DEH Flops in Toronto — Page 3

18 year old theatre-goer in Toronto. Basically target audience for the show.

I had slightly more emotional investment in this show (it was the first professional production I’d ever auditioned for) and I followed the press and developments very closely. I find it really funny that people could forget the production was there, with posters being all over public transit and 30 seconds spots every two minutes on television and Instagram. Maybe I was just subconsciously drawn to it more, but it feels to me like it was hard to forget.

I can’t say quite too much about its popularity, I bought a full price ticket for the first preview the week before and a student rush ticket for its official opening night (which was absolutely cutthroat, tickets disappeared in thirty seconds and only secured one of the two tickets I was trying to obtain) so those are the only experiences I had. The stage door was just about dead, but then again it’s rather rare to have a populated stage door in Toronto. The only one I could seriously think of would be the final performance of The Lightning Thief tour.

I absolutely adored everything about this production I particular. Robert Markus is not a no-name to those interested in the Toronto theatre community; big name from the Stratford festival playing Tommy in Des McAnuff’s remounting and a star turn as Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show last year, loads of other regional productions as well. The production, to me, felt like a true Toronto production of Dear Evan Hansen. I got such a joy out of seeing these actors that were recognizably from my ends.

That being said, that might not have been a plus overall. It doesn’t draw in international guests and it could be the stigma of exclusivity and “the hottest ticket in town” drew people away by thinking they’d never be able to afford it. I hope I get to revisit this production as many times as possible before it goes.

I also just think the production of DEH is unimpressive. The staging is rather dull and boring. I would love to see how this show would look if it was designed for a traditional space instead of 2nd Stage's tiny off-broadway house. It annoys me that the band is playing in a "loft" when they have a giant orchestra pit below. And the sliding of the 2 pieces on and off stage gets tiresome after awhile.

Almira said: "[Ben Platt's] performance (and the other extraordinarily strong members of the original cast) made a well written piece appear a lot better than it is."

My thoughts exactly. I've seen the show four times in NY and once on tour. After my first time, with Ben Platt, I described it to my husband as "The Ben Platt Show". I said he was phenomenal, rose above a problematic book, and would most certainly win the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. However, I thought Best Book and Best Musical should've gone to Come From Away. I enjoyed Dear Evan Hansen, even the touring production, but I can't say that subsequent viewings without Mr. Platt have been as satisfying. Without him in the lead role, I've spent more time questioning the holes in the story and that inexplicable ending scene.

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Updated On: 5/29/19 at 08:56 AM

The staging or the book or even casting doesn't enter into it. The show itself is not a problem whatsoever; it's still selling minimum $99 seats on Broadway on its fourth Evan replacement with no sign of stopping any time soon, the tour broke even recently and therefore definitely remains popular cross-country. Both of those productions have been seeing success, so why Toronto specifically?

Updated On: 5/29/19 at 11:42 AM

Painting it blue just seems odd as I wouldn’t really consider it an “event” the way some of the bigger shows are - like Cats, Les Miz.

But it is interesting. Maybe the world doesn’t care about a story about a terrible straight white American?

Tag said: "The staging or the book or even castingdoesn't enterinto it. The show itself is not a problem whatsoever; it's still selling minimum $99 seats on Broadway on its fourth Evan replacement with no sign of stopping any time soon, the tour broke even recently and therefore definitely remains popular cross-country. Both of those productions have been seeingsuccess, so why Toronto specifically?


Toronto has better taste?"

The new touring production of Phantom is coming for its third engagement about a year and a half after its last one. That’s not it either.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/article-tony-award-winning-musical-come-from-away-recouping-its-money-in/

Apparently Come From Away Toronto recouped in 14 weeks last summer so should be in profits now.

Saw it today while in Toronto. It's flopping HARD. Poked around online this morning and bought a $39 rush ticket (online) at 11am. Row N, great seat. Most shows in Canada that I've seen don't even offer rush. (CFA here does $25 standing room only, and you still have to wait outside the theatre). sides of the orchestra were maybe half empty? At intermission I moved to row J.



Cast was perfectly fine. Actor for Evan has a lovely voice and the actor for Heidi got the biggest cheer of the night for So Big/So Small. People certainly liked it. I don't know why it's not selling here, I can't find much fault in the production, but man is it not selling.

I'm so just curious why people in Toronto have universally rejected this show. It's really fascinating what sells and what doesn't most of the time (not including blockbuster hits like Phantom or Hamilton).

I hated DEH. Probably the worst musical EVER.

Interesting note - my supervisor, who is a huge fan of the cast album, finally got out to see this here and was surprised by how cynical it is. He expressed reservations with the ending in particular, but also noted that he didn't realize how many of the songs on album are kind of creepy in context. He did say it seemed pretty packed (it was fairly full when I saw it as well) - perhaps the early closing and the BOGO deal are drawing people to see it before it goes?

Another piece of evidence that a lot of people just don't know what the show is. There's the picture of his arm in the cast, and all the quotes about how it's going to bring people together (etc), but it's almost like they're hiding the actual content of the show.