Evan Hansen: Real and Compelling

 

After many schedule changes and cancellations due to Covid, “Dear Evan Hansen”, by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, is finally at East Lansing’s Wharton Center. When the musical opened on Broadway in 2016 it was a monster hit and still is.

Last night I understood its strong appeal, especially among teenagers. First off, I must say that I approached the show knowing very little about the story and musical style. Except for the hit song “For Forever,” I was unfamiliar with much of the music.

In many ways “Dear Evan Hansen” is the anti-Broadway musical, musical. It's a small show (eight characters) with no production numbers, very little dancing and no over-wrought love songs.

LSO: Youth and Excitement

 

                                                                            Patrick Harlin

One didn’t really know what to expect when attending the Lansing Symphony Orchestra’s final concert on their Masterworks series Saturday night. 

From reading the program (printed last year) we knew that composer-in-residence, Patrick Harlin, would premiere a new piece but we didn’t know the name. The piano soloist was yet to be announced because he or she had not been named as the Gilmore Young Artist for 2022. But we thought, at least, that we knew what the winner would be playing - Beethoven’s 1^st Piano Concerto.

But even that wasn’t accurate. As it turned out, the only thing that remained constant in the program was the last piece of the evening, Brahms Symphony No. 2.

With all of these unknowns, who would have predicted that Saturday’s concert was probably the most stimulating concert of the entire LSO season?