"Dear Evan Hansen" performance review

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium held a performance of “Dear Evan Hansen” on March 27 at 7:30 p.m.

An eager crowd gathered outside of the auditorium over 30 minutes before the scheduled showtime.

The musical Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have been nominated for nine and won six Tonys, including Best Musical and Best Score. The performance ran from 2016 to 2022 and had a movie adaptation released in 2021.

“Dear Evan Hansen” tells the story of a high schooler, Evan Hansen, who struggles with intense social anxiety. Due to this, his therapist suggests that he write letters to himself starting with, as you may have been able to guess, “Dear Evan Hansen.” Things take an interesting turn when fellow student Connor Murphy steals one of Evan’s letters to himself.

After days of Evan not seeing Connor at school, Connor’s parents arrive to tell Evan the news that Connor has died by suicide. Since Connor had stolen Evan’s letter to himself, it was in his pocket when the incident happened. When Connor’s parents find a letter titled “Dear Evan Hansen,” they naturally assume that it is meant to be given to Evan and that they must have been friends.

Evan, being the socially awkward character that he is, ends up lying to Connor’s grieving parents in a moment of not knowing what to do and comfort. He tells them that he and Connor were in fact friends to make the parents feel better.

Even worse than this lie, Evan starts to use this all to his advantage. He starts to thrive and gain popularity at school and online due to his efforts to remember his “friend” Connor.

To make a long story short, the truth eventually comes out that Evan has been lying all along, and he is forced to face the backlash and his actions. It is also revealed that Evan himself attempted to take his own life, which is the reason he is wearing a cast for a lot of the performance.

The whole story is a very important and influential one that is portrayed beautifully to a wonderful soundtrack.

The first act of the musical ends with the song “You Will Be Found.” It is a powerful anthem that repeats “you are not alone” over and over again and aims to remind the listener just that.

The emotional climax of the musical, when Evan reveals the truth, comes in the form of the song “Words Fail.” It is an absolutely stunning and raw tear-jerker of a song.

The cast did a splendid and faithful job of portraying the characters and their personalities.

It was an honor to have such a profound message shared through the amazing performance of “Dear Evan Hansen” on Penn State’s campus.

Noah Vickery is a second-year student majoring in communications. To contact him, email nmv5292@psu.edu.