'You Will Be Found': 'Dear Evan Hansen' finds its way to Manila

It’s a lyric from Dear Evan Hansen,” running at The Theatre at Solaire until Oct. 5. The musical, which tells the story of a socially anxious teenager who finds his voice through an unexpected lie, has become a global phenomenon since it premiered on Broadway in 2016.

It features music by the Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Steven Levenson, and won six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Actor, plus a Grammy and an Olivier Award.

Dear Evan Hansen explores themes of mental health, social media, loneliness and belonging, grief and loss, deception and its consequences, authenticity and family—the kind you’re born into and the kind you choose.

GMG Productions executive producer Sam Sewell said, “We’re seeing this palpable shift into having material onstage that feels more and more of a reflection of the young audiences that are coming to the theater. And those young audiences are present here in Manila.”

She noted that the theater-going audience in the Philippines is very young—around 10 to 12 years younger than audiences in other countries. “That’s very exciting for us,” said Sam. “They’re looking for material that they see themselves in, and I think Dear Evan Hansen is the perfect example of that.”

It’s a show that Filipinos have been requesting for a long time, said Sam. “It’s something that we knew our audience really wanted to see.”

GMG, which has brought many international productions to the country including Hamilton and Miss Saigon, does surveys to find out which shows theatergoers would like to see in Manila. “We really listen to them and we go hunt for the shows,” said Sam.

The search for Dear Evan Hansen started even before the pandemic—and finally, the stars aligned. “It just so happened that the incredible UK production was just about to wrap up and they graciously decided to extend their engagement to be able to come to Asia—to Manila and to Singapore. We lucked out.”

The UK touring production of Dear Evan Hansen is produced by ATG Productions, Gavin Kalin Productions and Nottingham Playhouse. “Little did I know when I started working on the West End production five years ago that it would bring me to Manila. It’s been such a joy to be here,” said John Manning, general manager of ATG Productions.

Powerful

“I’ve loved the show since I was a teenager—I grew up with it,” said Zoë Athena, who plays Zoe Murphy. “Now, going through life as a young adult and returning to it, I’m really hearing the lyrics for the first time and understanding their weight.”

Young people love it but Dear Evan Hansen isn’t just for young people. “I think everyone can relate to someone in the story,” said Ellis Kirk, who plays Evan Hansen. “I don’t think it matters who you are—whether you’re a dad, a mom, a son… I’ve seen so many people be affected by the story. I think it’s so powerful.”

Rebecca McKinnis, who plays Evan’s mom Heidi, agrees. “I think what’s great about this show is that parents and their children alike can relate to it. I feel like, if parents come and watch this show, they will take a minute to remind themselves to check in with what their kids do, no matter how busy they are. It also opens conversations about mental health.”

“In the UK tour, we had parents coming to us afterwards saying, ‘Thank you so much, because this has opened up a conversation with my son that I didn’t feel I was ready to do before.’ That’s one of the things about theater—it just starts you talking,” said Helen Anker, who plays Cynthia Murphy. Helen had previously been in Manila for Mamma Mia!

In Dear Evan Hansen, a lonely Evan is thrust into the limelight after a misunderstanding leads others to believe that he was close friends with a troubled classmate named Connor Murphy.

Authenticity 

For Rhys Hopkins, who plays Connor, the challenge is bringing authenticity to the role. “For me, it’s important to establish him as a real, fully fleshed-out person. A lot of what we see of him is a skewed version or a perception of how he’s seen through somebody else’s eyes. It’s kind of nice to have him be seen for the real version of him.”

He succeeds in this—we witnessed it during a recent matinee. Playing Evan in that show was Sonny Monaghan, the alternate. He was fantastic in the lead role. Sonny had an interesting journey to Dear Evan Hansen—he was cast through a TikTok search and was chosen out of 2,000 applicants to join the first UK tour.

Dear Evan Hansen hits all the right notes—literally and emotionally. The music is beautiful, with songs like You Will Be Found, Waving Through a Window, and For Forever staying with you long after the curtain falls. It’s moving, it’s memorable, it’s meaningful.

The cast has been getting a lot of love from Filipino audiences. People cry and laugh watching the show.

Ellis said, “It’s absolutely incredible. ‘Supported’ is the word that I could come up with... To have an audience like that and feel like they’re on your side and they are so supportive of everything you are doing, is absolutely beautiful, it’s incredible just to be able to have that.”

Helen added, “We’re getting laughs because there are laughs in the show, amazingly and brilliantly. That’s wonderful to see and hear. That really makes our job so much easier and happier, knowing that the audience is responding and appreciating what we’re doing.”

Tom Dickerson, who is hilarious as Jared Kleinman, Evan’s family friend, is on the receiving end of those laughs. “A lot of what my character brings to the show is that there would be quite a deep, sad scene, and I’d come on and lighten it up. My gosh, thank you for laughing, because my happiness is based on when the audience laughs. So I’ll be having a great time in Manila.”

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Dear Evan Hansen runs until Oct. 5 at The Theatre at Solaire. Tickets are available through TicketWorld.