It's been a decade since I had season tickets to Broadway Across America's Austin theater series, but my mother-in-law and her friends have kept the tradition going. Every once in a while one of her friends can't go, and I get invited to tag along. Last week I got to go with them to see Dear Evan Hansen.
Plot: Evan Hansen is a high school senior with Social Anxiety Disorder who we follow on his journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate.
Review: I have really mixed feelings about this musical. On one hand the acting and singing {and songs!} were fantastic - really, really top notch. On the other hand, this was really heavy material. I knew nothing about the storyline going in and I wish I had been prepared for a DARK comedy. There were definitely some funny moments, but those because few and far between after about the first 1/3. I'm not saying you can't enjoy a dark plot, but I wasn't expecting dark, and I think some scenes with Evan reminded me a little of Trent and what I really don't want for his future, and I struggled with some of the scenes of Evan and his mother. So I think my personal experiences made this a little more real than I'd like. I also thought it was just a smidge too long. I think I'd give it a B+ largely for the songs and production value.
Has anyone else seen this one? I didn't want to say too much about the plot, but I'm curious if others had a different take??
