My DEAR EVAN HANSEN note / the finale (spoiler!)

[holdyourbatboy]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 12:03am

I know it's obnoxious and self-indulgent to start a new thread BUT here I am. :)

I find this musical to be powerful and moving with so much potential to be great. After sitting through such a dark, sad, heartbreaking story, IMHO it's extremely important that the final moments work to fully communicate "what its all about".

Evan meeting Zoe at the bench. I wish this didn't happen at all, but I understand it's a device to get him to come to the orchard. Okay. So he tells her that her parents didn't have to not tell the world that he wrote the letter/did all of the lying. She says, "we all needed it" and "you saved them". I find this kinda bull****. Maybe Zoe should have said "they didn't do it for you... they just needed to try and pick up the pieces to move on with their lives and heal". 

HERES THE THING. I get where she is going with this, but it gives Evan too much of an easy out from the MASSIVE, dangerous lying that happened. He could have gotten sued. Yes, he takes responsibility when he finally admits it to the family at the end, but the consequences don't go away. The consequence maybe (among other things) should have been never seeing Zoe or the family again. The lie confession should have been SHOCKING beyond belief for the family.

It would have been much more powerful if the show ended with Evan having the strength to go to the orchard on his own, and find it in HIMSELF to have hope for the future / learn from the life altering events that happened. I felt like this was all happening - until Zoe gave him a nice tied up bow at the end.

Then the all of the main characters come out to sing the finale with him... I wish it was just Evan, alone on the stage like the show's opening, having his moment. Or maybe just the moms. Or maybe JUST his mom. 

No, I want into just be Evan. 

...also Will Roland's character is insufferable and he plays it too cartoonish for this show. It's like he's in another show...

okay, I have spoken! Thanks for listening. 

Updated On: 4/21/16 at 12:03 AM

[MadonnaMusical]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 7:09am

Ooooo great idea. I like that... I think they wanted to get the message of "it gets better" out there somehow... which is tricky because he got himself into a big mess. 

[holdyourbatboy]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 7:48am

It still "got better" for him and he started to find himself, especially after probably looking at the entire incident heavily in therapy. :)

Seeing him okay on his own is the redemption, not that the "lie" ended up being a good thing. It doesn't seem like Zoe would want to see him again, especially after the way she was seduced in the first place. 

The audience feels for Evan a great deal the entire time, I just don't think we need the actual lie incident to be given a full pass. It doesn't seem true to reality.. Since this show is based in realism/"this could and does happen in the world". 

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 8:14am

I agree. I thoroughly enjoyed the show, but moments like this, where it's afraid to get "too dark" are cop-outs and throw the tone of the piece into question.  A lot like N2N at 2ST - they then took the time to refocus and tweak the tone of the show before transferring to Broadway.  While an entirely different show in almost ever way, I think this is a similar problem with DEH.  There's a lot of good in the show, which makes me really root for them to work on it to become great.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 8:36am

I saw the matinee yesterday. This show marries a stunningly good score to an ambitious, not entirely successful narrative concept. I agree that there are moments where the show either can't or won't go dark enough, as WiCkEDrOcKS points out, and those moments feel like a bit of a cop-out. The ending is a particularly naked example of this -- I agree, Evan basically gets to walk away with no consequences, and that feels like a missed opportunity -- but there are others. All of the adult characters are underdeveloped too, so it was kind of hard to feel sympathy for them and how they fit into the equation.

That said, the score knocked me out. I have a feeling we are going to be hearing young male tenors singing "For Forever" at college auditions and recitals for years to come. And Ben Platt is giving the kind of star-making performance that is becoming increasingly rare.

[gregnyc2]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 1:04pm

Saw DEH tuesday night.  Can't even process what i think about the show as a whole because all i can think of is Ben Platt.  He's astonishing throughout.  What he did tuesday night in act ii's "no words" was something like I've never seen before and i don't expect to ever see again.....a sheer masterful tour de force that "no words" can begin to describe.   If there is a ticket to grab, grab it now.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 2:08pm

But he DID help the family, and they needed that.  What kind of consequences do you think he should have paid?  Not everyone is sue happy...especially since there was no malice intended at any time.  There are forgiving people in the world.

(and Im not implying the show is perfect, certainly)

[gregnyc2]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 2:45pm

Correcting myself, because words fail.....the act ii song is "words fail" not No Words

[Taryn]

Posted: 4/21/16 at 3:27pm

I enjoyed the show, but as someone who lost their brother to suicide I can't even imagine the level of fury I'd have felt if someone had pulled what Evan pulled.  I kind of agree that they rushed through the fallout, and I think the OP's suggestion for an ending is a good idea.