By Janna Wohl
Dear Evan Hansen,
Today is going to be a good day and here’s why. Because today I will be telling you all you need to know about the magnificent, Tony-award winning Dear Evan Hansen. Whether stepping foot into the Music Box Theatre on Broadway or just seeing the recently published movie in your local movie theater, the phenomenal acting and catchy soundtrack will have you amazed.
The traits of all the characters are similar in both the show and the film. In the beginning, Evan writes a letter to himself as his assignment for his therapist. In this scene, audience members can grasp an understanding of his severe anxiety, as well as his single mother who is struggling financially and is unable to be the mother-figure Evan needs in his life. Connor Murphy is an insecure bully who ends his own life, while his younger sister Zoe is a sassy teenage girl for most of the time but shows a sweet side of her after bonding with Evan. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy act as parent-figures to Evan, overly supporting him and giving him the moral support he needs to overcome his challenges. It is evident that each of the characters play a big role in supporting Evan throughout his continuous struggles, and the excellent facial expressions, acting, and powerful songs were effective in making this a meaningful and emotional show.
One of the main differences between these two productions relates to changing scenery. In the Broadway show, characters stood on opposite sides of the stage to signify two different locations, and constantly changed the props that corresponded to different backgrounds. While the brilliant stage crew produced excellent stage décor, everything flowed with the scenes and gave audience members a show experience that made them feel like they were close to being involved in the scene. However, in the movie, viewers got an experience where they were watching this from an outsider’s perspective. By using transitions, editors were able to shift from one scene to another very easily, and it showed scenes from different character’s point of views. Specifically, during the iconic “Sincerely, me” scene, this was a song that went back and forth between Evan and Connor’s point of view as they wrote fake emails to each other. In the movie, the screen transitions from Connor’s lines to Evan’s lines as they switch off very frequently throughout the song, making it easy for viewers to follow. Throughout the movie, it is very easy to show scenes of flashbacks in Evan’s life, so viewers can form such an emotional connection to Ben Platt’s character.
Despite the movie receiving a 30% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I strongly think it receives a higher rank. There were a few additional scenes in the movie, one including Evan and Connor going go-karting together, and this would have been extremely difficult to do on a small stage. Additionally, Alana, one of Evan’s classmates, had a larger role in the movie, and was able to show off her talented voice. As someone who loved the Broadway musical, these smaller differences were nicer because I was not watching the exact same production, and there was a little twist on it. While there were many differences between the show and the movie, a few things stay the same: Ben Platt’s extraordinary soundtrack, incredible acting, and a powerful takeaway.
Just believe you can be who you want to be,
Sincerely, me
