Dear Evan Hansen Tony Performance- Page 2

[A Canadian in NYC]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 2:05pm

I'm routing for Words Fail. It's the most emotional song for Ben (imo) and really showcases his talent (imo). I would love it if they performed Sincerely Me. It's catchy and also gives Mike Faist an opportunity to perform as a nominee. 

But I agree with most it will most likely be Waving or YWBF. But if it's YWBF. I hope they include the speech  

Any will make me happy. 

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 2:27pm

Gensho said: "This whole idea of Evan Hansen as sociopath/psychopath is ridiculous. Oh they can't do You Will Be Found because it's misleading because Evan is lying. Evan is a lost and anxious teenager who is deeply insecure. He was abandoned by his father when he was young and his mother his hustling nonstop to provide for her son. Teenagers are still not yet old enough to understand the full ramifications of their actions. Jared aids and abets Evan in his deception. Evan is not acting from a place of malice nor is he cut off emotionally from his actions. He's nothing but emotions. He sees how his stories are providing comfort to a grieving a family. When the Murphy's are being attacked, they don't turn against Evan. Instead they get into a big argument about why they couldn't have managed to stop the death of their son. At the end of the day, Evan has nothing to do with the death of Connor, the Murphy's anguish is why they couldn't manage to get Connor the help that he needed.

In Curious Incident of the Dog, Christopher's father lies to his son claiming that his mother died, when she was actually alive. He intercepted the letters that his mother sent to him. Well obviously Christopher figures it out. I didn't see Message boards devoted to his father was a psychopath. 

It drives me crazy. 

 

"

Ummmm....its fiction, sheesh.  

I like the show, a lot, actually...i don't agree with those that think Evan isn't appropriately punished, I think it's pretty silly, actually.   However, different opinions make the world go round....and there's no reason to let it get to you.  

If you can't handle others having opposing views, why get involved in a dicussion?

[Valentina3]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 2:36pm

I don't think "Words Fail" is super effective outside of the context of the show. It's a great song, don't get me wrong, but the build up is what makes it so compelling. I think "For Forever" is a better choice.

[adagio]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 3:02pm

coreman009 said: "Hahah you're so right, Gensho. These Hansen haters are ridiculous. Misleading? They probably watched a crappy bootleg and resent DEH because they're obsessed with The Great Comet for some reason.

 

"

Let me be clear, I've seen DEH twice (live), and I did truly enjoy it, largely for Ben Platt's heartbreaking performance. Did I think it was a flawless piece of theatre? No, that would be ridiculous.

I do find it awfully silly how defensive some DEH fans are getting on this thread... You don't need to denigrate another show (especially an underdog like Great Comet) in order to show your appreciation for DEH. And being able to use your critical thinking skills to discuss both the highlights and flaws of any show is only a good thing.

Chill, it's not worth getting worked up about.

[Valentina3]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 3:11pm

adagio said - "(especially an underdog like Great Comet)"

Er... whaa? Since when do 12 TONY nominations make an underdog?

[jennab113]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 7:35pm

I love Waving Through A Window, but hope they do something else just because it was been on so many shows. I would love to see Disappear (cut before the Connor Project talking starts) into You Will Be Found. 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 8:06pm

Valentina3 said: "adagio said - "(especially an underdog like Great Comet)"

Er... whaa? Since when do 12 TONY nominations make an underdog?"

 

Most people on the internet, mostly this board, are refusing to give reasonable credit to Comet and are riding this insufferable DEH-is-the-best-show-ever-written wave 

[ijest22]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 8:35pm

 "You don't need to denigrate another show (especially an underdog like Great Comet) in order to show your appreciation for DEH.

 

Most people on the internet, mostly this board, are refusing to give reasonable credit to Comet and are riding this insufferable DEH-is-the-best-show-ever-written wave "

But when you do denigrate it, or at least its supporters, by calling them insufferable, the hater label seems to fit.

 

"

 

[Gensho]

Posted: 5/14/17 at 9:50pm

Underdog? Comet has 12 nominations! It has more nominations than any other musical. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 12:44am

dramamama611 said: "...Ummmm....its fiction, sheesh.  

I like the show, a lot, actually...i don't agree with those that think Evan isn't appropriately punished, I think it's pretty silly, actually.   However, different opinions make the world go round....and there's no reason to let it get to you.  

If you can't handle others having opposing views, why get involved in a dicussion?

 

"

I think the problem is that the idea that DEH fails to provide perfect poetic justice is not just a differing opinion, it's a petty, pedantic and unimaginative opinion that if left unchecked would be the death of art. Just as the Romantics explained to the rule makers of the Renaissance.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 1:16am

coreman009 said: "So this is just for people who have seen Dear Evan Hansen and fully understand the show. What will they perform on the Tony's?

"

I don't know where to ask this, but since I don't care for threads that begin with rules as to whom and what may be posted I'll use this one.

As someone who hasn't seen the show and almost certainly won't see it for several years, I'm curious. To whom does Evan sing "For Forever"?

Am I the only one who thinks that is the gayest song "for forever" or at least since FALSETTOS?

Do straight boys nowadays really talk about how they will spend their lives together? I haven't been a teen for almost a half-century, but straight guys used to assume they would go off to different colleges, marry and start families, relocate for their careers, etc. Maybe young working-class men in small towns could count on living out their lives within 10 minutes of each other, but Evan Hansen doesn't seem to fit that type.

What straight teenage boy would admit that when he broke his arm he was relieved to see his best friend coming to get him? Even at 16, I think a kid would rather see his mother, who might have insurance and be able to help him.

To be clear, I am gay myself and I think it's a beautiful song. It very well voices how I felt about my own best friend at 16, but I was in serious denial at the time, and I don't think that's what we're supposed to conclude about Evan Hansen. (Obviously, he is anxious to dispel such an impression in "Sincerely Yours".)

Updated On: 5/15/17 at 01:16 AM

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 1:27am

GavestonPS said: "I think the problem is that the idea that DEH fails to provide perfect poetic justice is not just a differing opinion, it's a petty, pedantic and unimaginative opinion that if left unchecked would be the death of art. Just as the Romantics explained to the rule makers of the Renaissance."

Oh for heaven's sake. Maybe actually see the show before you spout off about its criticism leading to the death of art. Jesus, the mania around any critique of this damn show is starting to get absurd. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 1:39am

wonderfulwizard11 said: "Oh for heaven's sake. Maybe actually see the show before you spout off about its criticism leading to the death of art. Jesus, the mania around any critique of this damn show is starting to get absurd. 

 

"

Dramamama was referring to a lengthy discussion about DEH in another thread. Maybe if you read that, you'll know what I am talking about.

 

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 1:48am

I know exactly what you're talking about, thank you. And unlike you, I have seen the show, and found the ending extremely questionable. Having that opinion doesn't mean I'm an advocate for the death of art, it means I'm a proponent of storytelling that isn't as lazy, cheap, and manipulative as this show is. I certainly don't care if someone else feels differently, but this assertion that my reaction (as well as the reaction of quite a few other people) is "petty, pedantic, and unimaginative" is bizarre. And again, you haven't actually seen the show, so your opinion is also uninformed to boot. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 2:26am

Wizard, lying is a standard and ancient plot device. (See The Iliad and The Odyssey.)

If the literalists are going to demand that every character who tells a lie be sorely punished, then all our novels, plays and films will have the same ending.

That was my point.

I never claimed that DEH was beyond criticism. As you point out, how could I? If some find it moving while others find it manipulative, that makes sense to me, given what I know of the story, but I have no dog in that fight.

ETA to WonderfulWizard: sorry, my tone yesterday was so dictatorial. I didn't mean that any individual opinion would deal a mortal wound to art, but I am highly leery of those who treat fiction as if it were documentary. There have been various periods when critics, teachers and/or censors confused fiction and nonfiction, and it was almost always the former that suffered. 

Updated On: 5/16/17 at 02:26 AM

[Tag]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 2:34am

As someone who hasn't seen the show and almost certainly won't see it for several years, I'm curious. To whom does Evan sing "For Forever"?

It's the start of his lie, when he begins making up his friendship with Connor.  He sings it to Connor's family in their kitchen.

There isn't a gay undertone in anyway.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 3:52am

Tag said: "As someone who hasn't seen the show and almost certainly won't see it for several years, I'm curious. To whom does Evan sing "For Forever"?

It's the start of his lie, when he begins making up his friendship with Connor.  He sings it to Connor's family in their kitchen.

There isn't a gay undertone in anyway.

 

"

Thank you very much, Tag. And, no, I didn't think gay subtext was intended. To me, "Sincerely, Me" is a far better representation of how two, heterosexual high school friends might talk.

It's only "For Forever" that perplexes me. Some of it (the part about discussing the "girls who don't notice us" sounds right to my ear; and I understand that Evan is not only lying but describing something (a best friend) he has never had.

Even so: gorgeous song, but I doubt a high school senior would say most of those lines. I suppose one could argue Evan is so damaged he can only describe an imaginary friendship in the most fantastic terms.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 5:01am

I'm not sure damaged is correct.  But Evan would likely not know what a typical relationship us like. 

[Valyitz]

Posted: 5/15/17 at 6:07am

Chicken_Flavor said: "

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Wait, is Connor dying a spoiler though? He dies after the first ten minutes of the show...

 

"

I didn't know before I saw the show (in January) and I was glad that came as a shock, so if they can avoid revealing it I think they should. Of course, it does happen very early on and is often part of the plot summary, so I'm sure plenty of people have known it going in as well though.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 8:58am

dramamama611 said: "I'm not sure damaged is correct.  But Evan would likely not know what a typical relationship us like. 

 

"

Thanks, dmama, I let the hyperbole carry me away. I won't call Evan "damaged" though I'll assume he might romanticize a day with a "best friend".

But am I the only one with MTV? I'm not proud of it, but when I can't sleep I sometimes watch Ridiculousness, a show featuring internet clips mostly of teenage boys doing stupid things and hurting themselves. THEIR FRIENDS FIND IT HYSTERICAL! The closer their friend comes to death, the funnier they find it. If he's conscious, the boy who gets hurt laughs longest. They do not compose paeans to the perfect day!

I know Evan is talking to the parents of a suicide, so he isn't going to make jokes. And I think there are some good references in the lyric (getting ice cream at A La Mode, quoting favorite songs, sharing private jokes, talking about girls who don't notice them, etc.). But claiming their perfect day was going off on their own to enjoy the view? Not in this century. Not even in the last century. Probably not since Byron and Shelley.

Updated On: 5/16/17 at 08:58 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 9:09am

But for sensitive and "different" kids, this MIGHT be a perfect day.  He can't know what "typical" boys do (although I'd argue that not ALL teenage boys do the crap you've described).   He knows what HE would think is perfect and applies it to their "friendship".   It's stuff parents would WANT to hear, a special f'ship, a kinship.  

Updated On: 5/16/17 at 09:09 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 9:50am

dramamama611 said: "But for sensitive and "different" kids, this MIGHT be a perfect day.  He can't know what "typical" boys do (although I'd argue that ALL teenage boys do the crap you've described).   He knows what HE would think is perfect and applies it to their "friendship".   It's stuff parents would WANT to hear, a special f'ship, a kinship.  

 

"

I agree re what the Murphys want to hear. Since DEH is fiction, I won't even get hung up on the fact that Evan's account must not sound much like Connor to them. There's plenty of willful suspension of disbelief going on, I suppose. But...

"All we see is sky for forever
We let the world pass by for forever
Feels like we could go on for forever this way, this way

All we see is light for forever
'Cause the sun shines bright for forever
Like we'll be alright for forever this way
Two friends on a perfect day"

I was a teen half-a-century ago, a much more innocent time. No internet, no Watergate, no MTV or skateboards, much less skateboard videos on MTV. I was pretty sensitive and had plenty of sensitive friends, but I can't imagine any of them talking in the language of "For Forever".

You wanna hear about a "perfect day"? It rained several inches one afternoon (S. Fla.) and a bunch of us high school kids (not an athlete in the bunch) played football at the local junior high, sliding around and tackling one another in the mud for hours. (I don't mean that to sound erotic.) My best friends were among the players.

But as you said first... DEH is fiction.

Updated On: 5/16/17 at 09:50 AM

[jennab113]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 10:39am

GavestonPS said: "I agree re what the Murphys want to hear. Since DEH is fiction, I won't even get hung up on the fact that Evan's account must not sound much like Connor to them. There's plenty of willful suspension of disbelief going on, I suppose. But...

"All we see is sky for forever
We let the world pass by for forever
Feels like we could go on for forever this way, this way

All we see is light for forever
'Cause the sun shines bright for forever
Like we'll be alright for forever this way
Two friends on a perfect day"

I was a teen half-a-century ago, a much more innocent time. No internet, no Watergate, no MTV or skateboards, much less skateboard videos on MTV. I was pretty sensitive and had plenty of sensitive friends, but I can't imagine any of them talking in the language of "For Forever".

You wanna hear about a "perfect day"? It rained several inches one afternoon (S. Fla.) and a bunch of us high school kids (not an athlete in the bunch) played football at the local junior high, sliding around and tackling one another in the mud for hours. (I don't mean that to sound erotic.) My best friends were among the players.

But as you said first... DEH is fiction."

So what I highlighted is the difference... you had friends.  Evan doesn't.  He desperately wants a connection with people, but he's so shy and anxious that he can't connect. He's not a typical kid.  He doesn't have friends that he makes silly videos or plays football in the rain with. He fell out of a tree and no one noticed and he really wanted someone to notice.  He's also obsessed with trees and worked in a park.  So when he makes up his perfect scenario, he and Connor are doing stuff that Evan likes/wants because it is his story.  His story also is built off of the conversation happening right before the song, plus he told them that Connor didn't want people to know they're friends (hence why they're the only two in Evan's story).  And Evan is told that his make believe Connor doesn't sound like actual Connor.

[Babe_Williams]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 10:42am

jennab113 said: "I love Waving Through A Window, but hope they do something else just because it was been on so many shows.

 

"

Ditto. I hope that they mix it up and do something, anything else. Most Tony viewers probably have seen at least one of the Waving performances.

[bdn223]

Posted: 5/16/17 at 11:02am

I think most people are under the impression they will do You Will Be Found considering it is not only the only song sung by the entire company, but also highlights that social media aspect of the plot and not the thing the producers are weirdly hush hush about 

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

Connor's suicide 10 minutes into the show

The weird thing is they can honestly perform 12 of the 16 songs in the score. As many of the songs outside of Anybody Have a Map?, Sincerely Me, Disappear, and Good for You, don't so much advance the plot as they comment on it.

I know I am in the minority here when I say this, but I think Dear Evan Hansen's book is vastly superior to its score.