Dear Evan Hansen @ Bass Performance Hall
—Jill Sweeney
Some people in the opening night audience of Dear Evan Hansen at Bass Performance Hall said they’d waited two years to finally, finally use the ticket they’d bought before the pandemic. To say they were excited? An understatement. Does the show entirely live up to its enormous popularity? That’s a question to ponder—but there’s no doubt that this National Tour company brings Broadway-level production values and a hugely talented cast, all of it adding up to a very enjoyable night at the theater.
[Note: On opening night, alternate “Evan” Sam Primack, who understudied the part for the Broadway production, played the leading role; Stephen Christopher Anthony had been scheduled for that performance. Erica Ludwig, Content & Communications Manager for Performing Arts Fort Worth, told Onstage that “Tuesday’s cast changes were related to a non-COVID illness,” adding that “so far,” there have been no COVID-related cases among the Fort Worth cast this week.]
I’ll try not to get too far into the weeds with the plot: Evan, a socially awkward teen with unnamed mental health issues and an unsatisfying home life, entangles himself in a web of lies when classmate Connor (Nikhil Saboo), a maladjusted bully, commits suicide with a note seemingly addressed to his “friend” Evan Hansen in his pocket. The note, written by Evan as a therapy exercise and stolen by a bullying Connor, is found by Connor’s parents Larry (John Hemphill) and Cynthia Murphy (Claire Rankin). They reach out to Evan in grief, trying to understand their lost son. Evan, in an attempt to ease their sadness, spins the lie that he and Connor were secretly best friends.
The Murphys, including their daughter and Evan’s longtime crush Zoe (played by Stephanie La Rochelle), grow closer to Evan as he digs himself in—and a speech Evan gives at a memorial to Connor catapults him to internet fame. The question is whether Evan can hold on to his newfound fame and new pseudo-family as his lies fall apart.
DEH lives and dies in many ways on a seeming contradiction: Evan must be earth-shatteringly awkward and socially inept, but still winning enough to garner the audience’s affection and sympathy. Primack’s portrayal of Evan certainly manages the former, but does he touch the heart? Opinions will vary. Nevertheless, Primack’s voice is a true gift, undeniably lovely especially in the show-stopping “For Forever” and in the musical’s most enduring number “You Will Be Found.”
The rest of the cast is uniformly fabulous, including understudy Haile Ferrier, who appears as the overbearing, overachieving Alana. Particular standouts are John Hemphill as Connor’s emotionally constipated father (his duet with Evan, “To Break in a Glove”, was masterfully understated) and Jessica E. Sherman’s ferocious performance as Evan’s mother Heidi, especially in DEH’s second act.
The set, a collaborative effort from scenic designer David Korins and projection designer Peter Nigrini, is dominated by screens full of scrolling social media, and manages to convincingly portray both cavernous spaces and more intimate domestic corners—without much in the way of actual physical set pieces. It’s hard to make Bass Hall’s stage feel intimate, but this show manages it.
Dear Evan Hansen (DEH) was a smash on Broadway when it premiered in 2015. The story of a lonely teenager who becomes an accidental social media star after the death of a classmate touched off a number of long-overdue conversations around mental health. But does Dear Evan Hansen have legs? In the wake of the recent film version of the musical, there have been rumbles that this hugely popular show may not be aging well, as audiences consider the “Big Ask” of the plot: that we cheer on a disturbed teenager whose lies and behavior begin to verge on the sociopathic. Sympathy, yes. Compassion, yes. Hero? Maybe not.
But there is definitely a hunger in North Texas for live theater right now, and for this show in particular, if audience buzz is any measure. This touring production of Dear Evan Hansen is a collective of consummate professionals, and the show runs smooth as silk—even on nights when an unexpected call puts an alternate or understudy onstage.
If Dear Evan Hansen is a favorite of yours, save the airfare and the Broadway ticket prices: This touring production is Broadway-quality right in your own backyard.
WHEN: January 4-9
WHERE: Bass Performance Hall, Fort Worth
WEB: basshall.com
