Just in time for a fresh school year, Evan Hansen is back with clammy hands and a lump in his throat, to start a new term. And, perhaps, to banish eerie memories of the musical’s misconceived film adaptation with its original Broadway star, Ben Platt.
This UK tour production boasts an affecting performance from Ryan Kopel (Newsies) as the isolated Evan, taken in by a family who wrongly believe him to be the secret best friend of their son, Connor, in the aftermath of Connor killing himself. With his own father absent and his mother stretched at work, Evan gains a set of attentive substitute parents, a longed-for girlfriend in Connor’s sister, Zoe, and the chance to go from zero to hero. With each new lie he tells about being Connor’s pal, his status at school grows.
