My Thoughts On Dear Evan Hansen

I booked a £27 seat for this right up in the balcony ,which is the very top level of the Noel Coward Theatre. The view was brilliant from up there so don’t hesitate to book them and you aren’t miles away at all! I would recommend Row D in the balcony because the rake is really good in this row and no heads get in the way at all.

I wont spoil too much plot wise but this is a description from the website to give you a little idea: “A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he’s always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. DEAR EVAN HANSEN is the deeply personal and profoundly contemporary musical about life and the way we live it.”

There has been so much hype around Dear Evan Hansen so I had really high expectations and they were definitely fulfilled. The songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are very good and serve the emotion of the story well. The script is very strong (By Steven Levenson) and the scenes are so real and very film like but it is contrasted with Korins beautiful abstract and dark set which is filled with the best projection design I have seen! (By Peter Nigrini) A lot of the projection is on the stage floor as well so I would recommend sitting higher up. The use of space is really impressive as well with lighting creating rooms and creating defined moments in the show that are stunning.

The cast were fantastic but I must mention Marcus Harman who is the alternate Evan Hansen and he gave everything in his performance. His characterisation of Evan was perfect and believable as well as brilliant vocals.

Dear Evan Hansen revolves around two families so it is quite a small cast but you get to know the characters better and they are more developed. The emotion and drama builds up until towards the end of Act 2 so you are left quite emotionally drained but don’t let this put you off. I would definitely bring tissues lol!

The shows anthem is the act 1 finale “You Will Be Found” which is so relevant today in the world we live in today which left me in tears. It is such a powerful and overwhelming moment in theatre. The interesting thing about Dear Evan Hansen is that all the characters are flawed and especially the protagonist Evan. I left the theatre speechless and i’ve never felt like that coming out of the theatre.

Have you seen Dear Evan Hansen? What are your thoughts on it? Thanks for reading!

Eugene