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

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

The feature of the movie version of ``Dear Evan Hansen'' is that it tried to adapt a story that was originally born in 2015 to the present day of 2021. In this work, you can see the intention to reflect the current social situation and ethics of 2021 as much as possible. The changes reflect how much America and the world have changed in just six years.

This work is the story of Evan, a white man, and in the original story, Connor's entire family is also white. However, the film version changed Connor's father, Larry, to his stepfather, played by Cuban-American Danny Pino. This change is not only from the perspective of ensuring diversity, but also emphasizes the distinction that there are multiple layers within a single family, and that they react differently to the event of ``the death of a son.'' .

Additionally, the school that Evan, Zoe, and Connor attend has students of various races and ethnicities, and the film also shows that the school's slogan is "diversity and inclusion." Evan's friend Jared was also changed from a straight white man to a gay Indian American like his character, Nick Dodani.

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

And although the story is set in a world without the coronavirus pandemic, the movie itself was clearly made with the coronavirus pandemic in mind. When Chbosky was adapting ``Dear Evan Hansen'' into a film, he was concerned about the mental health issues faced by young people today, and saw this as ``a situation that is even more serious, especially after the pandemic.'' This awareness of issues and the influence of social conditions are directly expressed in the singing scene of " You Will Be Found, " which is the highlight of the work.

This film was shot from August to December 2020, in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Ben Platt, who played Evan, was 27 years old at the time, and has said that if filming had been delayed any longer due to the coronavirus pandemic, he might not have been able to play the role due to his age. In the first place, this work was a project that revolved around Ben, so it would have been difficult to make it into a movie without a repeat performance.

The movie ``Dear Evan Hansen'' will be released in the United States in September 2021, and in Japan in November. The fact that a modern musical masterpiece has been remade into a film that takes into account the times we live in, and that it remains forever, has great significance in a way that Broadway, which was temporarily forced to close, could not do.

By the way, after this movie version, the stage version will finally be performed on Broadway on December 11, 2021. ``Dear Evan Hansen'' will continue to run, picking up the baton from the movie again.

[References/Materials]

“Dear Evan Hansen” press materials

Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen (New York: Theater Communication Group, 2017)

Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul, Dear Evan Hansen: Through the Window (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2017)

More Hope For A Post-COVID World: Ben Platt Wants To Return To Broadway – Q&A

Text: Takatoshi Inagaki

Writer/editor/dramaturg. His writing activities span across fields such as movies, dramas, comics, theater, and art. Contributes to theater programs such as the movies ``Tenet'' and ``Joker,'' edits web media, edits exhibition catalogs, and appears on radio. Major stage works include dramaturg for PARCO's productions of ``Kengyo Yabuhara'', Tristone Entertainment's ``Shoujo Kamen'', prosthetic assistant for Kinoshita Kabuki's ``Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan'', ``Sannin Kichizo'', ``Kanjincho'', and KUNIO's ``Greeks''. ”Literature.

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"Dear Evan Hansen"

11.26 (Friday) Roadshow Distribution: Toho Towa

© 2021 Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.