Spoilers for the show and a trigger warning for discussion of ableism and suicide after the jump. VOX teens experienced a matinee performance of "Dear Evan Hansen" at the Fox Theatre, thanks to the generosity of VOX community partners Most Valuable Kids of Greater Atlanta and Broadway in Atlanta. My very last question which I ask everybody, and maybe here well do it a little differently. All right, Ill follow you. We didnt have to buy the rights to a book to make this. SM: Sort of, but the thing that youd try so hard to do when youre marketing a show is create a way for word of mouth to happen. It feels very much like a phone going up. I do hope and it seems to occasionally work this way that people are leaving the theater, and at least being more mindful I think of the way that they use technology. SL: Yes, and he looks around as I think many of us do at social media, and sees the world of people who are fluent and who seem to be able to navigate this world of communication that he finds baffling. Thats what I really appreciate is it wasnt an attack. Stacey, why dont you go through the story so people get a sense of what happens. SL: Thats been a constant negotiation with how specific do we want the technology. SL: Yes, so people are writing fan fiction, and making fan art. Jared is often the voice of the audience, pointing out what were thinking, so he serves a really interesting and useful purpose. That is something as Stacey said that is organic and then we cant control. Now its all about Trump. Theyre like, Whats that? Im like, Oh, okay, let me just break it down for you. It was fascinating. Were all feeling the same insecurities. Now theyre gone. Dear Evan Hansen Soundtrack (2016) Its not what I would have done when I was a kid. Maybe that does feel retro, but its something that people are missing. But also confident; thats super important. My lesson here that will change my life forever was that this kind of word of mouth, you cannot manufacture. SL: Larry and Cynthia and Zoe, who is their daughter and Connors sister, are all really And Evan Hansen probably more who really SL: Yes exactly. I heard this interesting statistic the other week, which feels related somehow, that young people are buying more books. I had someone who is a millennial who was saying, Oh look, Im not as happy as my friends. Im like, Theyre not happy. Does anyone have any of the Dear Evan Hansen monologues> - reddit SL: There is something about Hamilton being a prime example of, there is something so old-fashioned about it, and yet something that is drawing people to it that I think has to do with seeing actors right there in front of you, seeing them sweat, seeing them spit, feeling like you were having this visceral experience in this room, and theres something quite special and intimate about that. For more information visit saltlakecity.broadway.com. She acts a lot older than she is. Listen to Dear Evan Hansen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Ben Platt & Kaitlyn Dever on Apple Music. I hope more people will listen to this and come. Talk about the other characters, the mothers, both parents. Full transcript: Broadway's 'Dear Evan Hansen' Producer - Vox Dear Evan Hansen (film) - Wikipedia That is cool. - The fourth letter in "Sincerely, Me" and the final letter of the first act. A battle over freedom of expression at a Concord, N.H., elementary school. Whereas if you adapt a musical into a film, or adapt it into a TV series or a VR, then it becomes that. In the beginning of the ad campaign, those faces were actually stock faces that we bought. But they want to continue the relationship. And interesting. SM: You found out on Monday morning at the locker, but you didnt in real time experience that live-action pain. One of the things that I think is really striking is despite this awful situation, youre very kind to their characters. SM: But its a great symbol of the need for community because she uses knowingly, unknowingly, the experience of Connors death and Evans decision to create the Connor Project, to create a community and a role and a life for herself. Dear Evan Hansen | Broadway at Overture SL: Sarah Ruhl, the playwright, had a play called Dead Mans Cell Phone, where she had a line where she said, The only two places that are safe from cellphones now are theaters and churches.. A lot of musicals recently, theyre not kind. The Broadway hit-turned-film Dear Evan Hansen ' s ending created some controversy and a flurry of questions. This is Evan's mom. Thats why people get frustrated. For 30 years (as of November 2022) Theater Talk has been appointment listening on WBFO, featuring the insights of theater critic and historian, Anthony Chase, who joins Peter Hall for a five-minute weekly broadcast at 6:45 and 8:45 Friday mornings on 88.7 WBFO with a podcast available on wbfo.org. Section 230, the internet law the Supreme Court could change, explained. Why do you think this resonated? We have seen kids leave. Teens can still click right on through the new screen time limit. Youll receive a black mirror, where youre going to have that. When youre trying to get to what Evan does, it is an awful thing he does. What do you hope to accomplish, each of you? 'Dear Evan Hansen' Oral History: How Broadway's Biggest Hit Since What I found interesting maybe you want to talk about is I dont want to get to the idea of where shows are too like whats at the heart of all these shows and these connections is that you dont insult technology. Within a couple of months, we found Steven, who had the right voice to create a musical that the three of them really wanted to be as authentic as possible. SM: It really is the intimacy of it. I know Hamilton didnt put things online, like a ton of stuff. SM: Shows have changed so much. SM: It is the beauty of the show, I think, and the reason why people do want to talk about it when they leave the theater, that you can interpret it the way you want to. The story alone is so icky, so offensive, so profoundly manipulative and fraudulent, that it really never should have gotten a single Tony (or six), much less a film adaptation. Hes making up a story, but its a story that actually becomes true for him and for all of these people, so its like there are so many weird layers, and then you start to feel a little dizzy. Evan Hansen is the main character in the musical Dear Evan Hansen. 4. So feeling like I was telling you earlier that Dave is working on a VR version of Othello. Im thrilled Othellos going to get to people, so Im not adverse to that idea. This has been really fascinating. CPAC used to be a barometer. No lying. Everybody is super happy. A Note to Readers: This article contains significant plot points and spoilers from "Dear Evan Hansen" as they relate to teen mental health. SL: No. Explain to me how long a show takes to get through? We give them a heads up. The breathtaking Broadway phenomenon becomes a soaring cinematic event as Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role as an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the . SL: Thats the thing. Thats all there is. SL: Yes. Dear, Evan Hansen. Something we talked about really early on was this was like six years ago, so Facebook and Twitter were really coming into their own, and it felt like whenever there was a natural disaster or a celebrity passed away, there would be the strange public ritual of people going on social media and somehow identifying with the tragedy. Im only mentioning VR because its different than film or television. That process has taken us a long time. Everybody wants to go. Dear Evan Hansen (TCG Edition) - Scribd SM: Heidi Hansen, yeah, Evan's mom. When you think about that, its an interesting question whether you do do that. Thats the surface story. SM: That was never meant to be literal, because we hope the show will live for many years, and these things may become dinosaurs. SL: I was struck immediately by this whole concept of the voyeurism and exhibitionism of grief, which was really what I think Benj was so interested in. Today in the red chairs are Stacey Mindich and Steven Levenson, the producer and book writer of Dear Evan Hansen. Its a musical about a high school student with social anxiety disorder struggling to connect with people around him, including his crush, Zoe, and her social outcast brother Connor. 'Dear Evan Hansen' Was Flawed All Along - The Atlantic Dear Evan Hansen Movie Script.docx | DocDroid Dear Evan Hansen Monologue. 'Dear Evan Hansen' Review: You've Got a Friend (Not) It was a smart way to talk about hard things. I think it did happen with Hamilton for sure. If Dear Evan Hansen addresses these problems and anxieties, it also explores, presciently, how easily experience can be faked online and how persuasive those fakes can be. Zoe is a survivor, really. They look happy as ever. As part of BTPM (Buffalo Toronto Public Media), their beat is primarily Buffalo theater, but . Approachable. The only thing I knew about Dear Evan Hansen before this point was that the main character had a broken arm. I first met Stevens colleagues, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and fell in love with their music, and really took them out to lunch one day, came with a whole bunch of ideas from my older-generation head, and within five minutes at the lunch table realized that they would never want to do a musical version of Edith Whartons something -something, but I didnt want to leave without working with them. We were just talking about that idea. I do think you should get some of it a little bit online, because I think certain parts of it are really resonant in this age, and really talk about things in a really fair way. But also. Do you want to take a little plug, Steven? Yeah, absolutely. If you haven't seen the show, it's the story of how a teen's viral lie winds up revealing large, prickly truths to the people involved in the falsehood. That is an event. SL: It had been off Broadway last season at Second Stage Theatre, and then it had been in D.C. at the Arena Stage the summer before. People have said to me, theyre sure he has Aspergers or something else. He captured something that maybe it even did, maybe it does in smaller ways less musically accentuated, but it is something that is very believable in America right now. Treacly and manipulative, "Dear Evan Hansen . Seeking 2 Actor Team for Spring I do think youre right about books. Were going to talk about, the musical, that and more, but first lets about a little bit of your background, each of you. I think whats interesting about the fake news is clearly, facts dont work to dispel it. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why: because because today, all you have to do is just be yourself. New York, NY, Accessibility Statement Terms Privacy |StageAgent 2020. Evan Hansen, a young man beset by social-anxiety disorder, is ordered by his therapist to write self-addressed motivational letters to himself in order to improve his disposition and communication skills.