Crossroads Live Delivers a Phenomenal Production of Dear Evan Hansen in Columbus

Crossroads Live presented a phenomenal production of the hit Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ga., on April 18.

“Dear Evan Hansen” portrays the story of a teenager named Evan who struggles with anxiety. As a way to build his confidence, his therapist tasks him with writing letters to himself to express his feelings. Having recently broken his arm, Evan’s mother also suggests that Evan asks students to sign his cast.

At the beginning of the show, Conner, a bullied student from Evan’s high school with emotional issues, signs Evan’s cast and gets ahold of the letter Evan wrote to himself. Afterwards, Conner puts the letter in his pocket and takes his own life. When Conner’s parents find the letter in their son’s pocket, they are convinced that the letter is a suicide note from Conner that he addressed to Evan.

Unable to properly clear up the misunderstanding because of his anxiety, Evan goes along with this thought and fabricates a story about Conner being his best friend. The lie allows for Evan to experience being a part of Conner’s “perfect” family, dating the “perfect” girl, and experiencing a life he had always dreamed of. But when the lie gets out, Evan must confront his insecurities.

While every number in the musical was performed with impressive skill and emotion, some of the ballads in the musical were especially memorable and left a lasting impact on the audience.

The ballad “For Forever” by Michael Fabish, who starred as Evan, was absolutely beautiful and deeply moving. The song happens when Evan begins to create a made-up story to deceive Connor’s family, but Fabish performed it with such emotion that it does not come across that way to the audience. It is clear that Evan is sad and lonely. This fantasy that he has manufactured is about Evan dreaming about what it is like to be a part of something other than the isolation he has always known. Fabish presents a version of Evan that is easy to sympathize with.

Additionally, the following ballad “Requiem,” performed by Conner’s family, with Jeff Brooks as Larry, Hatty Ryan King as Zoe, and Caitlin Sams as Cynthia, also packed an enormous emotional punch. The performances all show such complex and diverse manifestations of grief.

Arguably, the most interesting dynamic in the show was the relationship between Evan and his mother, played by Bre Cade. Evan’s mother, Heidi, is a single mother who is doing the best she can but is coming up short and knows it. Cade’s performance of “So big, So Small,” a song about Heidi wanting to protect her son, conveyed her feelings toward this exceptionally well. A number of sniffles from the audience were audible during the breaks of this song. This performance was also a reminder that Evan, for all of his mistakes throughout the show, is still only a child who is still trying to navigate growing up.

The “Crossroads Live” production of “Dear Evan Hansen” is now performing in Waterbury, CT., but theater fans in Georgia are forever grateful that this production has graced us in the south.