The Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen based on the book by Steven Levenson is currently playing at The Music Box Theater in New York City. This play is about a teenager named Evan Hansen suffering from severe social anxiety. When one of his classmates commits suicide, Evan gets swallowed up in a lie which is intensified by the input of social media.

The play’s music stood out and had strong messages to leave the audience in a blend of crying, smiling and laughing. Some songs involved humor to lighten the mood which made the audience erupt in laughter. At other points the talented actors would be crying through a song and intensify the emotion of the moment, leaving the audience in tears.

One song in particular entitled “You Will Be Found” was emotional. The song’s message was that no one is ever alone, and whenever you feel lost, broken or empty, you will never go through it by yourself and things will get better.

One line says, “Even when the dark comes crashing through/When you need a friend to carry you/And when you’re broken on the ground/You will be found.” This song was moving and let the members of the audience feel less alone. Not only was the song superb, but the singers and the feelings they put into the song made it all the better.

Other songs that stood out were “Sincerely, Me” and “For Forever”. These songs are so great that they replay in your head even after the show is over.

Evan Hansen, played by Taylor Trensch who performed this song filled the lyrics with raw emotion to make the song leave more impact.

Not only did the actors magnify strong emotions, but each character developed their personality throughout the performance, which deepened the plot and made each character’s moments more meaningful.

One set piece that was interesting was  thin walls spread sporadically around the stage. On these panels, images of social media rapidly scrolled. This showed how social media caused a negative affect on the character’s situation, and made the audience overwhelmed at the way social media is abused. This produced a message about modern society and how the effects of social media can make a problem escalate and harm the people involved.

Every part of the musical was intriguing, from the songs, to the set, to the plot. The actors conveyed such strong emotions and messages that moved the audience to tears. At one point in the play, I looked down my seating row and every person was bawling!

Dear Evan Hansen conveyed the message that everyone matters. It gave feelings of connection to know that the characters’ feelings weren’t just performed, but lived. This let the audience know, as the song said, that they will always be found.