Dear Evan Hansen
Book by Steven Levenson, Music & Lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Directed by Rob Ruggiero
Choreographed by Beth Crandall
The Muny
July 29, 2025
Michael Fabisch (center) and Cast
Photo by Emily Santel
The Muny
The Muny is continuing it’s impressive track record with another impeccable production in their 2025 season, and it’s a new one for this company. The Tony-winning musical Dear Evan Hansen is one of the more debated shows I’ve witnessed lately, but this production makes a strong argument for the sheer humanity of its characters, and especially its lead, played in a tour-de-force by a talented young actor. There’s a lot to think about here concerning friendship, the need for connection, and difficult moral choices, and this production, directed by Muny veteran Rob Ruggiero, gets the tone just right, all the while highlighting the memorable Pasek and Paul score and featuring some eye-catching production values.
As the show begins, Evan Hansen (Michael Fabisch) is about to begin his senior year of high school, and he’s not exactly looking forward to it. Dealing with social anxiety and feeling like an outcast from his peers, he wishes he could make friends, talk to his crush Zoe Murphy (Afra Sophia Tully), and fit in more at school. He also wishes his mom, Heidi (Jackie Burns)–a nurse who also attends night school in hopes of becoming a paralegal–was around more. He’s also not so sure about the assignment his therapist gave him involving writing letters to himself, although he writes one at school in a moment of stress and it’s found by surly classmate Connor Murphy (Joshua Bess)–Zoe’s brother–which is then followed by a tragedy that begins a chain of events that eventually leads Evan into a situation that first helps him to feel more connected, but then spirals out of control. It’s a story about connection, but also the lack of it, and how the desire to belong can tempt a person to dishonesty and more.
Still, unlike some of the opinions I’ve seen from fans online, I don’t see Evan as a “bad guy”. I see him as imperfect, like we all are, and caught in a situation that is too big for him to handle on his own, while also being somewhat pushed into it by classmates Jared (Bryan Munar) and Alana (Savy Jackson) who have their own mixed motives. Also, as Evan grows closer to the Murphy family–Zoe and her parents Larry (Rob McClure) and Cynthia (Maggie Lakis)–he feels a sense of belonging that he has longed for from his own family, even though Heidi has tried her best as a single parent.
That’s another aspect of this show that I love–it focuses not just on the teens, but on the parents, and the struggle for connection between parents and children, and the idea that even the most well-meaning of people can screw up. This show doesn’t have all the answers, but it’s a vivid portrayal of that struggle for connection and belonging, and the efforts to fix relationships when they’re broken. It also looks at the role of social media in today’s world, especially among teens.
The excellent set by Michael Schweikardt and video design by Kevan Loney are dynamic and powerful, with the social media posts projected all around the vast Muny stage, and the scenic elements moving up, down, and around as needed, keeping up with the brisk pace of the plot. The costumes by Joseph Shrope work well for the characters, and the lighting by Rob Denton and sound by John Shivers & David Patridge add much to the setting and tone of the story. There’s also a great Muny orchestra led by music director Roberto Sinha.
The cast is simply fantastic, led by the immensely relatable, vocally impressive Fabisch as Evan. Fabisch brings out all the conflicting aspects of Evan’s character clearly while remaining sympathetic, even in the first part of Act 2 in which Evan becomes the most frustrating as a character. When his moment of truth arrives, though, Fabisch’s Evan makes you feel it, and his moments with Burns’s also excellent and sympathetic Heidi toward the end are especially powerful and convincing. There are also strong turns from Tully as the conflicted Zoe, and from Lakis and McClure as the grieving Cynthia and Larry, whose sense of sorrow and yearning for connection is palpable. There are also memorable performances from Jackson as the ambitious Alana, Munar as the snarky Jared, and Bess as Connor, who appears both as himself and, later, as a sort of personification of Evan’s doubts and fears. This show also makes excellent use of the Muny’s Teen Ensemble, who lend support with energy and enthusiasm.
Dear Evan Hansen is a complex show that deals with some especially difficult issues, but its overarching theme about the importance of connection and communication in relationships is clear, along with the message that people matter, even when they may feel insignificant. It’s a powerful piece of theatre, especially well staged at the Muny. Fabisch is especially one to watch, as well, and the cast around him is strong. It’s another first-rate production in the Muny’s summer season.
Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, Afra Sophia Tully
Photo by Phillip Hamer
The Muny
The Muny is presenting Dear Evan Hansen in Forest Park until August 3, 2025
