Musical review: Dear Evan Hansen, Roslyn Packer Theatre

Well, it’s taken nearly a decade, but at last Sydney get to see the sensational Tony Award-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen – that also launched Ben Platt to super stardom. It’s full of gorgeous heart-wrenching songs set amid the real struggle of finding our own truth in a world flooded with media telling us what others think we should be.  But it is a challenging musical. At its centre is a flawed character and an issue of very questionable ethics.  

It’s better not too have too much of the plot revealed before you visit, but briefly it deals with an anxious high school senior who – because of a chance meeting and a tragic accident – is thrown into a very public spotlight where he is faced with the decision to tell an embarrassing truth, or simply go along with other people’s false narratives that will change his life for the better. 

It makes us question the concept of truth – whether it should be flexible and subject to circumstances. And, importantly, it asks whether telling a lie for the purpose of making others feel better is a valid reason to do so.  

These are unanswerable questions and probably the greatest strength of this unique work. It challenges us to evaluate our own response to a very specific set of circumstances where one lie begets another and soon snowballs into a storm of deceit that somehow can still offer up a kernel of hope and positivity despite its invention.  

And Sydney Theatre Company (STC) under the direction of Dean Bryant offer up a perfectly adequate production of this tale – slick and classy and with the STC’s usual impressive production values. Jeremy Allen’s set is sharp and stylish and integrates well with lighting and projection to create the interconnected world of screens and hashtags in which we live. It really is a visual delight.  

Musically the show is known for its yearning melodies and clever and layered harmonies building and swelling within a deceptively simple pop rock framework, which nevertheless manages to reach inside and touch universal truths within us all. This production achieves this in several places, but also falls short in others. Despite some very connected performances, there is sometimes just not enough vocal power to reach the heights to which the music wants to take us. The songs are delivered professionally and with great technique – but they soar into our hearts only on rare occasions. 

Beau Woodbridge has a very difficult task to keep the character of Evan at all likeable, and he offers us a very credible portrayal, fragile and insecure and tempted by popularity and that ever-pressing teen drive to ‘get the girlfriend’. He has a lovely innocence and is charming to watch. 

Some of the other highlights include Georgia Laga’aia as Zoe, delivering a clear emotional journey and some gorgeous vocal moments throughout. Jacob Rozario as Jared and Carmel Rodrigues as Alana are not only energising and entertaining, but have killer voices to boot. And Harry Targett as Connor has an electric stage presence and style that is riveting to watch whenever he appears. 

The adult characters at first appear quite secondary to the story, but actually have the most interesting character journeys of the piece. Verity Hunt-Ballard as Evan’s mother Heidi makes every parent’s struggle very real and delivers several of the most touching moments of the show. 

Read: Theatre review: Werewolf, Arts Centre Melbourne

This is definitely a musical about the modern world – not a singing cat or a French Revolution in sight – and should definitely be on a bucket list of shows to round out your knowledge of popular music theatre. It does deal with some triggering issues including suicide and drug use. So be warned, you may find it more challenging than you expect, but it will leave you thinking.  

Sydney Theatre Company and the Michael Cassel Group present
Dear Evan Hansen

Music and Lyric: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Book: Steven Levenson
Director: Dean Bryant
Music Direction: Zara Stanton 
Set Design: Jeremy Allen
Costume design: Isabel Hudson 
Lighting design: Matt Scott 
Sound Design: Andrew Poppleton
Video Design: David Bergman
Movement Direction: Shannon Burns
Resident Director: Liam McIlwain
Cast: Beau Woodbridge, Martin Crewes, Verity Hunt-Ballard, Georgia Laga’aia, Natalie O’Donnell, Carmel Rodrigues, Jacob Rozario, Harry Targett 

Tickets: $135-$170
Dear Evan Hansen will be performed until 1 December 2024.