have been a conscious choice, since if he were given any more of a personality I think what Evan does would be even more distasteful. As currently written, he's barely a person, so the awfulness of what Evan has done doesn't really take hold. 

I also took issue with the brief epilogue that showed that Connor's family is more or less comforted by Evan's lies. I won't speak for everyone who has lost someone to suicide, but to me it felt like Evan's lies gave them an easy way to forget the complicated and troubled son they actually had, and ended up being an erasure of his clear mental illness. I'm not saying it's something that you wouldn't want to do after that experience, but it struck me as wrongheaded.

I give the show tremendous amounts of credit for tackling a difficult subject, and I don't mean to say the show isn't worth seeing whatsoever. But overall, I was tremendously disappointed, and I wanted so badly to love this. 

 

"

I saw the Saturday matinee, and I agree completely with you.  During intermission, I thought this might be the most repugnant musical I had seen.  That opinion was tempered after watching Acres Two, but I still find the premise morally bankrupt.  I didn't find the score memorable at all, and I thought the characters were irritating even before the incidents began.

[talinatter]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 6:25pm

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but I've seen this show three times already in previews, and am dying to see it now that it's officially open. I want to get rush tickets, and I'm curious how many tickets are given out recently, and how early you need to get there in order to get in (seat or standing). Prior to opening, they have seated everyone on the rush line, so I am curious how possible it is to get tickets and how far in advance I must go. Thanks !

[Tking0012]

Posted: 5/11/16 at 8:27pm

I am selling 2 tickets for Friday's performance 5-13

PM me if interested