I just watched the phenomenal trailer for the Dear Evan Hansen movie and it's ALL the feels. I have great hope for the movie.
It reminded me of the experience seeing the play in 2019 that I've never posted on my blog that I thought I'd share.
I went to see Dear Evan Hansen the other night in NYC and I didn’t know what it was about but saw it got a bunch of awards. I figured out why I saw it.
The topics covered included:
Teen suicide
How families shape and reshape as they deal with suicide
Longing for connection creating a fake life
Feeling like you are alone
A young teenage daughter trying to find her way named.....Zoe
Social media and it’s seductive destructive reality
Teenager trying to make sense of a broken marriage
Really unhealthy family dynamics and dishonesty around it
The challenges of raising a teenager
The “everything is ok” when it’s not mentality
And a number of other topics set to mostly soulful sometimes fun music (so strange!).
The seats at the theater are designed like torture chambers for 6 foot 3 inch folks of generous proportions like me.
As the show was about to start this Indian dude who was about as tall as I am but weighed like 110 pounds (but healthy) sat next to me. He seemingly could fold himself like a deck chair next to me so he gave me some room.
In act 1 I of course cried early on and soon after I was crying he was. It was like we gave each other approval to really feel it.
As Act 2 started it got even more emotional. I was seeing so many dynamics in my life play out in front of me with the pain and confusion on stage.
As the tears flowed the thought occurred to me I had thrown my napkins away from Act 1. No more than like 30 seconds later his hand canoe into view on front of me to offer me a paper towel he had gotten at the break.
I was so grateful. I felt connected to this man. I blew my nose loudly and kept crying feeling more free now that I had the paper towel. He kept crying too.
When the lights came on there was this shared energy between us. I swear I wanted to just hug him with all my soul and share each other’s story each other’s pain.
But I couldn’t...I didn’t. All I could mutter was thank you for the paper towel and he looked at me with bright understanding eyes and just said you’re welcome.
That was it the interaction ended but the experience hasn’t. I’ll never see him again but I’ll never forget him.