A socially challenged teen experiences unexpected life changes when a well-intentioned self-esteem-building exercise backfires in the extraordinary, multiple Tony-winning Dear Evan Hansen, now bringing audiences to tears (and to their feet) at the Segerstrom Center For The Arts.

 Ben Levi Ross delivers a tour-de-force star-making performance as the arm-in-a-cast, adorably motor-mouthed Evan, a high school senior assigned by his shrink the task of writing “You can do it!” letters … to himself.

Unfortunately, one of these letters finds its way into the hands of campus stoner Connor Murphy (Marrick Smith), giving the school sociopath one more opportunity to show Evan who’s boss.

 Worse still, when something unthinkable happens and the letter is presumed to be Connor’s to his secret best friend, things begin spiraling out of control, and not just for “Dear Evan Hansen” but also for his single mom Heidi (Jessica Phillips), whose day job and night classes leave her unable to give her son the attention he needs; Connor’s parents Larry and Cynthia (Aaron Lazar and Christiane Noll), already driven apart by their son’s antisocial behavior; his younger sister Zoe (Maggie McKenna), suffering from parental neglect and unaware of Evan’s unrequited crush; Evan’s classmate Jared (Jared Goldsmith), whose insistence upon being called a family friend leaves Evan with not a single real one to his name; and fellow student Alana (Phoebe Koyabe), invisible at school until events propel her to the center of “The Connor Project.”

At a time when nine out of ten Best Musical Tony winners are adapted from either a movie, a book, or a play, Dear Evan Hansen stands out as thoroughly original from the get-go, Steven Levenson’s Tony-winning book proving so richly plotted and layered, you’d swear it was based on a popular young-adult novel and not the other way around. (Check out Val Emmich’s gripping, insightful novelization to discover the reasons behind Connor’s suicide.)

 Not only does Dear Evan Hansen prove riveting in its depiction of families in crisis and the moral conundrum faced by one of them, by probing such hot-button topics as drug use, bullying, alienation among high schoolers, and the consequences of all three in an age when thanks to social media, no one can call their private life their own, it is as of-the-moment as a contemporary musical can get.

Add to that a teen hero who wins and breaks your heart in equal measure, the most charming of love stories, and a storyline sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats from the musical’s engaging start to its stunningly powerful climax, and you’ve got a show whose nine Tony nominations and six wins were more than justified.

 Songwriting duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul’s gorgeous Tony-winning score surpasses the promise of their A Christmas Story and Dogfight, Ross’s “Waving Through A Window” meriting extended cheers and applause and Phillips punching guts with “So Big/So Small,” making it no wonder that the roles’ originators won Dear Evan Hansen’s two Best Performance Tonys.

Not that Evan’s story is all teen angst and tears. It offers up plenty of laughs along the way, and never more so than when Connor, Evan, and Jared join voices in inventing the kind of email one of them might have written in “Sincerely Yours,” or when Alana elevates her status in Connor’s life from “barely know him” to “best friend” in her quest for visibility, or just about any time Evan lets loose with his particular brand of verbal diarrhea.

Performances under Michael Greif’s incisive direction match Broadway’s finest, beginning with Ross’s star turn in a role that has him scarcely leaving the stage, a bundle of tics and quirks and hopes and doubts that prove irresistible and a voice that soars to stratospheric heights.

 Evan’s mom stays pretty much under the radar till the show’s final half-hour, but once Heidi gets time off work and school, Phillips positively dazzles with a mother’s unconditional love.

Lazar and Noll are heartbreakingly real as a couple whose marriage might have survived a less troubled son than Connor, played by the charismatic Smith with a combination of danger and unexpected delight.

McKenna’s spot-on American accent is just one reason the young Aussie impresses. (Another is her stunning singing voice.) And Goldsmith and Koyabe could not be more winning as the kind of teen rejects rarely given center stage.

 Though Dear Evan Hansen’s small cast and intimate story would seem best suited for an under-200-seat staging, an absolutely sensational design team (Peter Nigrini’s spectacular projections in particular deliver a non-stop onslaught of computer and cell phone screen images) ensure that the show feels big enough for the 3000-seat Segerstrom, and with choreographer Danny Mefford inserting engaging bits of dance along the way and music director Austin Cook doing a bang-up job conducting Alex Lacamoire’s Tony-winning orchestrations, Dear Evan Hansen’s Broadway National Tour is Grade-A all the way.

Scenie-winning National Tour Debut Performer Of The Year Stephen Christopher Anthony steps into Evan Hansen’s shoes and arm cast on Saturday and Sunday matinees.

Ciara Alyse Harris, John Hemphill, Noah Kieserman, dance captain Jane Pfitch, Coleen Sexton, and Maria Wirries are understudies.

David Lorber is production stage manager. Chris Danner is company manager.

More than justifying the three-and-a-half-year wait from its Washington D.C. World Premiere to its arrival in Orange County., Dear Evan Hansen is not only January’s hottest ticket, it’s a show you’ll be remembering for years to come.

Sincerely,
Me

Segerstrom Center For The Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa.
www.scfta.org

–Steven Stanley
January 2, 2019
Photos: Matthew Murphy

Tags: Orange County Theater Review, Pasek & Paul, Segerstrom Center For The Arts, Steven Levenson