DEAR EVAN HANSEN. Book: Steven Levenson. Score: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Greg Karvellas (Director); Charl-Johan Lingenfelder (Musical Supervisor); Niall Griffin (Set, Lighting & Costume Designer); Kurt Haupt (Musical Director); Louisa Talbot (Choreographer) and David Classen (Sound Designer). Additional members of the production team are: Shelly Lothian (Resident Director) Alistair Kilbee (Technical Director) and Frances Moerdyk (Wardrobe Supervisor). With Stuart Brown, Lucy Tops, Keely Crocker, Michael Stray, Ntshikeng Matooane, Justin Swartz, Sharon Speigel-Wagner and Charlie Bougeunon. Artscape.
KAREN RUTTER reviews
Dear Evan Hansen is a musical that comes with an impressive pedigree, the show and its creators boasting multiple Tony, Olivier and Grammy awards. How then, to do justice to a production with such great expectations?
Showtime Management and How Now Brown Cow can feel rightfully proud of a job well done. No, not just well done – spectacularly done, with a cast and crew that once again showcase South Africans’ apex skill at musical theatre productions. Dear Evan Hansen is a triumph, with everybody from the band members to the behind the scenes team pulling beautifully together, allowing those in the spotlight to truly shine. It’s an absolute pleasure to be an audience member – which is all the more amazing considering the sensitive subject matter of the musical.
Dear Evan Hansen is not one of those BIG productions with a massive triple-threat cast and huge hit songs. It’s much more nuanced, with just eight cast members carrying the show. There’s an emphasis on feelings, and a tenderness that stretches between characters that is sometimes almost difficult to watch. There are moments of awkwardness, and sadness, but also hope. And this is carried though in the blue-drenched lighting of the set, the functional (and clever) use of space, the sense of a falsely linked but desperately disconnected society.
Intense, engaging and also warm
Evan (Stuart Brown) is a high school student who feels hopelessly alone. He’s socially awkward, and anxious, and probably a bit on the autism spectrum. His loving but over-extended single mom Heidi (played by Lucy Tops) is supportive and encouraging, but there is only so much a parent can do. Evan’s therapist has advised him to write letters to himself, as an exercise in building up his self-confidence. “Dear Evan Hansen” is how they always start.
When a tragedy happens at Evan’s school, it sets in motion a string of actions which, once begun, seem impossible to stop. Evan is at the centre of it all, and even though he kind of hates what is happening, he is also kind of loving the sense of purpose it brings, and the related popularity – even though it’s all based on an unsustainable house of cards. As Evan moves from zero to hero, picking up a new family, some friends and even a girlfriend on the way, he knows it can’t last. But the events which unfold hold a universal message about the common urge for connectivity, the false bar of “normality” which is held aloft through social media, and the need not to be alone.
In the title role, Brown gives a dream of a performance, blending vulnerability with a tentative yearning that is wonderful to see. And he has the voice to match. He is very ably supported by school peers Michael Stray, Ntshikeng Matooane and Justin Swartz, with Keely Crocker taking the girlfriend role in comfortable stride – yet another great voice. Sharon Speigel-Wagner and Charlie Bougeunon as parents are also very on point. And it is probably Lucy Tops as Evan’s mom who almost steals the show – there is no getting away from her very, very accomplished talent.
Dear Evan Hansen is intense and engaging, with some remarkable songs – “You Will Be Found” and “Requiem” particularly hitting the notes – and despite the subject matter, is also a genuinely warm experience. And this production is done so well – it’s really easy to recommend.
What: Dear Evan Hansen
Where and when:
Artscape, Cape Town from 12 February to 9 March 2025
Montecasino’s Teatro, Johannesburg from 15 March to 13 April 2025
Tickets: www.showtime.co.za or hownowbrowncow.co.za
WS
