The captivating, heart breaking and powerful award-winning musical has started a new day in Lowestoft!
Dear Evan Hansen is the 2015 musical by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, with a book by Steven Levenson. The musical has been award-winning across the world and is beloved by audiences worldwide. The story follows a high school senior with social anxiety called Evan Hansen. When Evan is mistaken for someone he is not, the lie slowly becomes out of hand. Dear Evan Hansen has a phenomenal, though difficult, score to sing. Fortunately, the Lowestoft Players has incredibly talented individuals who I was excited to see put on this production. If you’d like to find out more around their roles, check out our Q & A with the cast.
This production was co-directed by Nick Garrod and Emily Simpson. Garrod and Simpson perfectly capture Dear Evan Hansen, with fantastic direction and character choices. Small additions build the world very well and make the production even stronger. Alongside Garrod and Simpson, Carl Simmonds is credited for musical direction and Beth Freeman is credited for the choreography. This entire creative team have worked effectively, alongside the technical team, to create a production which is perfect and visually stunning!
The production utilises a range of screens very well to help move between different locations. As well as this, the lighting is used effectively to portray different elements. I especially enjoyed the visuals during ‘Waving Through a Window’. The QR code at the beginning and during the interval was also an inspired decision, with the audience thoroughly enjoying putting their photos onto the stage.
The ensemble consisted of Martha Ayers, Mia Betts, Jamie Collins, Macey Davis and Emily Oldman. In Dear Evan Hansen, the ensemble are integral for creating powerful vocal harmonies during songs such as ‘You Will Be Found’ and this group’s voices blended together very well. As well as this, the additional elements added (such as the visual representation during ‘For Forever’) were effective. Alana Beck is played by Rosie Price. Price captures Beck’s quirky attitude and has strong vocals too. Jared Kleinman is played by Jake Stock. Stock brought the sarcasm Jared is well known for to the stage, working well alongside Divall.
Connor Murphy is played by Fletcher Thomson. Thomson is able to explore Connor effectively throughout the production. Thomson, Divall and Stock were all fantastic during ‘Sincerely, Me’, one of the funniest songs in the production. Larry Murphy is played by John Marjoram and Cynthia Murphy is played by Beccie Amer. Marjoram and Amer were brilliantly casted together, feeling believable as a family unit. Marjoram’s ‘To Break In a Glove’ and Amer’s ‘Anybody Have a Map?’ were both fantastic opening numbers to each act: sung with strong vocals. Zoe Murphy is played by Evie Forsdicke. Forsdicke embodies Zoe phenomenally as she weaves through her emotions. Her vocals during ‘Requiem’ sounded perfect: being the highlight of Act 1.
Heidi Hansen is played by Georgina Burke. Burke is able to capture the overworked mum convincingly. Her vocal performance was great during ‘So Big/ So Small’ and her dynamics with Divall were strong. The titular character himself, Evan Hansen was played by the very talented Casey Divall. Evan is a huge role, with difficult vocals and a challenging character to embody. Divall captures Evan perfectly, with an amazing performance that is not to be missed. His vocals were especially strong during ‘Words Fail’: making for a brilliant, though heartbreaking, scene. Don’t miss his performance!
Dear Evan Hansen continues to run until the 26th September, giving lots of opportunities to see this brilliant cast. Book your tickets here!
Tickets for this production were provided complimentary. Many thanks to the Lowestoft Players for organising and we wish you all the best with the remainder of the run.
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