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So, went into Manhattan tonight with sparkyboy to see Dear Evan Hansen. Had dinner at Friday's- I know, I should've tried something non-chain, but since it was a Friday night, I didn't know how busy other places in the area would be. So I figured a chain was the safe bet.
Big mistake! Talk about the shittiest service ever. I mean, went in early, so its not like it impacted us getting to the show, but yeah, the wait staff sucked. And not just for us, but for all the other tables around us. Like it was so bad the managers had to come out and apologize to some folks- there was like a big table who were seated before us, and they got kinda miffed that we, and another guy who sat even after us got our food first. (Amusingly enough, that guy got his food before everyone else, but still couldn't eat because he lacked silverware and it took a while for himm to get soome)
Anyways, the management tried to give some excuse, "Oh, sometimes in the case of big stories, their orders get lost in the mix because they're waiting on all of them to be done before they send them out, so smaller orders get put out first!" Which I can see that's possible, but its also kinda bullshit. Its like, the waiter/waitress in charge of that section should know who and who hasn't gotten their stuff yet, and shouldn't check on why a table hasn't gotten their stuff until after they're prompted by the customer.
Heh, I complain, yet my way to show dissatisfaction is to just pay the standard 15% on the pre-tax total, than my usual 20% on the post-tax total.
Anyways, Dear Evan Hansen was friggin amazing, I loved it! The only thing I hate is that I'll have to wait more than a month for the cast recording to come out. Like I pre-ordered it so I do have "Waving Through a Window", but I really would love to have "You Will Be Found". Anyways, interesting story, I kinda only knew the plot of the first act going in. So Evan is this nobody loser, raised by a single mom struggling to get by, who's therapist wants him to write letters of affirmation to himself as part of his therapy. So, he writes one, mentioning the girl he has a crush on, Zoe Murphy.
Zoe is a sweet girl, with a troubled brother Connor. He's also a friendless nobody, though while Evan is the nerdy unseen type, Connor is the druggie psycho people just try to ignore because they're scared. So anyways, Evan is printing this letter in the lab and Connor is there. Connor is kinda a dick, as he offers to sign Evan's cast (as he has no actual friends to sign it), but then writes in big letters so as to take up most of the space. But then he reads the letter and we get a glimpse of how disturbed Connor is. He sees his sister's name, and I thought, "Oh, he's going to get mad at Evan for creeping on his sister!" And he sorta does, but its more, "You saw I was the only one else in the lab, and printed this letter out to mess with me and make me flip out!"
So he takes the letter, and Evan is freaked out that he's going to show the letter to Zoe. But what happens is quite sad. Connor kills himself, and his parents find the letter and thinks its a suicide note to Evan. And so they ask Evan about him, thinking he was Connor's best and only friend. And he feels bad so he fakes it to reassure them.
And so he sets on a path that spins wildly out of control. He makes up stories to reassure the Murphys, but Zoe is skeptical at first. Evan ends up faking e-mails with help from "family friend" Jared (another loser like him but is kinda jerk all, Evan isn't a real friend, they're only friends because their moms are friends) in order to paint a picture of his and Connor's friendship and make Connor look good to give his family some happy memory of him since Connor's relationship with his family was incredibly strained.
Its the reason Zoe is skeptical. Since "Connor's" note says he's pinning all his hopes on Zoe and how much she means to him, she's confused, because her brother was horrible to her. So Evan tries to explain what "Connor" meant, and it gets all mixed up with his crush on her and he kisses her and its incredibly awkward and he thinks he screwed up things with her.
Meanwhile, another classmate, Alana, also feels alone. But again, in a different way than Connor or Evan. She's one of those who just goes hardcore into school activities and making sure she has as many clubs and positions and accolades to make it seem like her life means something. And so remembering Connor and creating a memorial page for him is just the next step into trying to matter. She hears about Evan being Connor's friend and tries to get him to help so people won't forget Connor. So, again feeling guilty, he agrees to help, culminating in her organizing a rally and getting him to give a big speech.
Its incredibly awkward at first, but then he makes up a lie about how he broke his arm- as far as the audience knows at this point, he broke it at work when he was volunteering to be a junior park ranger. He fell off a tree and it took like 10 minutes for someone to find him. But in Evan's speech, he claims he broke it during one of his and Connor's secret hang outs at the orchard the Murphys used to picnic at. They were climbing a tree, and Evan fell, but this time Connor was there to help him. And so he tells everyone that no matter how dark things get, they will be found by someone to help them out.
And so the speech goes viral and the internet eats it up and it becomes a thing. It finally cracks Connor's numb dad out of his shell and gets Zoe to love her brother again. Unfortunately, since there seems to be a limited amount of happiness to go around, Evan's mom starts to find out about Connor.
And she's incredibly hurt that Evan kept this part of his life secret from her. And its sad, because she tries her best to be a good mom, but her worry about Evan made him feel like he was a burden, and so they're relationship keeps getting further and further strained.
Especially when she learns he's been hanging out with the Murphys as his surrogate family (though with Zoe as his gf, not a sister-type). She's especially mortified when they offer to use the money they save up for Connor for Evan to go to college since they heard his family has been having financial trouble. So it leads to a big blow out between Evan and his mom since he says she's never around and he wanted the taste of a normal family life.
Also, since he seemingly has that good thing going with the Murphys, the "Connor Project" has taken a back set. Alana starts to get annoyed and suspicious of Evan's story (which is rich since she didn't know Connor either) as does Jared, who's jealous that Evan is kinda on the cusp of popularity since people are actually talking to him now (again, rich, since Jared was kinda jerk to Evan saying they're only friends because Jared's mom is making him).
So to throw Alana off the scent, he shows her the "suicide note" that Connor left. Which is when things really get blown out of proportion. She posts it, thinking it will get people really motivated again to raise the remaining money needed to restore the orchard Evan claims he and Connor used to secretly hang out at. And it does, but it also turns people against the Murphys. Which is effin BS, but typical. People call out the Murphys saying since the note was written to Evan instead of his own family, they paint Connor's parents as monsters who knew nothing about their son, and Zoe as a stuck up bitch.
So Evan feels so guilty he finally fesses up to them that he made everything up. The Murphys are crushed. Back at home, Evan's mom sees the letter and realizes Evan wrote it, and feels upset that she couldn't see how much trouble Evan felt he was in. We learn Evan didn't accidentally fall at work, he let go and purposely hurt himself. But he reassures her he hid things well and didn't let her get the chance to know. But still she felt she should've known and its her turn to reassure him that she loves him very much and she doesn't think he's a burden, she's the one good thing in her life.
Interestingly enough, we end with the orchard being restored- the Murphys never reveal the truth, and Evan ends up working and going to community college in the hopes of getting into a real college. Zoe contacts him to meet, saying he should see the orchard he helped build. Too much has happened for the possibility of them to get together again, but that's okay. Which is what I like about the ending- its not perfect. The Murphys keep up the lie because even though it was all BS, Evan's lie seems to have really helped people out. He doesn't get the girl, but his life is a little better than before.
Onto the actual performances, the cast was all amazing. Its kinda crazy how emotional Ben Platt got with the character, all crying and spitting, yet managed to still sing beautifully when you expect someone all choked up.
Laura Dreyfuss looked totally mad cute (and heh, Evan's mom was kinda hot). I think another thing I liked was it was a small production. There were no minor players providing backup vocals, it was always the other characters.
Would definitely see again!
Big mistake! Talk about the shittiest service ever. I mean, went in early, so its not like it impacted us getting to the show, but yeah, the wait staff sucked. And not just for us, but for all the other tables around us. Like it was so bad the managers had to come out and apologize to some folks- there was like a big table who were seated before us, and they got kinda miffed that we, and another guy who sat even after us got our food first. (Amusingly enough, that guy got his food before everyone else, but still couldn't eat because he lacked silverware and it took a while for himm to get soome)
Anyways, the management tried to give some excuse, "Oh, sometimes in the case of big stories, their orders get lost in the mix because they're waiting on all of them to be done before they send them out, so smaller orders get put out first!" Which I can see that's possible, but its also kinda bullshit. Its like, the waiter/waitress in charge of that section should know who and who hasn't gotten their stuff yet, and shouldn't check on why a table hasn't gotten their stuff until after they're prompted by the customer.
Heh, I complain, yet my way to show dissatisfaction is to just pay the standard 15% on the pre-tax total, than my usual 20% on the post-tax total.
Anyways, Dear Evan Hansen was friggin amazing, I loved it! The only thing I hate is that I'll have to wait more than a month for the cast recording to come out. Like I pre-ordered it so I do have "Waving Through a Window", but I really would love to have "You Will Be Found". Anyways, interesting story, I kinda only knew the plot of the first act going in. So Evan is this nobody loser, raised by a single mom struggling to get by, who's therapist wants him to write letters of affirmation to himself as part of his therapy. So, he writes one, mentioning the girl he has a crush on, Zoe Murphy.
Zoe is a sweet girl, with a troubled brother Connor. He's also a friendless nobody, though while Evan is the nerdy unseen type, Connor is the druggie psycho people just try to ignore because they're scared. So anyways, Evan is printing this letter in the lab and Connor is there. Connor is kinda a dick, as he offers to sign Evan's cast (as he has no actual friends to sign it), but then writes in big letters so as to take up most of the space. But then he reads the letter and we get a glimpse of how disturbed Connor is. He sees his sister's name, and I thought, "Oh, he's going to get mad at Evan for creeping on his sister!" And he sorta does, but its more, "You saw I was the only one else in the lab, and printed this letter out to mess with me and make me flip out!"
So he takes the letter, and Evan is freaked out that he's going to show the letter to Zoe. But what happens is quite sad. Connor kills himself, and his parents find the letter and thinks its a suicide note to Evan. And so they ask Evan about him, thinking he was Connor's best and only friend. And he feels bad so he fakes it to reassure them.
And so he sets on a path that spins wildly out of control. He makes up stories to reassure the Murphys, but Zoe is skeptical at first. Evan ends up faking e-mails with help from "family friend" Jared (another loser like him but is kinda jerk all, Evan isn't a real friend, they're only friends because their moms are friends) in order to paint a picture of his and Connor's friendship and make Connor look good to give his family some happy memory of him since Connor's relationship with his family was incredibly strained.
Its the reason Zoe is skeptical. Since "Connor's" note says he's pinning all his hopes on Zoe and how much she means to him, she's confused, because her brother was horrible to her. So Evan tries to explain what "Connor" meant, and it gets all mixed up with his crush on her and he kisses her and its incredibly awkward and he thinks he screwed up things with her.
Meanwhile, another classmate, Alana, also feels alone. But again, in a different way than Connor or Evan. She's one of those who just goes hardcore into school activities and making sure she has as many clubs and positions and accolades to make it seem like her life means something. And so remembering Connor and creating a memorial page for him is just the next step into trying to matter. She hears about Evan being Connor's friend and tries to get him to help so people won't forget Connor. So, again feeling guilty, he agrees to help, culminating in her organizing a rally and getting him to give a big speech.
Its incredibly awkward at first, but then he makes up a lie about how he broke his arm- as far as the audience knows at this point, he broke it at work when he was volunteering to be a junior park ranger. He fell off a tree and it took like 10 minutes for someone to find him. But in Evan's speech, he claims he broke it during one of his and Connor's secret hang outs at the orchard the Murphys used to picnic at. They were climbing a tree, and Evan fell, but this time Connor was there to help him. And so he tells everyone that no matter how dark things get, they will be found by someone to help them out.
And so the speech goes viral and the internet eats it up and it becomes a thing. It finally cracks Connor's numb dad out of his shell and gets Zoe to love her brother again. Unfortunately, since there seems to be a limited amount of happiness to go around, Evan's mom starts to find out about Connor.
And she's incredibly hurt that Evan kept this part of his life secret from her. And its sad, because she tries her best to be a good mom, but her worry about Evan made him feel like he was a burden, and so they're relationship keeps getting further and further strained.
Especially when she learns he's been hanging out with the Murphys as his surrogate family (though with Zoe as his gf, not a sister-type). She's especially mortified when they offer to use the money they save up for Connor for Evan to go to college since they heard his family has been having financial trouble. So it leads to a big blow out between Evan and his mom since he says she's never around and he wanted the taste of a normal family life.
Also, since he seemingly has that good thing going with the Murphys, the "Connor Project" has taken a back set. Alana starts to get annoyed and suspicious of Evan's story (which is rich since she didn't know Connor either) as does Jared, who's jealous that Evan is kinda on the cusp of popularity since people are actually talking to him now (again, rich, since Jared was kinda jerk to Evan saying they're only friends because Jared's mom is making him).
So to throw Alana off the scent, he shows her the "suicide note" that Connor left. Which is when things really get blown out of proportion. She posts it, thinking it will get people really motivated again to raise the remaining money needed to restore the orchard Evan claims he and Connor used to secretly hang out at. And it does, but it also turns people against the Murphys. Which is effin BS, but typical. People call out the Murphys saying since the note was written to Evan instead of his own family, they paint Connor's parents as monsters who knew nothing about their son, and Zoe as a stuck up bitch.
So Evan feels so guilty he finally fesses up to them that he made everything up. The Murphys are crushed. Back at home, Evan's mom sees the letter and realizes Evan wrote it, and feels upset that she couldn't see how much trouble Evan felt he was in. We learn Evan didn't accidentally fall at work, he let go and purposely hurt himself. But he reassures her he hid things well and didn't let her get the chance to know. But still she felt she should've known and its her turn to reassure him that she loves him very much and she doesn't think he's a burden, she's the one good thing in her life.
Interestingly enough, we end with the orchard being restored- the Murphys never reveal the truth, and Evan ends up working and going to community college in the hopes of getting into a real college. Zoe contacts him to meet, saying he should see the orchard he helped build. Too much has happened for the possibility of them to get together again, but that's okay. Which is what I like about the ending- its not perfect. The Murphys keep up the lie because even though it was all BS, Evan's lie seems to have really helped people out. He doesn't get the girl, but his life is a little better than before.
Onto the actual performances, the cast was all amazing. Its kinda crazy how emotional Ben Platt got with the character, all crying and spitting, yet managed to still sing beautifully when you expect someone all choked up.
Laura Dreyfuss looked totally mad cute (and heh, Evan's mom was kinda hot). I think another thing I liked was it was a small production. There were no minor players providing backup vocals, it was always the other characters.
Would definitely see again!