Dear Evan Hansen at Broadway Across America at the Eccles in Salt Lake Will Be a Dear Experience You Won’t Want to Miss

By Jennifer Mustoe and Craig Mustoe

The beautiful Eccles Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah is playing the Tony-award winning Dear Evan Hansen, and last night, opening night, was a packed house. The elaborate set (Peter Nigrini) made of screens that project a collage of social media screens and sounds (Nevin Steinberg) that blip on and off as we waited for curtain instantly engaged the audience. With any Broadway Across America show, we anticipate amazing performances, but even the set caused a riffle of excitement.

Dear Evan Hansen, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and book by Steven Levenson was nominated for nine Tonys and won six: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Actor in a Musical for Ben Platt, and Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Rachel Bay Jones. On tour around the United States, Dear Evan Hansen gains more and more popularity with each audience who view it.

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Evan Hansen (Stephen Christopher Anthony) is a nobody starting his senior year. He’s had a long-standing crush on Zoe (Stephanie La Rochelle) and a creepy best friend Jared (Alessandro Costantini) and not much else. Shy and remarkably awkward with no confidence, to the point of discomfort to watch (and Anthony nails this–talking fast, picking at his clothes, blinking and wiping his eyes constantly) Evan just wants to fit in, be noticed, and win the girl of his dreams. Zoe’s brother, the violent Connor Murphy (Noah Kieserman), has little contact with Evan (screams profanity at him and pushes him down) but at a few pivotal moments, when he signs Evan’s cast and finds a letter that Evan wrote to himself on the school printer), creates an opportunity for Evan to be pushed into the spotlight. How? Connor kills himself and Evan gets mixed up in a scheme to one, comfort Connor’s grieving family, and two, give his school, and via social media, thousands of people to learn #YouWillBeFound.

The themes in DEH are varied and deep. In the iconic songs from this musical “Waving Through a Window”, “Requiem”, and “You Will Be Found” got us all crying. The young man next to me was sniffling, the older gentlemen in front of me to the right was wiping tears, and I saw many people dab at their eyes during these pieces. And this is what I found so interesting about Dear Evan Hansen. I know there were lots of themes that resonated with me, and I’m sure that was true with everyone. Because I firmly believe that everyone has that place deep inside where they feel like they don’t matter, they are invisible, and need to be found. One theme that is repeated regularly is “You are not alone.” I believe this is a statement that all people need to hear at some time, and maybe regularly.

Evan becomes very close to Connor’s family, mother Cynthia (Claire Rankin), father Larry (John Hemphill), and of course, the sought after Zoe. Interestingly, Connor doesn’t leave the story after he dies, but becomes a voice in Evan’s head who encourages him to continue the lie that comforts Cynthia and Larry and rallies the ever-increasing fans of the Connor Project, cooked up by Evan’s remarkably perky classmate Alana Beck (Ciara Alyse). When Evan’s mother Heidi (Jessica E. Sherman), always busy at school and work and often unavailable to her son, finds out about Evan basically being adopted by the Murphys) and spending the night there with Zoe, who has become his girlfriend, she becomes hysterical, and angry.

At the end of Act One, my husband whispered, “This cannot end well.” And it is true.

There is so much about Dear Evan Hansen I loved. The songs are fantastic, some energetic and many that just tear at the heartstrings. Though there isn’t much dancing, a fun number “Sincerely, Me” has great movement by choreographer Danny Mefford that involves Connor, Jared, and Evan. And the voices–the beautiful voices. Anthony is startlingly beautiful, and it’s amazing how he can sing so strongly but is able to sound like the small, inconsequential character he is. Music Director Garret Healey gives Anthony full rein to dazzle us and we are definitely dazzled. I was also really impressed with “Requiem”, sung by Rankin, Hemphill, and La Rochelle. A lovely trio.

Costumes by Emily Rebholz give each character their individual style. The Murphys in their upscale clothing, even when the mother is falling apart after her son’s death–I whispered to my husband that when our son died, I was in pajamas for weeks. Heidi in her jeans and flashy earrings make her look like an average, hard-working single mom. Evan’s clothes look like they’ve been purchased at a thrift store.

Lighting by Japhy Weidman is fantastic. This is a light-heavy show, if that makes sense. Lots of spotlights that play into the plot. Director Michael Greif has created a multi-layered character base that shows all the intricacies that can be squeezed from this story, from Evan’s constant twitching and lightning speed speech, to the huge but completely opposite strife and pain of the mothers.

Dear Evan Hansen is a comedy wrapped in a tragedy, or is it the other way around? Evan clearly is a guy who wants to do the right thing, he likes to help. But because he is introverted to the point of blindness to reality, he gets caught in a web. It’s interesting to see how it all plays out.

I would recommend Dear Evan Hansen with a few caveats. While this show is about teenagers, it is filled with profanity, so be cautioned. I also would suggest, if your teenagers are going to attend, the conversation about how this suicide and the resulting Connor Project with all its fanfare affects your teens. Be prepared for an authentic give and take discussion about suicide.

Broadway Across America’s Dear Evan Hansen at the Eccles in Salt Lake City is a very popular show for a very good reason. Tickets are selling fast, so if you want to see this Tony-winning show, don’t delay. You will be touched, dazzled, and entertained. What more could you ask for in a musical?

Broadway Across America and Broadway at the Eccles presents Dear Evan Hansen, book by Steven Levenson, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.
Delta Performance Hall at Eccles Theater, 131 Main St, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
March 4-14, 2020, Times Vary
Tickets: $85+
(801) 355-ARTS (2787) or Toll-Free 1 (888) 451-ARTS (2787)
Salt Lake County Arts Website
Broadway at the Eccles Facebook Page
Dear Evan Hansen at the Eccles Facebook Event
Dear Evan Hansen Website