Dear Evan Hansen is an adaptation of a drama of the same name. The powerful narrative explores the ideas of loneliness, isolation, anxiety and connection. Musical dramas have an immense power to connect and reach out to the audience to convey their emotions. This has led the play to win 6 Tony awards and one grammy. In 2021 the Broadway musical will have a movie version as well.
The change in platform, from drama to Big Screen of Film, is a huge deal. Whereas an open stage is much more raw and gritty and unfiltered, Big Screens are more about technical perfection and tonal accuracy. But good acting cannot be barred by the change in platform and the youngsters have proved it yet again.
The article below is about the movie version of the Broadway musical of the same name, Dear Evan Hansen.
Adaptation
The movie is based on the 2015 Broadway musical drama by Steven Levenson. The music was composed by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul.
Direction
The 2021 movie version is directed by Steven Chobsky.
Plot of Dear Evan Hansen
Evan Hansen is a high school student who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder. That is to say, Evan faces serious anxiety whenever he has to engage in conversation or discussion or any other form of communication. He is too uncomfortable to speak and even though he wants to be heard he cannot make a stand without triggering his anxiety.
Evan does not have friends. But he has a bully– Connor Murphy. He too is without friends but he harasses Evan. Perhaps this is to be seen as Connor’s own attempt to communicate. However, one day Connor forcibly takes a letter from Evan. This letter was a note of encouragement written to self as per therapist instruction, by Evan.
After this letter was taken from him, Evan was embarrassed that his letter would be published everywhere by Connor. But to our shock, we discover that Connor has killed himself and Evan’s letter was found there which led Connor’s parents to believe they both were friends. The real story begins from here.
A Deception with a good intention
Ethan tries to tell Connor’s parents that they were not friends. But he felt that grief-stricken parents are holding onto this little hope of friendship. So he keeps the secret and instead encourages the idea of this friendship.
But carrying this lie feels like a burden and whenever he tries to come clean it feels like it’s already too late.
Emotion in the age of the Internet
The Internet and social media have surely improved the various modes of communication and in the process somehow we keep moving further away from each other. Evan’s fictional friendship with Connor takes the internet by storm. It fabricated the whole incident as reality.
This earns Evan a lot of affection. He feels like his emotions are not meaningless anymore and finally, he is being heard. This is a crucial point that the movie tries to capture. We have become so very dependent on external validation, especially by social media.
Without consciously knowing, Evan too perhaps wanted to be a part of it.
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The power of music
The burden of lying and guilt spread quickly. The viewers too can feel it. At that moment music emerges as a form of catharsis. It takes us away from the sad and dark parts of life and everything starts to feel better with the melodious tunes which are meant to touch our soul.
Epiphany and a deep concern
At some point Evan realizes how he has capitalized the inadvertent mistake and made a name out of it. He tries his best to undo it.
The viewer too realizes the pressure to create a forced friendship and social association to prove normalcy is simply horrible. Not everyone wants that. Plus maybe for once we should ponder, if parents fail to bond with their own child, why do they expect others to succeed?
The Confession

In the drama when Evan confesses the entire matter, it does not play out very well. The movie has a chance at redoing it in a much better way. How will Connor’s parents react to the truth? Well, we will find out shortly.
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Actors speak…
Ben starred in the Broadway musical a few years back. In an interview, he said that he still remembers the painful parts of the role. Playing a character who has a complex psychological profile is extremely challenging and Seriously scary. Ben plate completely agrees as well. In this case, though, being able to reach out to a large number of the audience created a lot of excitement and this excitement overtook fear.
Kaitlyn Dever, who plays Zoe Murphy, says that she is thrilled to share the screen with Platt. For Dever, it is the resilience of Zoe’s character that draws her. Both young stars do not forget to mention that working with Juilanne Moore and Amy Adams have a delightful experience. The team was incredible and felt very much like a family.
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The cast of Dear Evan Hansen
- Ben Platt as Evan Hansen
- Kaitlyn Dever as Zoe Murphy
- Amandla Stenberg as Alana Beck
- Nik Dodani as Jared Kalwani
- Colton Ryan as Connor Murphy
- Danny Pino as Larry Murphy
- Julianne Moore as Heidi Hansen
- Amy Adams as Cynthia Murphy
Release date of Dear Evan Hansen
The movie is set to release on 24 th September 2021.
Dear Evan Hansen Available on
It will definitely be a theatrical release. So we don’t have any on it’s future prospects on streaming services.
Conclusion
The title of the drama tuned movie is wisely chosen. It is a letter of assurance to oneself. In a world where everything seems to fall apart so easily, it seems very natural to engage with new things. It is indeed scary.
But this venture tries to answer how things could go wrong if we are always ruled by fear. We must learn to live freely. Not having people in life does not automatically make us worthless. We must find our true and meaningful purpose for a more peaceful existence.
Drop your comments below to let us know what your thoughts regarding this.