So this past week, I was fortunate enough to see Dear Evan Hansen. The show had been at the top of my "to see" list for a while, but due to how expensive and difficult the tickets are to get, I had to wait until I won the lottery (WHICH I DID!!!). I've always been a fan of rock/pop musicals so I was very excited to see this show. I made sure not to listen to the soundtrack before seeing it because I wanted to experience all of the music live and in the context of the story first. And boy am I glad that I did. By the end of Act 1, I was already sobbing. Watching the show, I was reminded of a different show that has grown to mean a lot to me over time, that being Next to Normal. I loved how simple (but still specific) the set and costumes were, so that the focus could really be on the acting. THE ACTING!! I was so astounded by how many layers the characters had, and how specific their physicality was, especially some traits that Ben Platt used to display Evan's anxiety. There is a very important moment right before the song You Will Be Found where Evan has to give a public speech to the entire student body. Due to his social anxiety he has always had a fear of public speaking, so he has created note cards to read from; but the cards get out of order, and he dropped one of them off the front of the stage. He doesn't know what to do and has a panic attack in front of everyone. It was one of the most honest acting moments that I've ever seen on a stage. No one in the audience could breathe, you were so worried for him, and you almost forgot that you were watching a show. Then he somehow composes himself enough to stand up and give an impromptu speech (You Will Be Found). Once he finishes the heartfelt speech, that's when the awesome technical aspects of the number come in. In the show, someone uploads a video of his speech and it's shared all over every social media platform. They project all of this onto various panels on the stage, and the cast walks through the panels and read all of the posts, and it symbolizes how fast social media can spread something, and connect people that have never met each other. In addition, it kind of symbolized how social media is a world of it's own, and you can get lost in it. The other stand out moment to me in the show is the song sung at the end of the show by Evan's mom. The song is titled So Big/So Small. The song discusses the day that Evan's dad came to collect his things and leave them. Evan was too young to understand what was going on, all he knew is that there was an awesome truck in his driveway. After letting him sit behind the wheel of the truck, she takes him to tuck him into bed. She remembers feeling so small all alone in the house, and not knowing how she was going to fill both places in Evan's life. She knew that she would fall short, and miss things. But she promised that no one would ever take her from him, and that she would always be there for him. I think this song is so important because it is an amazing representation of what it means to be a single parent, who is fully raising a child on their own, and doing their best. I think it shows how strong these people are. The song does a beautiful and honest job of telling her story.

So now that I've picked apart some of the beautiful moments in the show, let's get to talking about the title of this article, why it's the most important show on Broadway. That's saying a lot, considering there are so many pieces of amazing theater on broadway right now (Hamilton, The Great Comet, Waitress, Sunset BLVD, etc). In the last decade we have been blessed with many musicals that analyze topics that are hardly talked about. We have mental illness discussed in Next to Normal, sexuality and dysfunctional families discussed in Fun Home, rape and censorship in Spring Awakening, and now anxiety and suicide in Dear Evan Hansen. It seems like in this generation more and more teens/young adults experience some sort of anxiety or mental health issues. So like many authors talk about, representation in media is huge in helping people realize that they are not alone. What I loved most about the show is that we saw Evan through the up's and down's, and he ends at peace at the end of the show. However the writers don't lie and promise us that everything is automatically fixed forever. They leave us knowing that he is trying which is way more realistic than just expecting us to believe that someone who has been struggling with anxiety their whole life is just automatically better.

Overall I think it's just an amazing show with very relatable characters. It felt like a piece of real life that you got to look into, not a big spectacle show. I think that type of theater is what more people need to be experiencing. So if you have a chance to go see something soon. Go see this, I promise it is worth the money.