Dear Evan Hansen: A New Review
I had never seen this show before yesterday, but I’d listened to the cast album numerous times over the past two years, so I was quite familiar with the incredible score and the deliciously deceptive story line. Well, the story you can garner from the cast album, that is.
Dear Evan Hansen, or DEH as it’s often referred to online, is actually two very different shows. There’s the cast album itself, which maintains a light, funny, inspirational tone, and then there’s the stage version I saw last night, which carries a much heavier share of drama, and not just a little teen angst.
This may sound contradictory or misleading, but it’s truly an incredible feat, and proof that live theatre adds a powerful dimension you simply cannot ever hope to get from a playlist alone.
On Wednesday night, a brand new star of the show, Woodmere, New York’s own Andrew Barth Feldman, played what was only his fifth performance in the role. And who is this mysterious ABF? Well, at just 16 years old, Andrew is a phenomenon in every sense of the word. I was lucky enough to witness Timothée Chalamet’s incredible turn in Prodigal Son Off-Broadway a few years ago, and though it’s not fair to compare the two roles, I see in Andrew every bit the rising star I once saw in Timothée.
Just as the cast album and the stage production of DEH are two wildly different yet equally incredible theatrical animals, ABF is a force within himself, a bright sun shining across the stage of the Music Box Theatre who you simply cannot … stop … watching.
His mannerisms, twitches, nervous energy, and more evoke every ounce of the awful angst so many of us experienced in our youth, so watching him perform is like watching your own disastrous high school years acted out in some kind of terrifying cosmic replay. It’s as cringe-worthy as it is hilarious and powerful, all credit due to the amazing talent of the young star.
A beautiful Broadway show is happening all around him, yet with just the tiniest little movements, Andrew Barth Feldman uses his face and hands to pull you up on the stage right along with him.
He’d no doubt be the first to say he’s only one of eight bright stars on that stage, which is both fair and true, but it’s also quite clear you should pay very close attention to Andrew Barth Feldman. In so doing, you’ll find yourself standing right up there in Evan Hansen’s sneakers, wearing a trademark blue striped shirt with a mysterious cast wrapped tightly around your arm.
