Dear Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen is a contemporary musical about a socially anxious high school student, Evan, who struggles to connect with others. After a classmate, Connor Murphy, dies by suicide, a misunderstanding leads Connor’s family to believe that Evan was his close friend. Instead of correcting them, Evan goes along with the lie, creating a fictional friendship through emails and stories. As the situation spirals, Evan gains the sense of belonging he’s always wanted, but at the cost of honesty and real connection. The story explores themes of loneliness, mental health, the desire to be seen, and the consequences of deception.  I was really pleased to be able go along to watch Llandaff Theatre Company at Pentyrch Village Hall, following their return to NODA.  Welcome back!

The society chose to double cast some of the roles.  I was only able to see one performance and so my comments are purely based on the production I saw.

As many in district 4 (and beyond) will know, I love a live band and it was lovely to see one for this production, led by musical director, Jenny Weir.  They really enhanced the production and for the most part, were well balanced and sympathetic to the performers on stage.

The society opted to use projections and their own images of phone calls and ‘Facetime’ to create the majority of the production’s scenery options.  I did find that the projections were sometimes a little difficult to read or comprehend and there were some technical glitches with the phone segments and the associated sound effects.    The main projector beam also shone directly into the centre of the stage and therefore meant that the lighting either side of it was ineffective and created somewhat of a dark spot for the performers and audience members alike.  There were also some issues with sound, particularly microphones, which meant that occasionally the audience missed lines in song or dialogue.

My comments are always designed to drive the highest standards in theatre and give pointers on where to grow in the future.

Onto the cast.  As Evan Hansen, Will Thomas was excellent.  He had a great character and he sang well.  I could tell that a lot of work had gone into perfecting his character.  Well done!

Martha Morgan did a great job as Zoe Murphy.  Her vocals were great and her character was very believable.  This was a lovely performance that was appreciated by everyone in attendance.

Amy Phillips showed her class once again as Heidi Hansen.  Exceptional vocals coupled with a lovely, caring character made Amy’s performance a very strong one.

Jared Kleinman was played by Ryan Conway.  Ryan gave a flamboyant and energetic performance throughout.

The angst of Connor Murphy was evident in the performance and characterisation of Alex Silvey, who I thought did a lovely job, well done.

I particularly enjoyed Lucy Allan’s portrayal of Alana Beck.  Her vocals in the musical numbers were superb!

Kay Kelly and Kit Sweet were a lovely pairing as Cynthia and Larry Murphy and they produced very authentic, believable characters.

The small but well-drilled ensemble cast worked very hard and made a lovely sound.  The singing throughout this production was a real strength and I congratulate everyone in the cast and production team on this.

To summarise, I enjoyed this production, filled with fantastic singing and some very high quality performances.  It was a shame that the technical elements weren’t quite on a par with the onstage performances but it was an enjoyable and high quality production nonetheless.  I look forward to seeing you all in the future and am very glad you decided to rejoin.

 

The views in this report are solely of the author.

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