23. Can you talk about each of the characters? Some have argued, for example, that the film's message is toxic. The next thing I want you to talk about is where theater is going. It's also come under fire for an irresponsible portrayal of mental health . Its super hard for them to do anything good online. Its just assaultive. Yes, she is. FLIP HTML5 is a Interactive html5 digital publishing platform that makes it easy to create interactive digital publications, including magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. With its Broadway debut, "Dear Evan Hansen" took the world by storm, going on to win the 2017 Tony Award for Best Musical. I had Jeffrey Sellers and Richard Hamilton on, and Ive been fascinated with theater my whole life. Put your phone away. I think that is the beauty of Stevens writing. It didn't make it into the show, it's the note that Evan was originally gonna write to himself. Who would find that most difficult? Evan was who we eventually created. SL: It feels like what all those fake news things are hitting on is a true emotion that people are feeling. I think shes a really funny, dark person. SL: Partly because we see the shows so many times, so we get really granular, and its like, Oh, thats not quite right.. SM: No, as a matter of fact, we spend a lot of our time trying to get bootleg tapes of it off of YouTube. When we announce a new block of tickets on sale, we give the fans a two-hour heads up, because as you said, it is hard to sell tickets, and that hurts us in some ways. In the wake of the election and people feeling all sorts of feelings and trauma, there was Social media actually did become a refuge for a lot of people, and a place to feel. Approachable. That is an event. SL: No. SM: Think about this, Steven, if they do a revival of this show in 25 years, they could do it in a retro way with no projections. After one of these missives is stolen by a classmate who subsequently takes his own life, the deceased's parents believe it to be a genuine . He wanted to write something about his generation. Book writer Steven Levenson on the power of moral tension---In some ways, "You Will Be Found" is just a moving song. You talked about it at the beginning, but your show has benefited from that too. Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why: because because today, . Shes always trying to help people. Silence. I saw it recently, and its about isolation. I do think you should get some of it a little bit online, because I think certain parts of it are really resonant in this age, and really talk about things in a really fair way. What I found interesting maybe you want to talk about is I dont want to get to the idea of where shows are too like whats at the heart of all these shows and these connections is that you dont insult technology. They were trying to find reasons why he killed himself. Research Playwrights, Librettists, Composers and Lyricists. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. SL: Yes, Rent was very big for all three of us. Because she wants to use it for that, she wants to use it for advantage. | Smule Social Singing Karaoke app It feels very much like a phone going up. No, I get it, but you have to feel the panic of social media. Its a wonderful show. We happen to have the same director also, but Rent paved the way for skipping some in between, and Next to Normal paved the way for Fun Home. Fun Home, I remember the season of Fun Home was just starting, and I was watching it so closely because I knew if they could tell that story, then there was so much hope that we could tell our story. SL: Exactly. Where else do you actually have to put your phone away? Its music, however, is fairly affecting. Because today, all you have to do is be yourself. The eponymous Evan has been tasked by his therapist with writing pep talk letters to himself to help him visualize success: "Dear Evan Hansen, Today is going to be a great day." You will never regret having slept on it. Easy to talk to. 4. DEAR EVAN HANSEN is "the most vital and important musical of a generation" (Daily Mail, Baz Bamigboye) with "a raw, relevant and exhilarating score" (BBC Radio London, Jonathan Phang) from the songwriters of The Greatest Showman and La La Land.. A timely and timeless new musical about struggling to connect in a hyperconnected world, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is the winner of 3 Olivier Awards . Do you not put stuff online? I was expecting that. If you like this, be sure to subscribe to Recode Decode on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, TuneIn or Stitcher. Will you support Voxs explanatory journalism? It becomes a way of bringing people together, of making everyone feel less alone, and yet its all premised on this lie. ap micro unit 3 id's. 45 terms. If you have the good fortune to become successful, you do become something more, but the essence of it is sitting in that theater. I hope that people who have felt like Evan and who have felt like everybody else is having a wonderful life except for them. Well, its also become a war zone too, I mean, at the same time like a hellscape, like sometimes this was a SL: Yes. Its also a very traditional show, if you think about it. Evan actually tells the truth for a long time, but the family doesnt want to believe it. I think each one really leads the theater world to be a beauty, to do more and to be more honest. Audition season's in full swing, so I thought I'd share a clip from my self-tape for the Dear Evan Hansen national tour! The musical premiered in July 2015 in Washington, DC, debuted on Broadway in 2016, and later won six Tony Awards in . On Broadway. When we started talking about this idea and trying to abstract it and think about what was at the heart of it, we started to think about the idea of connection immediately, that all of this had to do with the desire and the need and the hunger to connect. On his journey to be found, he discovers the consequences of risking it all for the chance to . SM: Its actually so much simpler then that. Its fantastic. I want to continue to have that experience that I saw A Chorus Line 28 times, not on VR. I was just talking to him about the phenomenon of Hamilton and what its like, and as he pointed out, Hamilton ultimately is just the show thats going to happen at 8pm tonight. Theres been some shows that have been real touchdowns, like Hamilton and some others that have been really Theres a new, I cant remember the latest one, but theres a bunch that Maybe its The Grand Hotel, one that seems fantastic in some ways. Stephen Chbosky's adaptation of Dear Evan Hansen, based on the Broadway show of the same name, features a beautiful soundtrack.The 2021 movie cut several songs from the Broadway show and added a few new ones, but overall, the musical's tone is not affected by these changes. Today in the red chairs are Stacey Mindich and Steven Levenson, the producer and the book writer of Dear Evan Hansen, which is an amazing musical right now on Broadway. Technology is the oxygen of the world now. SL: But I will say thats the substitute of our musical. Its a show about life and how we live it. I think for all of us on that dark day that we came to rehearsal, being in the theater where we all have the license to be the people that we are, the little strange quirky Evan-like people that we all are SM: Its a good place for people. SL: Yes, so people are writing fan fiction, and making fan art. Where else do you have to shut it off? I always say about Alana, if you ask her, she has a million friends. Universal. They didnt know that Connor had any friends. They have their 28th anniversary revivals of that. The teens are doing revenge porn like Evan. Dear Evan Hansen (2021) centers on Evan Hansen (Ben Platt), a high school student with social anxiety disorder whose letter to himself, one that was not meant to be seen by others, lands into the wrong hands of fellow classmate, Connor Murphy (Colton Ryan), who, as a result, commits suicide. Youll have it. Universal Pictures. A particularly exciting addition to the Dear Evan Hansen cast announced per Variety is Amy Adams. Evan Hansen, an awkward, lonely high school senior, struggles with Social Anxiety Disorder. SM: I think if we want people to relate to the show, then the idea really is that I always said, If every mother in that audience doesnt ultimately want to hug Evan, then were not doing the right thing. We want everyone to essentially be kind and feel a warmth about our show. He'll just hold on. Also, dont worry if your hands are going to get sweaty for no reason and you cant make it stop no matter what you do because no, theyre not going to get sweaty. His life is compounded by the fact that he has social anxiety, although I think we have found that people look at him and bring their own problems to him. Keep going until he sees the sun." 3. will2btenor 6 yr. ago. They find their son through him, and then this story snowballs from there. I talk to a lot of entrepreneurs, and I always say, Whats the mistake you made that you could have corrected or that you learned from? I dont mean a learning moment, but its something youd advise people to pay attention to. Ben Platt, playing an anxious teenager . How long does it ? Were on Apple Podcast, Google Play Music, TuneIn, Stitcher, SoundCloud and more, or just visit recode.net/podcasts for more. SL: Yes, and she actually We always try to be careful thats shes never a villain. I hope its a conversation starter about so many issues, but mostly I hope its a catharsis for the people who come to see it, because its a catharsis for me every night. I think she is an incredible depiction of contemporary motherhood, whether youre a single mom or not, busy, under pressure, trying hard, absolutely love your child, but in the daily rush of things doesnt always get everything right. Im sorry, theres just no other way to put it. Nobody in this world wants or rather, everybody wants to believe the story that he tells. She is a child that has grown up out of the spotlight because her brother took up so much of the oxygen. Do you feel like you should have Evan online? You dont actively participate in the world, but thats how you comment. SM: But in 25 years, they may have all been over and done with that panic. Its fascinating. Exploring grief, mental health struggles and the dangers of social media, the musical was embraced by young people for its honest . The breathtaking Broadway phenomenon becomes a soaring cinematic event as Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Ben Platt reprises his role as an anxious, isolated high schooler aching for understanding and belonging amid the chaos and cruelty of the . I think that was really what I took away from it, and its interesting that Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook did a 6,000-word essay about this, essentially saying that the solution to an over-Facebook of the world is more Facebook.