{"id":2041,"date":"2019-04-03T17:49:15","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T17:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/?p=2041"},"modified":"2019-04-03T17:49:15","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T17:49:15","slug":"arachnophonia-dear-evan-hansen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/parsons\/2019\/04\/arachnophonia-dear-evan-hansen\/","title":{"rendered":"Arachnophonia: Dear Evan Hansen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> Arachnophonia<\/a> is a regular feature on our blog where members of the UR community can share their thoughts about resources from the Parsons Music Library<\/a>\u2018s collection.<\/p>\n

All links included in these posts will take you to either the library catalog record for the item in question<\/a> or to additional relevant<\/a> information from<\/a> around the web<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s installment of Arachnophonia<\/a> is by student worker Susie (class of 2019) and features the Tony Award winning musical Dear Evan Hansen<\/a><\/strong>. Thanks, Susie!<\/em><\/p>\n

Dear Evan Hansen<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dear<\/p>\n

Dear Evan Hansen<\/a><\/em> is certainly not your classic musical. For one thing, there are only 8 people in the entire cast, and there are certainly no big dance numbers. But there are many reasons why Dear Evan Hansen<\/a><\/em> cleaned up at the 2017 Tony Awards<\/a> including winning Best New Musical<\/a>, and one of those reasons is the cast recording, which also won the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album<\/a> in 2017. The soundtrack captures the rawness of the story by having the \u201corchestra\u201d, comprised of 5 instruments, on stage with the performers, and it utilizes electronic instrumentation to complement the importance of technology in the story line. And the soundtrack as a whole takes you on the journey of Evan Hansen, shy, bullied, friendless teenager who finds his place in the sun through a fabricated story just to have the truth come crashing in and destroy his new \u201cperfect\u201d life. <\/p>\n

\"dear-evan-hansen\"<\/p>\n

The soundtrack opens with “Anybody Have A Map?”, a song any mother wondering \u201cdoes anybody happen to know how the hell to do this?\u201d while raising teenagers can relate to. Then you hear the heartbreaking tune “Waving Through A Window” from Evan Hansen himself as he sings about always being on the outside and never being seen. Through the next 5 songs, you hear about Evan and his bully Connor, who is now dead, but due to a combination of coincidences, Evan is believed to have been Connor\u2019s only friend. And as Evan leans into the lie, he helps Connor\u2019s family, the school, and the world cope with loss due to teenage suicide through the song “You Will Be Found.” As Evan builds relationships and finds love in a father figure and a girlfriend that he never thought would be possible, everything begins to fall apart in a true Broadway fashion culminating with “Good For You” and “Words Fail.” But, of course, when the whole world seems to hate you, a child can always find support from his mother, and in “So Big\/So Small”, Evan\u2019s mother comforts him and the audience with lines like \u201cyour mom isn\u2019t going anywhere … no matter what\u201d. And from the rubble, Evan comes back and finds himself by \u201cStepping Into The Sun\u201d. And in closing, Evan Hansen reminds us that even if you don\u2019t have the life you have dreamed about, \u201ctoday at least you\u2019re you, and that\u2019s enough\u201d. <\/p>\n

This soundtrack certainly isn\u2019t a light and breezy listen, but if you enjoy emotional ballads and the beautiful vocals of Ben Platt<\/a>, certainly give Dear Evan Hansen<\/a><\/em> a listen. <\/p>\n