Review: Rakas Evan Hansen
Beloved Evan Hansen is a masterpiece of young stars
This autumn, the Helsinki City Theatre will really pamper musical fans, as the programme includes no less than two Broadway musicals. The Little Mermaid, which is more familiar to the general public, returned to the repertoire already in August, and last week the autumn’s novelty, Dear Evan Hansen, directed by Kari Arffman, premiered.
This is the musical that I’ve been raving about on my own channels before after seeing the musical on Broadway seven years ago. Although I liked the show very much, it is such an atypical and small-scale Broadway musical that I doubted that it would become a lasting hit for years. However, Dear Evan Hansen ran on Broadway for more than six years and in London for three years. The musical actually came to Finland at record speed, and as far as I know, it hasn’t been seen anywhere else in Europe since London.
In the meantime, there was also time to make a film adaptation of the musical, in which the lead role was also played by Ben Platt, who played the original role of Evan Hansen on Broadway. The film received quite smashing reviews and did not even make it to the theatrical distribution in Finland.
It’s a shame, as the original musical has been awarded as the best musical of the year and also won the Tony Awards for Best Screenplay and Composition, as well as the Grammy for Best Musical Recording. The film wasn’t as bad as the reviews suggested, but the story works better on the theatre stage.
The work is not a so-called. a traditional Broadway musical with its dance numbers and grandiose sets and choirs, but on a very small scale. Its theme is even more exceptional, as the performance deals with mental health problems and self-harm.
The main character of the musical is Evan Hansen (Julius Suominen / Petja Pulkkinen), who is in his final year of high school and suffers from anxiety and depression related to social situations. As part of therapy, she writes letters addressed to herself, which she begins with the words: “Dear Evan Hansen, this is going to be a great day…” However, the days don’t get any better, because Evan is nervous about everything and she doesn’t really have any friends either. Evan’s mother (Nina Tapio) is a single parent whose days are filled with work and law studies, and the mother does not seem to have time for her son.
Evan has a crush on the guitarist of the school’s jazz band, Zoe Murphy (Riikka Riikonen), who also has a brother, Connor (Niki Rautén), who is also in the last year of high school. Connor, like Evan, is a lonely case, but much more problematic. Evan and Connor don’t really even know each other, but one day Connor jokingly writes his name on the plaster in Evan’s hand, and one of Evan’s letters to himself ends up in Connor’s possession.
A couple of days later, Evan is called to the school principal’s office, where Connor and Zoe’s parents (Sanna Majuri and Antti Timonen) tell them that Connor has taken his own life. Connor has not said goodbye to his family in any way, but he has been found in possession of a letter addressed to Evan Hansen, written by Evan himself. Because of the letter and Evan’s autograph on the plaster, Connor’s parents get the impression that Evan and Connor have been best friends, and Evan is unable to correct the misunderstanding.
Connor’s parents want to hear so much anything that would ease their grief that Evan starts making up stories about her and Connor’s imagined friendship. He asks his friend Jared (Samuli Pajunen) to forge an email correspondence with Connor, which of course never took place. This develops into a veritable tangle of lies, in which Evan soon becomes so entangled that he cannot help but develop more and more lies.
Despite its dark premise, the story is funny and hopeful. In the midst of all the lying and nausea, Evan manages to create a social media campaign in memory of Connor with Jared and another schoolmate, Alana (Lumi Aunio), which goes viral and spreads the good news: no one should be left alone, and you can get help if you just reach out yourself.
Musically, the musical is one of my all-time favorites, and I still listen to the musical’s recording from time to time. Especially Waving Through a Window, Only Us and You Will Be Found are real earworms and work well as independent songs even when taken out of context. The songs have also been penned by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who wrote the lyrics for the musical film La La Land, and Hanna Kaila has done an excellent job with the Finnish translations of the songs.
HKT’s implementation of Evan Hansen is very successful in other ways as well. The role of Evan Hansen is very demanding, as the main character is on stage practically throughout the performance, and the songs are really challenging. Suominen, who played the lead role in the premiere, empathizes with the role of Evan Hansen wonderfully and touchingly. The slight uncertainty in the highest voices of the songs is sure to be honed with the performances, and on the other hand, it also suits the role. Nina Tapio is guaranteed to sing her roles, and I would love to hear Sanna Majuri’s voice more often in musical roles. Young stars Riikka Riikonen, Niki Rautén, Lumi Aunio and Samuli Pajunen also all sing so convincingly that they will surely be heard in the Finnish musical scene again.
Although the musical is small-scale, it fills the big stage with ease. Video screens play the feed stream of social media, and there is also room for an orchestra that has been lifted from the pit to the stage. The orchestra led by Eevan Konnu sounds exactly as it did on the album.
The performance is recommended for children over the age of 13, but my own 11-year-old was present at the premiere. I had seen the musical before, so I thought he was mature enough to deal with its themes. For those approaching adolescence, it is good to talk about problems and not to be left alone with them.
I’m sure I’ll go see this musical for the second time as well. Firstly, because it’s one of my all-time favourites, and secondly, because I also want to see Petja Pulkkinen in the lead role.