I spent my evening at Blackpool grand Theatre. ATG Productions and Gavin Kalin Productions present The Nottingham Playhouse Production of Dear Evan Hansen.
This is my first time watching the show, I have never seen the movie and I’m not familiar with the music, I heard one of the songs on a televised concert during Covid, so other than a quick Google I was walking into this evening blind.
The book by Stephen Levenson and Music and lyrics by Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, creators of The Greatest Showman. The show premiered in 2015 followed by a movie version in 2021, Dear Evan Hansen is the recipient of six Tony Awards.
This story is an exploration of complex themes including anxiety and grief with a recommended minimum age of twelve. With a focus on mental health, the majority of our teenagers living their lives on social media and a growing epidemic of mental disorders, this musical has played a part in sparking open conversations regarding mental wellbeing, which is really positive.
A strong capable cast of fourteen, most of the action taking place between Evan and his mother and the family of Connor a boy from school. I don’t want to give away too much of the plot just in case anybody is going to watch it for the first time.
Carrying the majority of the content of the show in the title role a wonderfully talented young man Ryan Kopel, giving us a quirky awkward teenager, the perfect balance of comedic timing and heartbreaking emotional moments.
Alice Fearn as Evan’s mother Heidi Hansen Gave a lovely delivery of ‘So Big/So Small’ slightly distracting was the volume of the sound of both the acoustic style music and the vocal, a shame but still a beautiful moment and a nice balance of believable chemistry of the ups and downs of a mother- son relationship.
The volume was also very quiet towards the beginning of the show, it was opening night so these things happen, but it was really hard at times to focus on the story and pick up the dialogue; especially because it was my first time watching.
The costuming felt very naturalistic and modern, so at times we forget that we are watching a musical.
The use of the screens all around the stage throughout the performance provided elements of very modern technology, featuring social media posts, video footage and setting the scenes.
Comic relief throughout the performance was provided by Tom Dickerson as Jared Kleinman. A truly outstanding performance, from a youngster with a wealth of theatrical credits.
The performance began at 7:30 and finished just after 10:20 pm with a short interval, the second half felt quite long and the heat in the audience didn’t help however It was nice to see the theatre so busy.
The music was live with a nine-piece band led by Michael Bradley and Dan Glover.
I felt a couple of times as though I was missing something, quite a few members of the audience had tears in their eyes and I could hear sniffling, (including my plus one) so clearly, they were affected by the content. I personally just didn’t feel a connect with some of the songs.
Whilst some of the lyrics and melodies were beautifully written and very well performed other parts of the show were just not particularly memorable for me. I could only give you the name of maybe two of the songs. To be honest, I felt like the show peaked at the end of act one. ‘You Will Be Found.’ is haunting and touching.
I think this would be a good one for the local high school students to attend.
Dear Evan Hansen if nothing else leaves the audience with a poignant message; ‘You are not alone’
Thanks as always to the very hospitable team at Blackpool Grand Theatre, if you get a chance, go and support this production.
Performances running through until Saturday 24th May.
Reviewer: Rebecca Casey
Reviewed: 20th May 2025
North West End UK Rating: