DEH in LA

An absolute rave review of the National Tour production now at the Ahmanson from the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/theater/reviews/la-et-cm-dear-evan-hansen-review-20181021-story.html

The Los Angeles Times is not the toughest critic. They seem to love most shows. I mean, they gave "Amelie" a great review. I am going to the show tonight and am excited to see firsthand how this cast is.

McNulty is respected? Must have missed that part and certainly he's not respected by me. He likes pretentious shows, or shows that have the kiss of approval from NY. That's who he's been from day one. LA hasn't had a decent theatre critic since before Dan Sullivan, really.

It didn't say in the program (or I just couldn't find it) what performances Stephen Christopher Anthony will be on for, but I would assume the weekend matinees. He was on for the matinee last Saturday when a friend saw it. I would love to see him in the role, but it looks like the production is close to being sold out and those tickets that are available are a heck of a lot more expensive than my season tickets were.

Yes it did. It's on the cast page P4:

Stephen Christopher Anthony plays the Wednesday matinee, Thursday matinee (there a few during the run), the Saturday matinee and the Sunday evening performance.

I saw the same performance as you thanks to a lottery win and I'd concur with all your thoughts.

Your comments about the adult actors were exactly how I felt. Jessica Phillips really did get better in Act 2 especially since she wasn't in it for most of Act 1. She was fantastic when she sang, "So Big, So Small".

What did you thank of the Broadway Cares Equity For Aids debacle when they tried to auction off Evan's cast and they got one bid of $500 and they had to take it as too many of the audience started getting up from their seats to exit. I noticed that most of the people on the way out didn't give anything to those that were holding the buckets. Oh well, they did get $5 from me, but I didn't get or care to get whatever they said you could have.

Wicked Fanatic said: Stephen Christopher Anthony plays the Wednesday matinee, Thursday matinee (there a few during the run), the Saturday matinee and the Sunday evening performance.

I had missed that in the program as well. Then again, I saw last night's show (Wed. evening), and he was on, so something else must have happened.

That's interesting to hear about the auction you had for the cast. They didn't try that at the show I saw--they just said that the cast from that night would go for a donation of $1000, and previous nights' casts could be had for $500.

Fosse76 said: "RaisedOnMusicals said: "Second, the LA Times is not a critic. It's a newspaper. The author of the DEH review is Charles McNulty, who's very well respected."

For reviews, opinions, and even news, it is absolutely acceptable to informally cite the publication or news organization as the source, and not the individual author.You're simply being argumentative."

Not in the context in which it was used. I was being accurate; not argumentative. You could certainly refer to “the LA Times’ review” appropriately, but you can’t say it’s “not the toughest critic”.

I saw DEH for the first time ever this week at the Ahmanson. Anthony was on as Evan and he was fantastic. Blown away by Phillips and Noll. I have some questions though -

- During big choral numbers like "You Will Be Found" it sounds like a hell of a lot more than 8 people are singing. Do the understudies provide pit vocals as well at each performance? Is there a sweetening track? Or is that sound really coming from 8 people?

- Why is Ross only doing 5 shows a week? Anthony is more splitting the role than alternating with this schedule. Seems unusual.

bk said: "McNulty is respected? Must have missed that part and certainly he's not respected by me. He likes pretentious shows, or shows that have the kiss of approval from NY. That's who he's been from day one. LA hasn't had a decent theatre critic since before Dan Sullivan, really."

LA doesn’t have decent theater. Except for the tours ( my opinion of course). And yes, he is very respected . You might not like him. But he is very respected .

Hoping to win the lottery for either Tuesday night or one of Wednesday performances, I can’t justify the price other wise

bk said: "DAME said: "bk said: "McNulty is respected? Must have missed that part and certainly he's not respected by me. He likes pretentious shows, or shows that have the kiss of approval from NY. That's who he's been from day one. LA hasn't had a decent theatre critic since before Dan Sullivan, really."

LA doesn’t have decent theater. Except for the tours ( my opinion of course). And yes, he is very respected . You might not like him. But he is very respected ."

a) LA has plenty of good theater. Do you live here?

b) Respected by whom? I have never met anyone who respects him - save for the actors and producers to whom he gives a good review, but they'd love ANYONE who gave them a good review."

a) I have lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years. And I will stand by my opinion.

b) His is very respected by his peers. Read his social media and you will see all the wonderful writers he interacts with. But what is more important is that I enjoy his writing. I feel like his reviews take me to whatever he is reviewing with him.

I too finally got to see DEH after all the hype and, surprisingly, was not in the least disappointed. I didn't see Ben Platt, but I've listened to the album often enough and Ben Levi Ross is the better singer. The rest of the cast were fine.

We were the guests of a friend who has 6th row center tix. She tix as a gift for us in Row 15 or so. Then, as she so often does, she left at intermission and gave us her tix for Act 2.

It was certainly nice to sit close for the Act with all the emotional ballads, but in general the show looked better--i.e., the projections were less distracting--from Row 15. It was somewhat distracting to be so close and to have my eye drawn by social media projections that moved at a distance from the actors during key moments.