Great Comet vs Evan Hansen

What do we think?

I love both shows deeply, but I would give my vote to Dear Evan Hansen.

I saw DEH Saturday night. Great show, Ben Platt is amazing. However, it hasn't really stayed with me. NP is more of an experience.

I left at intermission of Great Comet, so DEH it is! Although DEH hasn't really stayed with me like a Hamilton did

I LOVED DEH. Obviously everyone has their own opinions, but I cannot get the show out of my mind. I cannot wait until they release the Cast Recording.

I enjoyed Comet-Josh Groban has a beautiful voice and it is definitely an experience.

I plan to take my 9 year old this summer to DEH. I know I will get some flak-but she's pretty mature and understands what suicide means. She loves the songs she's heard so far-we listen to Broadway Sirius in the car.

If you can't see both, see DEH.

I see this as a Ragtime vs Lion King Debate. Where the sum of one is vastly greater then the parts on their own.

The Great Comet is the better production like Lion King, while DEH has the better book and score. I honestly must say I think DEH is one of if not the best Book Musical in nearly a generation. The problem is that The Great Comet is probably one of the most inventively staged productions of all time.Yes Once was staged in a bar, but The Great Comet literally transforms the Imperial into a Russian Super Club.

I'm not sure I could pick between them, they each have their strengths and weaknesses.

I am seeing them in the same week next month, maybe then I'd be able to choose.

I hated Comet with a passion. Dear Evan Hansen was one of my favorite productions I've ever seen and I've seen practically everything on Broadway in the past 15 years. Lin Manuel has already given his blessing to Evan winning, so I'm going to go with that.

Just_John said: "Lin Manuel has already given his blessing to Evan winning, so I'm going to go with that."

Not sure why Lin's opinion on what should win should matter that much but if you're talking about his tweet to Pasek and Paul last night, he wasn't referring to the Best Musical award in specific, just them getting love on Tony night. He is also a big fan of Natasha Pierre and has been since its off-Broadway days. It's where he and Tommy Kail discovered Phillipa Soo for Eliza.

'Everyone loves Hansen' just isn't true. Go look back at the preview threads for it on this board.

And I didn't like American Psycho either (despite admiring the design elements) but thought Natasha Pierre was excellent. So I think your theory is a little off there.

I was completely blown away by the Great Comet 100%. I could honestly see no way they could possibly improve the production, and I adore the score. The sound design was phenomenal, the performances amazing and we all know how great the theatre looks.

Dear Evan Hansen hit pretty close to home too, but I didn't find it as groundbreaking as Great Comet. Ben Platt is hands down giving the best performance I have ever seen, but other than Evan the characters aren't fleshed out at all. The actors were all amazing, but the characters seemed to be as generic as it gets (baseball dad, overworked mother, bully stoner older brother, and Laura isn't given much to work with at all). I also found the score uneven, but when it soared man it was bloody brilliant.

Overall, I'm team Comet but that Tony is Ben's for the taking.

Updated On: 1/9/17 at 06:42 PM

Saw them 48 hours apart Christmas week, and enjoyed both immensely. They actually have zero in common, other than appearing in the same B'way season. "Evan..." is a show that will be beloved to/by many. It strikes emotional notes, both daringly and gracefully, and manages to do many astonishing things, including to turn a liar into an empathetic protagonist unlike any seen on the B'way stage, No, not remotely like "Next to Normal," which I believe is actually nothing like DEH, in the final (storytelling) analysis. "DEH" has that access, that leading role that we can't look away from, can't help but invest in because we see some small part of ourselves in him. "Comet" is closer to a "Candide" -like experience -- especially the 1st Hal Prince BAM "Candide" some of us saw in the 70s ensconced at the B'way theater. Malloy is a musical theater iconoclast, and no matter what you feel at the intermission, I say: hang on until the final 15 minutes, when the evening's structural design pulls the threads together for a beautiful, satisfying conclusion that we suddenly realize was set up from the moment Groban sings "Pierre." It's not a show for everyone, okay, but I'd argue, maybe a production for most people. It's just unlike anything else (currently), making "Hamilton" seem very traditional in comparison (I say that only in terms of cataloging theatrical shorthand employed by the productions). "Comet" also has one of the most gifted casts we've seen, at least since ... oh, "Hamilton." Not that "DEH" does not. But the company at "Comet" becomes the show, whereas in "DEH" it's Platt and some wonderful support.

For any serious fan/advocate/aficionado of the musical theater both are unmissable. That's the bottom line for me.

I saw both shows Christmas weekend. I enjoyed Great Comet, but loved Dear Evan Hansen. Comet was fun if just for the sheer innovation of the show. But, like others have said, DEH just struck a chord with me.