New York Show About Lonely Teen Brings Audiences to Tears

 

Of the 28 shows playing on New York City’s Broadway, the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” probably gets the most people crying.

The show centers on a lonely teenager, Evan Hansen, and his schoolmates. They find communicating with each other to be difficult -- even with tools such as Facebook.

New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood praised the show and the young actor who plays Evan, Ben Platt. Isherwood wrote that Blatt’s eyes “blink¹ in continual² embarrassment³” whenever “he has to interact⁴ socially, which isn’t often.”

But Isherwood said that, below all the insecurity, Platt shows the character’s strong desire to be liked -- or even just to be noticed.

The “Dear Evan Hansen” story centers on what happens when a teen-ager at Hansen’s school kills himself.

Before the tragedy, Evan had been writing “Dear Evan Hansen” letters to himself at the suggestion of a doctor. The doctor wanted Evan to start out each day by saying something positive about himself.

But one of Evan’s letters was taken by the boy who killed himself. The boy’s parents found it in his clothing. They thought their son had written the letter to Evan. They believed Evan was a friend they did not know their son had.

They reached out to Evan. But, Evan did not admit to them that he and their son were not really friends. Evan later “trended” on Facebook after he gave a speech urging people not to let his so-called⁵ “friend’s” brief life go unnoticed.

Steven Levenson wrote the book for the musical. That means he wrote all of the words that are not part of a song in the show.

He says audiences feel strong emotional⁶ reactions because of the show’s actors.

“I know that lot of cast members have gotten letters from people saying I saw myself in you, seeing the show inspired me to have hope, which is really truly incredible⁷ and the best gift that you can ask for as a creator.”

Some audience members said the show helped them talk to their children “about things that are difficult to discuss,” he added.

Michael Park is one of the show’s adult stars. From the stage, he said, he does not notice people crying in the audience. But Park said he and other actors can feel the energy from audience members, as they react to the emotional story line and powerful songs.

He often hears directly from audience members after the show, when people line up to get their programs signed. Some parents quietly say the words, “thank you,” after he and other actors sign programs for their children.

One time, Park said, he was asked, ‘can you be my dad?’

“That’s a pretty powerful reaction,” Park said. “You just kind of pause and give a hug. It’s all you can do.”

Evan Hansen selling all seats

“Dear Evan Hansen” is a success. The show is selling out all performances. And it is likely to win the “Tony Award” for best musical. Ben Platt, its star, is expected to win the Tony for best actor in a musical.

Platt and the show’s creators are all young. Platt is 24 and is signed to play Even Hansen through November.

Benj Pasek, 31, and Justin Paul, 32, wrote the music. This is a good year for them. They already won the Academy⁸ Award for best song written for a movie. That movie was “La La Land.”

Levenson, who wrote the book, is 32. He also has a second hit show playing in New York. It is called, “If I Forget.” And he is working on a new musical movie.

Levenson said he owes a lot to his playwriting teacher at Brown University in Rhode Island. Her name is Paula Vogel.

At the end of the semester⁹, Vogel takes each of her students out for coffee to discuss their work and what should come next. Levenson said at the time he was getting ready to graduate from Brown and had “no idea what he would do next.”

“She said if this is something you want to do -- this writing thing -- I believe that you can do it.”

“That kept me going for several years, just that one conversation -- you know through sort of the darker moments of being in New York and trying to figure it all out. So, I give her all the credit¹⁰ for that.”

Words in This Story

blink - v. to close and then open your eyes very quickly

embarrassment - n. the state of feeling foolish in front of others

stage - n. a raised platform in a theater where the performers stand

audience - n. group of people who gather together to listen to a concert or watch a play or movie

pause - v. to stop what you are doing

hug - n. to put your arms around someone especially as a way of showing love or friendship

inspire - v. to make someone want to do something

incredible - adj. difficult or impossible to believe

conversation - n. a discussion

1 blink   

vi.眨眼睛，闪烁；vt.眨（眼睛），使闪烁

参考例句：

• In a blink of an eye he had disappeared.一眨眼的工夫他就没影了。
• The boy disappeared around the corner in a blink of an eye.一眨眼，这男孩就在拐角处不见了。

2 continual   

adj.不间断的，不停的；多次重复的，频频的

参考例句：

• I am tired of this continual rain.不停的下雨使我厌倦。
• He has continual arguments with his father.他屡次跟他父亲争论。

3 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

4 interact   

vi.相互作用，相互影响，互通信息

参考例句：

• All things are interrelated and interact on each other.一切事物互相联系并相互作用。
• The policeman advised the criminal to interact with the police.警察劝罪犯与警方合作。

5 so-called   

adj.所谓的，号称的

参考例句：

• These were the so-called mainframe machines.它们被称为主机。
• Let's see what this so-called button does.让我们来看看为什么这个按钮叫这个名字。

6 emotional   

adj.令人动情的；易动感情的；感情(上)的

参考例句：

• Emotional people don't stop to calculate.感情容易冲动的人做事往往不加考虑。
• This is an emotional scene in the play.这是剧中动人的一幕。

7 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

8 academy   

n.(高等)专科院校；学术社团，协会，研究院

参考例句：

• This is an academy of music.这是一所音乐专科学院。
• I visited Chinese Academy of Sciences yesterday.我昨天去访问了中国科学院。

9 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

10 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。