Dear Evan Hansen Bombs in Australia- Page 2

[kdogg36]

Posted: 1/21/25 at 9:07pm

Georgeanddot2 said: "Anyone with critical thinking skills hates this show."

Incorrect. There are fans of this show who are quite intelligent.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 1/21/25 at 10:19pm

I feel like the praise for DEH back in its first Broadway year was probably a little overzealous but the criticism now is also over the top.

It's a show with some real strengths but also some flaws. I still love the score and will always remember Ben Platt's performance when I first saw it. But I do think it's a huge product of its time and the movie did not do it any favors.

Anyone who thinks it's going to just disappear though because everyone hates it is very mistaken. I am sure we'll see a ton of college/HS productions (for good or bad) pop up soon.

[darquegk]

Posted: 1/21/25 at 10:30pm

I think “You Will Be Found” may outlive the show itself: there’s always a market for uplifting gospel-pop anthems with an only quasi religious tone. It’s a song you can play on a competition when the winner cries, or sing at graduation, or nondenominational worship, or behind a “based on the inspiring true story” movie trailer.

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 1:37am

kdogg36 said: "Georgeanddot2 said: "Anyone with critical thinking skills hates this show."

Incorrect. There are fans of this show who are quite intelligent."

Sure there are!

[KevinKlawitter]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 10:21am

darquegk said: "I think “You Will Be Found” may outlive the show itself: there’s always a marketfor uplifting gospel-pop anthems with an only quasi religious tone. It’s a song you can play on a competition when the winner cries, or sing at graduation, or nondenominational worship, or behind a “based on the inspiring true story” movie trailer."

It already has. I've heard the song playing on the radio while grocery shopping on multiple occasions.

[FLarnhill]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 10:23am

The movie permanently damaged the show's reputation and I won't have anyone say otherwise. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 11:55am

Normal people were finally able to see this show and it became apparent what a trite and evil piece of trash this show is.

Compared to what? Pal Joey? Chicago? Musical Theater anti-heroes are nothing new. Neither are shows about corruption and exploitation. My problem is that the authors seem to love Evan too much. They keep begging us to love him too. Gypsy doesn't ask us to love Rose. You do or you don't. 

Updated On: 1/25/25 at 11:55 AM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 12:11pm

Normal people were finally able to see this show and it became apparent what a trite and evil piece of trash this show is.

Ah yes, because the only normal people to see it in a decade live in.....Australia. It's so dumb I just can't.

I loved this show on Broadway, the original cast was brilliant, and Ben deserved that Tony. 

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 1:06pm

Sutton Ross said: "Normal people were finally able to see this show and it became apparent what a trite and evil piece of trash this show is.

Ah yes, because the only normal people to see it in a decade live in.....Australia. It's so dumb I just can't.

I loved this show on Broadway, the original cast was brilliant, and Ben deserved that Tony."

I was talking about the movie. Work on your reading comprehension skills, harlot.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 1:28pm

FLarnhill said: "The movie permanently damaged the show's reputation and I won't have anyone say otherwise."

 

Oh please -- don't be ridiculous.  A Chorus Line, Phantom, Les Miz, Annie, Cats, The Wiz, etc etc ALL "survived" despite having terrible movie adaptations -- and so will DEH.

The "revisionist history"  BS in this thread is exhausting.

[Kad]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 2:51pm

People would have actually had to see the movie for it to damage the show's reputation. It spurred some memes and then vanished from collective memory.

[singingdude]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 5:05pm

So it took a 5 year Broadway run, multiple rave reviews and Tony Awards for everyone to realize that the show is a vile piece of trash?  If only the theater community was as wise as you.  I have friends of mine with similar feelings against the show now, but raved about it back in 2017.  Maybe long term memory loss.

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 5:40pm

Georgeanddot2 said: "Anyone with critical thinking skills hates this show. Broadway audiences usually lack critical thinking skills and that's why it was initially such a big hit "event." The film was rightfully met with shock and horror. Normal people were finally able to see this show and it became apparent what a trite and evil piece of trash this show is."

Oh look. Another batch of condescending comments from you. You are not the spokesperson for everyone “with critical thinking skills”. You speak for yourself only. No one else. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 1/22/25 at 5:48pm

Georgeanddot2 said: "Sutton Ross said: "Normal people were finally able to see this show and it became apparent what a trite and evil piece of trash this show is.

Ah yes, because the only normal people to see it in a decade live in.....Australia. It's so dumb I just can't.

I loved this show on Broadway, the original cast was brilliant, and Ben deserved that Tony."

I was talking about the movie. Work on your reading comprehension skills, harlot."

Although you mentioned the movie one (1) time in your reprehensible post, you were mainly discussing the “show”. If that was not your intention, work on your writing skills. 

I just defended Sutton Ross, which means he’ll has officially frozen. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 3:01pm

JSquared2 said: "FLarnhill said: "The movie permanently damaged the show's reputation and I won't have anyone say otherwise."



Oh please -- don't be ridiculous. A Chorus Line, Phantom, Les Miz, Annie, Cats, The Wiz, etc etc ALL "survived" despite having terrible movie adaptations -- and so will DEH.

The "revisionist history" BS in this thread is exhausting."

I think this one is in a different category. For one thing, the show itself suffered a drop in repuation that rather closely coincided with the release of the movie, so that even if the low estimation of one didn't direct effect the reputation of the other, they both sort of happened at the same time. Plus, any number of kids who might be interested in this show are likely to etiher watch the movie or one of the myriad of video reviews of it up on YouTube and judge the quality of the show on the basis of the movie. Maybe if there were a pro shot commerically available, the two would be looked at as distinctly seperate things. But in many ways, I think they are merged in a lot of people's minds. 

Updated On: 1/23/25 at 03:01 PM

[Seb28]

Posted: 1/23/25 at 5:25pm

The crooked morality of milking the victim role to get attention and to manipulate others was popular for a short while in certain places, but now people rightfully don't accept that anymore, which is a step in the right direction. Especially not in a country as Australia, where people are generally down to earth.

 

 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 4:07pm

People have an intense reaction to the show not cause challenging subject matter provokes conversation,

but more like sometimes the Oscar nominated movie is pretentious and thinks it’s making a deeper point than it is and is clumsy and contrived in execution 

[rattleNwoolypenguin]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 4:11pm

JSquared2 said: "FLarnhill said: "The movie permanently damaged the show's reputation and I won't have anyone say otherwise."



Oh please -- don't be ridiculous. A Chorus Line, Phantom, Les Miz, Annie, Cats, The Wiz, etc etc ALL "survived" despite having terrible movie adaptations -- and so will DEH.

The "revisionist history" BS in this thread is exhausting."

The difference here is everyone walked away from those movies and said “oh my god the broadway show is SO MUCH BETTER than whatever that was” 

people watched the movie of DEH and then re assessed the broadway show as a whole.

[hicaesar]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 8:27pm

to start... I saw DEH with Andrew Barth Feldman twice and I thought he and the rest of the cast were incredibly talented. 

But the script / story has some huge flaws - the love story between Evan and Zoe seems completely unrealistic and forced. To me, it's obvious that Zoe should have seen him as the brother she never had, but in Evans mind she was falling in love with him... THAT would have been more realistic and led Evan to a bigger heartbreak and realization of reality.  But instead Evan suddenly becomes cool and is dating and sleeping with a cool girl? There are so many issues with that! 

As to why it's not performing well in 2025? It's such a different world - who knows.  But I do think the casting is extremely important for this show. 

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/24/25 at 10:07pm

kdogg36 said: "Georgeanddot2 said: "Anyone with critical thinking skills hates this show."

Incorrect. There are fans of this show who are quite intelligent."

And I firmly believe Come From Away should have won Best Musical that year over DEH.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/25/25 at 10:22am

rattleNwoolypenguin said: "
The difference here is everyone walked away from those movies and said “oh my god the broadway show is SO MUCH BETTER than whatever that was”

people watched the movie of DEH and then re assessed the broadway show as a whole."

The actual reality is that the majority of the people who saw all of those movies had never, and would never, see those shows. Films are mass market, they can only ever help a show because everyone else watching who didn't like it either is just familiar with the show or seen it already. They didn't need these movies to tell them yes or no. 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 1/25/25 at 10:23am

ACL2006 said: "And I firmly believe Come From Away should have won Best Musical that year over DEH."

I agree with you. As I said earlier in the thread, Dear Evan Hansen was only my third-favorite of the season (behind Come from Away and Great Comet).

But it remains a fact that loving Dear Evan Hansen doesn't mean you're stupid.