Six-time Tony Award Winner Dear Evan Hansen Smashes Records at the Ahmanson
After a delayed curtain of close to twenty minutes, Evan Hansen (Ben Levi Ross) hit the stage wearing his now familiar arm-cast and the crowd went wild. Before so much as a word of dialogue was spoken, the opening night audience broke into one of the longest top-of-the-show ovations in recent CTG history. So revered is the story of the anxiety-ridden, obsessive-compulsive high school senior, the crowd greeted it expecting a transformative night of theater and a desire to love it as much as the throngs of Broadway, who continue to pack the New York Beacon Theatre house. In that special language spoken between audience and players, the message was clear: we want to love you.
There was also much speculation in the lobby-talk about whether or not any actor could manage to shine in a role that blazed as brightly as it did in the person of its originator, Ben Platt.
The good news is the answer is yes; Ben Levi Ross has found his own jittery, unctuous, likeable expression of the misfit that is Evan Hansen. And although he doesn’t have the mind-blowing technical singing chops of Platt, Ross possesses an even sweeter vulnerability that draws out the sub-textual longing from the lyrics of For Forever in Act I,and colors Words Fail with abject guilt as he comes to grips with the destruction he has wrought in Act II.
On its face, Dear Evan Hansen is a profound expression of the ineffable desperation of loneliness, of otherness, specific to adolescence. But while Evan is the central focus of Steven Levenson’s brilliant book, the playwright so thoroughly develops each of the eight characters that themes of class and social rank, the potential good and danger of social media, marriage, motherhood and fatherhood drive home the truth that otherness and isolation are not the special domain of the young. Though its biggest fans may be students, Dear Evan Hansen evokes tears and sighs in humans of all ages. Witness the red-eyes and tears at intermission.
In a broadcast interview, composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul said that when they were first approached to compose the score, upon reading the book of the play, they came away not wanting to “spoil” the story with the imposition of music. What emerged was music and lyrics that, indeed, are never an imposition, but an organic part of the larger whole. Orchestrations, arrangements, and especially the live orchestra treat the music with remarkable restraint, allowing the material to just be.
This National Tour cast is solid. Like Ben Levi Ross, Marrick Smith brings a particular vulnerability with more sadness and less flash to the role of Connor Murphy than the original (though fantastic) Mike Faist, giving his mother, Cynthia Murphy’s (Christiane Noll) sorrow a clear face. Noll is heartbreaking.
While Connor’s father, Larry Murphy (Aaron Lazar) grasps at stoicism in the face of tragedy, Lazar allows just enough cracks in the armor to show the internal anguish of guilt at his perceived failure without melodrama. Connor’s sister Zoe Murphy (Maggie McKenna) is left to flounder in a sea of conflicted emotions in the wake of her brother’s near destruction of their family. McKenna strikes a terrific balance between her woe and the sparkling appeal that is the object of Evan Hansen’s desire.
Evan Hansen’s beautiful, determined, single-mother, Heidi Hansen (Jessica Phillips) is spinning too many plates to give her beloved son the deeper help and understanding she swipes at between work and school. Phillips is all of that and more: beautiful, determined, and a powerhouse of song.
Evan’s reluctant friends, Jared Kleinman (Jared Goldsmith) and Alana Beck (Pheobe Hoyabe) are bright sparks of comedy. Both Goldsmith and Hoyabe do their considerable training proud, carrying the comedy while showing the underlying broken parts as well. With six Tony Awards under its belt, Dear Evan Hansen has broken every weekly box-office record in the Ahmanson Theatre’s entire fifty-year history. Tickets are precious and few but well worth the effort. This too-short run at the Ahmanson closes November 25th, 2018.
*Due to the strenuous demands of the role, Evan Hansen is performed by Stephen Christopher Anthony (who was the excellent alternate on Broadway) Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday Matinees, and Sunday evening performances.
Photo cred: https://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/ahmanson-theatre/2021/dear-evan-hansen/