“Dear Evan Hansen,” a modern musical masterpiece, the significance of being made into a movie during the coronavirus pandemic

Dear Evan Hansen as a Stephen Chbosky movie

The resulting film version of ``Dear Evan Hansen'' was an adaptation in which Chbosky brought the original into his own field. Although it is a musical, Chbosky's style of serious but wet human drama and emphasis on realism, which he is good at, remains intact. The deformed parts of the original work and the dramatic excitement unique to the stage play have been intentionally suppressed, and the work has been reconstructed as a life-sized human drama.

Chbosky is a creator well-versed in musicals, having previously written the screenplay for the film version of the classic Broadway musical ` `RENT '' (2005) and Disney's live-action film version of `` Beauty and the Beast '' (2017). . However, in this work, which is the first musical film he directed, he unexpectedly took a unique approach to the game -- or perhaps it was because he was well versed in musicals. An attempt was made to focus more deeply on the psychology of the characters, including the main character Evan, than in the stage version.

“Dear Evan Hansen” © 2021 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

Levenson, the original author, also took on the challenge of drastically rewriting his masterpiece, following Chbosky's plans. To begin with, the stage version has a two-act structure with an intermission in the middle, which inevitably creates Intolerance in the story, but the film version eliminates these Intolerance and creates a more continuous story. This is one of the challenges that is difficult to overcome when adapting a stage work into a film (even In the Heights, the best example of a film adaptation in recent years, has not been able to fully overcome it). The author's own adaptation skills are something to behold.

Levenson's screenplay for the film version also took a direction more typical of Chbosky's work, adding complexity to the characters and changing the relationships between the characters. This is just a way to enjoy it for enthusiasts, but compared to the stage version of the play, the details of the changes, such as the person in charge of certain lines being changed and some of Evan's actions being cut, add depth to the story. It can be seen that it is giving

Ben Platt, who played the role of Evan following the stage version, not only sang spectacularly, but also carefully responded to Chbosky's approach, proving once again the richness of his expressive power through lines and facial expressions. Also worth mentioning is Kaitlyn Dever, who plays the role of Zoe, who plays the conflict over losing her troubled older brother in a serious way, but also with a comical tone similar to that seen in ` `Booksmart '' (2019). Show a glimpse of charm. Colton Ryan, who played the role of Connor, played a key role in the story, and although his role was small, he conveyed his danger and sincerity on screen.

``Dear Evan Hansen'' to be made into a movie in 2021