Another great musical, winner of the Tony, came to the Buenos Aires billboard. Dear Evan is a musical drama, tackling issues such as mental health, suicide, appearances and lying.
The book is by Steven Levenson, one of the creators of the miniseries Fosse/Verdon, and the songs are by the Oscar-winning couple for La La Land, and The Greatest Showman, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. And yes, surely you heard some of the hits of the work, such as Waving Through a Window, where Evan explains that "he is always outside looking inward", a theme that refers to those teenagers who feel alienated.
The protagonist, the one who gives his name to the title, is a 17-year-old boy who is in his last year of high school. Quite insecure, he suffers from a social anxiety disorder, and writes a letter to himself (hence Dear Evan -in the original the surname is added, Hansen-) to encourage himself, on the recommendation of his therapist.
Máximo Meyer and Mariano Condoluci, Evan and his friend, in the musical that premiered at the Metropolitan. Press Photos
Evan prints the letter, but the printer grabs it Connor, a rather intimidating and addicted schoolmate, and Zoe's brother, whom Evan loves quietly. Evan and Connor had no connection, but the latter commits suicide, and upon finding the letter, Connor's parents assume that it was actually addressed to Evan Hansen, who does little and nothing to tell the truth. He throws out a "No...", but unconvincing.
Evan invents a friendship with Connor that never existed, which surprises Connor's family, and also his mother, since she never told him about him.
A big snowball
Well, it's not like there's much communication between Evan and his mother, who works in a hospital as a nurse and is absent from her son's life. Not as much as the father, who left home long ago and has no contact with them.
Máximo Meyer, Mariano Condoluci and Guido Balzaretti: the teenager with social anxiety disorder, the friend and the young man who commits suicide.
Everything is like a big snowball, because a certain tribute in commemoration of the teenager who committed suicide (the "Connor Project") goes viral on social networks and everything seems to escape Evan's hands.
Who if before the fact wanted to have support, not be invisible and that someone cares about what he says or what happens to him, well, he has no more tools to get ahead than to take refuge in himself and his friend (Mariano Condoluci), who is the one who writes him from a false account more emails between Connor and Evan.
I saw the staging of the work in London, a year ago, where the viral texts of Twitter, Instagram, are reproduced on multiple screens and projections on an amazing device. That efficiency on stage does not translate to the staging at the Metropolitan, I presume for a matter of costs. Although there are screens, the effect is not the same. In a theater the vision is very broad, and the spectator decides what he sees, to which elements he dedicates his attention.
The work also refers to appearances and how social networks can influence human behavior.
On Corrientes Street, then, since there is no such device, there is no possible "distraction", and the attention remains more and more on the performances of the characters.
Maxi Meyer is quite a find in the casting. He composes his Evan between tics and gestures, uses the body and even at times it seems that he could disintegrate. What he achieves, not knowing how Evan will react to each new situation, is another point in his favor.
Laura Conforte returns, as in Almost Normal, also produced by Pablo del Campo, to be the suffering mother who loses a teenage son. Her character, Cynthia, lacks a theme, a song, a moment for her virtual solo show, as does Heidi (Julia Zenko), Evan's mother.
The rest of the cast, the aforementioned Condoluci -already seen in La desgracia, mainly, but also in Cabaret and Sunset Boulevard, who dances best- as Rocío Hernández (Zoe), Fabio Aste (Zoe and Connor's father), Guido Balzaretti (Connor) and Mariel Percossi (Alana) more than fulfill in their roles.
And songs, as they say, are a fire.
"Dear Evan"
Very good
Musical drama. Original title: "Dear Evan Hansen". Book: Steven Lebenson. Music and lyrics: Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Directorate-General: Sebastian Irigo. With: Máximo Meyer, Julia Zenko, Laura Conforte, Fabio Aste, Rocío Hernández, Guido Balzaretti, Mariel Percossi, Mariano Condoluci, Franco Valerga (replacement). Functions: From Thursday to Sunday. Prices: From $6,500 to $7,500. Duration: 2 hours and a half, with interval. Living room: Metropolitan Theatre.
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