Jessica Phillips News

Edmonton, you will be found Feb. 11-16, 2020 as Broadway Blockbuster hit, Dear Evan Hansen, plays at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium

Including a substantive review from my fourteen year old daughter.

Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma ushered in the era of book-centric American musicals that have been designated as musical comedies. The beginning, middle and ending structured stories normally contain singing, dancing, show stoppers, comedy, a few conflicts, and a satisfying ending, in a two-act format.

Once in a blue moon there is a musical for the generations that speaks to people of all walks of life. It brings a tear to your eye, a smile across your face, a relatable sense of realism and purpose. The cultural phenomenon that is the musical Dear Evan Hansen burst onto the scene and quickly gained a huge following. It grew to higher success after being nominated for a total of nine Tony awards, winning six of them including Best Musical. It truly is changing the game on how we view musical theatre and I couldn't be happier that I got a chance to see it and witness the power it has over audiences.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE… to be held on Monday, June 3rd at The Green Room 42, Green Fig, Fourth Floor, Yotel NYC, 570 Tenth Avenue (at 42nd Street), New York, NY 10036 at 7 PM. Hosted by series Producing Artistic Director and Casting Director Stephen DeAngelis, the popular series allows performers to showcase their versatility and share anecdotes about their experiences.

Dear Evan Hansen, Today is going to be an awesome day, and here's why: the first national tour of Dear Evan Hansenis sharing its story with Pittsburgh audiences for the rest of this week at Heinz Hall.

The smash hit 'Dear Evan Hansen' has finally arrived at the Aronoff Center as the second to last show of the 2018-19 Broadway in Cincinnati season. The 2017 Tony Award-winning best musical features a Tony Award-winning book by Steven Levenson and a Tony Award-winning score by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Are you getting the hint that it's stellar yet?

DEAR EVAN HANSEN is currently on tour across America! What are critics saying about the show in different cities across the country? Check out all the reviews for the hit musical below!

AT THIS PERFORMANCE… returns featuring Standbys and Understudies from BE MORE CHILL; HADESTOWN; DEAR EVAN HANSEN; MEAN GIRLS; CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and HOLIDAY INN on MONDAY, MAY 6TH at 7 PM.

There's terrific acting in the touring cast, even if the singing voices waver from Platt to flat. We get an incredibly convincing Evan in Ben Levi Ross (an understudy for the same role on Broadway). He interprets the character as nervous, nerdy, and unknowingly funny. It's an excellent performance...

Over 150 musicians stood together at Dante Park, directly across from Lincoln Center, to demonstrate solidarity with their colleagues on strike at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. A group of thirty brass musicians from the Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, and the New York City Ballet performed, conducted by Joseph Alessi, Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic. The Local 802 AFM musicians spanned every genre from Broadway to classical to indie, and the musicians were joined by their fellow union members from Actors' Equity, American Guild of Musical Artists, IATSE Local One, IATSE Local 764, the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA NY, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Is an assumption not corrected, an invention born out of best intentions, a fabrication of truth that gives solace to a grieving family, still wrong? What if the lie unintentionally metamorphosizes into a voice for the silent, hope for the hopeless, a place where the invisible feel seen? On Tuesday night, April 9, the audience at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts was left pondering those questions during the emotional nuanced three-hour performance of the six-time Tony Award-winner in 2017 (including best musical), DEAR EVAN HANSEN.

AT THIS PERFORMANCE... returns featuring Standbys and Understudies from BE MORE CHILL; CHOIR BOY; ONCE ON THIS ISLAND; THE OTHER JOSH COHEN; SUPERHERO and SWEENEY TODD on MONDAY, APRIL 8TH at 7 PM.

Dear Evan Hansen, today's going to be a good day and here's why... That's how the juggernaut of a little show that could, opens. Nearly 427,000 hashtags later, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is not only a phenomenon but literally part of America's cultural heritage. Artifacts from the show, still running on Broadway, were accepted into The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History collection last fall, a decision which Curator Ryan Lintelman says was a no-brainer. 'It has this freshness to it that helps people to connect to these issues of social media and the internet, of depression and anxiety, and how you present yourself in a world that's increasingly digital,' he said. DEAR EVAN HANSEN tells the story of Evan, an awkward, self-conscious, and lonely teen. He is encouraged by a doctor to write affirmation letters to himself, one of which is intercepted by an outcast named Connor in the school computer lab. After Connor commits suicide, Connor's mother finds Evan's letter. Evan then finds himself entangled in a lie that was never meant to be told, living a life he had only imagined. DEAR EVAN HANSEN opened on Broadway in 2016 and won six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. And rightfully so. This is the right show for right now, a commentary on a media age that connects us virtually, but often, imprisons and cripples us socially.

Stephen DeAngelis continues his ongoing salute to Broadway and Off-Broadway Standbys, Understudies and Alternates with its next edition of AT THIS PERFORMANCE... to be held on Monday, March 4th at The Green Room 42.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Get a start to your Tuesday morning by reading the latest from around the Broadway World!

BroadwayWorld had a chance to catch up with Dear Evan Hansen's touring Heidi Hansen, Jessica Phillips while the show was at their Chicago tour stop! Check out highlights from our Q&A below!

February 23rd is going to be a great day, and here's why: Jessica Phillips, who plays Heidi Hansen on the national tour of the Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen, is taking over BroadwayWorld's Instagram Story for a two-show day in Chicago! Words fail to describe how excited we are, so be sure to tune in to see all of these friends on a perfect day.

'Dear Evan Hansen' is currently playing at the Curran in San Francisco, following its tour stops in Denver, Los Angeles, and Arizona. Let's see what the critics are saying about the recent tour stops...

Both profoundly moving and profoundly disturbing, DEAR EVAN HANSEN is one of the most deeply troubling musicals I've seen. I left DEAR EVAN HANSEN with a swirl of mixed emotions. The musical is a meditation on social media and how it makes the social isolation and challenges of high school all the more difficult.