Dear Evan Hansen ＜Blue Vinyl＞

Featuring modern stage classics like Waving Through a Window, the 2021 musical film version of Broadways Dear Evan Hansen returns Ben Platt to the title role he originated in 2015. A tangled teen drama involving social anxiety, popularity, and a suicide note, its script was provided by the musicals book writer, Steven Levenson, who tweaks the ending, the importance of some of the characters, and omits four songs from the stage show (Disappear, To Break in a Glove, Good for You, and Anybody Have a Map). Added to the song list is The Anonymous Ones, sung by Amandla Stenberg (as Alana Beck), who co-wrote the song with original show composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. While the earnest tunes and weighty subject matter dont exactly get new life here, vocal performances are stellar by a cast that includes Platt and Broadway understudy Colton Ryan (as Connor Murphy) alongside Hansen newbies such as Stenberg and Julianne Moore, who gets her own song as Evans mom, Heidi Hansen (So Big/So Small). With the exception of the irreverent Sincerely Me, by Ryan, Platt, and Nik Dodani (Jared), the songs are so uniformly wistful, sincere, and pop-leaning that the five loyal, star-studded pop covers that close the 70-minute soundtrack dont do much to update the material. They include turns by Sam Smith, SZA, FINNEAS, an orchestral version of Only Us by Carrie Underwood and Dan + Shay, and an engaging, slightly airier Waving Through a Window by Tori Kelly. ~ Marcy Donelson