We saw DEH this past weekend, and we absolutely loved it. I'm a teacher who has taught kids all over the spectrum - mainstream kids, kids with Asperger's, kids with ED, ODD, depression, anxiety, etc. and I felt that Ben Platt gave an incredible performance. Evan was sort of an amalgamation of many of those kids I taught over the years. The first time I heard the song "Waving Through A Window", it reminded me a lot of a student I had who struggled with Social Pragmatic Communication Disorder, and how they expressed feeling very much like an outsider / observer of their peers and being unable to find the right things to say to fit in. I think Evan actually works very well as a character because more kids are going to be able to see bits of themselves, or feelings they've had, in Evan, moreso than if he had been a straight line textbook case of one "diagnosis" or another.
I did not expect but appreciated the moments of levity in the show that characters like Jared and even Connor brought to the story. No, Jared was not the same kind of fleshed out and layered character that Evan was, but he brought some much needed humor to what was primarily a very heavy piece. And as previous posters have said, he represented one side of the typical teenaged boy who uses sarcasm and wit to deal with difficult subjects. Teens often present themselves to the bigger crowd as a particular "type" - the joker, the tough guy, etc. while keeping their truer selves a lot more under wraps or only shown to their closest friends. I didn't find the shift in tone to be jarring so much as welcome. The show is so heartbreaking in places - I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much without the periodic "light" moments.
So many of the songs were just beautiful - I can see "You Will Be Found" being used at high school retreats and events in the future. I even liked "To Break In A Glove", more for the chance to see Connor's dad begin to shed some light on their fractious relationship and to sense his wistfulness, that he wished he had been better able to bond with a son who had gone off the tracks. The one number that didn't quite work for me was "Good For You" - I felt like the eruption of anger from Evan's mom was a little much, even after the difficult visit with the Murphys.
Both my teens really loved the show and felt that it spoke to them, in different ways, and said it was a musical that a lot of their friends needed to see because it shone a light so well on how very alienated kids can feel even among their peers. I thought Benj Pasek and Justin Paul did a fantastic job with this show - poignant story, great music, and hopefully they and the cast, particularly Ben Platt, will be recognized again when the Tonys come around this spring.
