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On the Town: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ a touching conversation starter

By: Lillie-Beth Brinkman//The Journal Record//January 13, 2022//

On the Town: ‘Dear Evan Hansen’ a touching conversation starter

By: Lillie-Beth Brinkman//The Journal Record//January 13, 2022//

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Lillie-Beth Brinkman

Dear Oklahoma City: If you have never seen the musical Dear Evan Hansen, don’t miss it this week with performances through Sunday at the Civic Center Music Hall.

The show earned six Tony Awards, including for Best Musical, and a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album when it debuted in 2016 on Broadway, and after seeing the national touring production brought in by OKC Broadway on Tuesday night, I understand why.

The story tackles mental health issues in high school students with a complicated lead character, Evan Hansen, who is riddled by anxiety and whose uncomfortable and somewhat accidental choice led to his integration into a family grieving the loss of their son, Connor Murphy, after Murphy’s death by suicide.

It’s a heavy, touching and tragic story that is told very well through beautifully written songs and a modern-day set that uses floor-to-ceiling screens to incorporate texts, social media posts and shared videos as letters written by Evan Hansen go viral and he digs himself deeper into a lie.

Sam Primack was excellent Tuesday night stepping into the role of Evan Hansen, and plenty of the songs he sang gave me chills, including For Forever and the show’s anthem, You Will Be Found. The song’s lyrics could belong to all of us: “Even when the dark comes crashing through / When you need a friend to carry you / And when you’re broken on the ground / You will be found / So let the sun come streaming in / ‘Cause you’ll reach up and you’ll rise again / Lift your head and look around / You will be found.”

Judging from the sniffles I heard throughout the audience (as well as my own), the tearjerker of a song So Big / So Small by Evan Hansen’s mother, Heidi (Jessica E. Sherman), touched a lot of hearts as she sang of her love for her son and reassured him that she wasn’t going anywhere despite his colossal mistake and despite her own shortcomings as a single parent.

The entire cast was great, including those who played Murphy and his family – NikHil Saboo as Murphy, Stephanie La Rochelle as his sister, Claire Rankin as his mother and John Hemphill as his dad – and Alessandro Costantini and Ciara Alyse Harris as Evan Hansen’s friends of sorts. I noticed on Oklahoma City University’s Wanda L. Bass School of Music Facebook page that one of its alumni, Julian Diaz-Granados, will be playing Connor Murphy Frid

Dear Evan Hansen is a difficult story of grief, family, healing and forgiveness. There are moments where the title character’s actions made me uncomfortable emotionally even as I had empathy for the reasons behind them. If you go, its modern themes will give you plenty to discuss with an older child in your family. It was excellent though, and I recommend seeing it if you get the chance.

I know the spread of COVID is on everyone’s mind with this most recent surge, but OKC Broadway is taking good precautions by requiring masks for everyone and proof of a vaccination or a negative COVID-19 PCR tests taken with 72 hours of the performance. The less-accurate rapid tests are not accepted. For tickets, go to okcbroadway.com.

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