#dear evan hansen critical

[imsosocold]

Thinking of how much better earlier versions of DEH was, how the songs actually sounded distinct from each other and fit the themes more ( such as A Little Bit Of Light and A Part Of Me). How it was overall more grounded and less romantic, and had a much grander scale beyond Evan, more focus on all the affects of Connor’s suicide and Evan’s lies about it. ( The part where Evan tries to tell Zoe about the truth in private only for her to go “ you make me feel closer to him” sent shivers down my spine). How more information about Connor is revealed and he’s actually present and we get to see his reactions via his actual ghost which causes his perspective on life to change-

[connorjared]

TW: description of death and suicide

the writing for deh frustrates me in tone. suicide and grief is... brutal. it's horrifying. the murphys, three days after connor's body was presumably found, being able to discuss something with connor's (speculated) best friend?

there is nothing innocuous about organ failure—connor's method, being pills, (I presume fentanyl if he got it from a plug) would be an extremely painful and long way to die. he would have been found choking on his own vomit and blood potentially having a seizure with his eyes bulged and glazed. in the book as a ghost be briefly mentions the state of his body, and it's fairly ghoulish, but none of that is even partly reflected in any of the murphy family's dialogue. it's actually kind of despicable to me and I find it genuinely offensive to people who have experienced this type of grief or have been victims of suicide.

in the book he takes his life in his room, meaning a family member found him.

in the musical he is found on his favorite bench by police. the latter makes much more sense for the murphy's reactions, almost distant from his actual death as it's possible they never even saw his body. but the book's version makes the murphy's seem like bizarre caricatures of what the author thinks grief looks like.

especially for a parent. or a sibling.

a good example of this done extremely well is in Hereditary (2018) directed by Ari Aster. the grieving process is diverse, but it's given the weight it deserves in all directions. of course, this is a movie, a horror one at that, so the tone will naturally be different.

while musicals can of course handle dark and macabre or tragic subjects, it's vital to handle carefully with a balance of tone and being sure that your central theme comes across—

Heathers is an excellent example of this. The tone is dark comedy, which can be very hard to balance, but the theme is able to perfectly shine through because it was planned out and prioritized.

The theme for Dear Evan Hansen is... muddy, if I'm being incredibly generous.

If it's that, "No one deserves to be forgotten," well... it was extremely weakly handled considering the character that passes away is neglected by the text and slandered by the dialogue—including the removal of his queerness and neurodivergence.

Let's say the theme is... I don't know. "Teen suicide: Don't do it!" then... that's also very weak considering that the character that *does* commit suicide either A. in the musical, is shown to make a positive impact because he committed suicide and B. in the book, openly discusses his reasoning with little to no refute of that reasoning. There's no "what could he have been." There's no sympathy for Connor as a person. There's not even a mention of the scars that would have been found on his body.

Dear Evan Hansen is a musical and book I would tell people to watch, not because I endorse it or even think it succeeds in whatever it was trying to do, but as an example of how works with so much potential can be rendered mediocre or even damaging by something as simple as a lack of vision and respect for the subject you are writing about.

[filthytheodeckerkinnie]

Tell me why musical theatre kids are fucking INCAPABLE of understanding that characters can MAKE BAD DECISIONS?????

[giantkillerjack]

I am so so happy that the Dear Evan Hansen movie was laughably bad. I hated that show so fucking much, and the world would absolutely be a worse place if that movie was successful and inspired even MORE productions of the stage show. I mean I would have been seeing FAN ART of the movie if it had been competently made, and thank FUCK that didn't happen.

Here's the Jenny Nicholson review that I am currently watching for a second time, if you wanna see the one good thing to come from this horrible musical:

[monitorkernelaccess]

sometimes I remember that preston max allen tweet that’s like “well at least in MY musical, the teenager actually faces consequences for her actions” (vagueing dear evan hansen) and it’s like. well yeah riley did kill two people so

[justanoutlawfic]

Everyone always defends Alana but I can't. Like all the characters, she's complicated, not a bad person, just complicated. But we have to stop pretending she did this for other people. She did it for herself just as much as Evan lied for himself.

[beautyinsteadofashes]

hopefully the ben platt fandom won’t hate me for liveblogging both parade and now dear evan hansen 2021.

requiem is my favourite song and i feel like they did it badly. the cross fades were cheesy, the car scene was unnecessary and a cheap shot and took away from what is already an emotional moment. overall the editing or script did take away from the emotion. some parts were voice-overs not sung or they would cut away to random shots like the house etc rather than let the actor really go for it. once again it feels a little subdued or soul-less or (ironically) through a window. 

[schmergo]

My bizarre real-person headcanon: Josh Groban and Ben Platt are mortal nemeses. Here's the timeline behind this theory, beginning with the known and branching off into the possible future. 2017: Josh Groban makes his Broadway debut in Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet to much critical acclaim. At the Tony Awards, Ben Platt, starring in Dear Evan Hansen, wins Best Actor and Dear Evan Hansen beats Natasha/Pierre for Best Musical. 2023: Josh Groban makes a triumphant return to Broadway, headlining a revival of Sweeney Todd. Surely this will be his year? Nope. Ben Platt's limited run production of Parade transfers to Broadway, making his own triumphant return to Broadway after a hiatus of the same length. Neither wins the Tony Award this year (J. Harrison Ghee does), but Parade wins Best Revival of a Musical over Sweeney Todd. Later in 2023: Josh Groban goes full method and immerses himself in the murderous, vengeful instincts of Sweeney Todd. Revenge against Ben Platt will be his! But he can't be too obvious about it. He's playing the long game. 2028: Surprise! There's a revival of Phantom of the Opera announced! Both Ben Platt and Josh Groban are considered as potential Phantoms. Unknown to anyone, Josh Groban has been perfecting his own Phantom-like skills of appearing and disappearing into thin air, throwing his voice, and murder. Oh yeah, and he plays the pipe organ. He gets the role! But wait, what's this? Hugh Jackman was eaten by a crocodile mere weeks before he was supposed to headline the new Broadway production of The Greatest Showman? Ben Platt heroically steps in to save the day and takes the title role! He wins the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, but not Best New Musical (the critics say, "We love Ben Platt but this show is clearly just a vehicle for Hugh Jackman [RIP].") The Phantom revival wins Best Musical, but something terrible happens at the Tony Awards! There's a technical glitch when the Phantom performance is due to start and they move it to the end of the awards ceremony. But right as everyone's marveling at the artistry of the production at the delayed performance, something Totally Unpredicted happens. The chandelier crashes... INTO BEN PLATT!!! 2030: Ben Platt survives the chandelier attack but he loses his entire memory and has to relearn everything, including how to sing! He can no longer recall the moment that the chandelier crashed into him-- nor the moment that Josh Groban looked at him from the stage and mouthed 'Long live the king!' In a startling and bold act, Ben Platt returns to Broadway in a one man autobiographical show about living with amnesia and relearning to perform. He wins the Best Actor Tony Award! Josh Groban is away doing Phantom in Europe. 2040: There's a high profile immersive revival of Les Miserables on Broadway! The producers consider both Ben Platt and Josh Groban for Jean Valjean. But Josh Groban gives off such an in intense murderous energy when they find him in the same room as Ben Platt that they get a brilliant idea and offer him the role of Javert and Platt as Valjean. The production is a hit. The tension between Platt and Groban is off the charts. When it's time for the Tony Awards, both are nominated for Best Actor in a Musical (ala Colm Wilkinson and Terrence Mann in the original Broadway production). On the day of the Tony Awards, an astonishing thing happens: Platt and Groban TIE for the Best Actor in a Musical Award! The crowd goes wild! Everyone is cheering! The theatre... the cheers... it triggers something long-buried in Ben Platt's mind. Suddenly, he remembers the night the chandelier fell on him at the 2028 Tony Awards.... Josh Groban was looking right at him as it happened.... Ben Platt snaps and begins to clobber Josh Groban onstage. In his fit of rage, he doesn't see Josh Groban pull out a gun. Is this finally the end of this age old rivalry? BUT WAIT, WHAT'S THIS? IT'S J. HARRISON GHEE (SNUBBED STAR OF THE REIMAGINED REVIVAL OF LA CAGE AUX FOLLES) WITH A STEEL CHAIR!!!! At least, this is what I imagine.

[agerefandom]

Agere Writers Masterpost (2023 Edition!)

Helpful reminders: 

all of these blogs are SFW but have their own DNIs, so please remember to check! 

not all of these blogs have open requests, so please read their bios and respect their boundaries! 

please let me know if I should add anyone! to qualify, blogs must take requests for headcanons or fanfiction, have an easily accessible fandom list, be specifically sfw/non-k!nk content, and have posted in the last three months! 

Holy moly, the list is LONG this year!!! We are still growing and expanding as a community! Because I don’t want to flood anyone’s dashes, the list will be under a ‘keep reading’. 

The list is organized in order of the number of fandoms they write for: with the widest range of fandoms at the top, down to single-fandom blogs at the bottom.

Blogs in italics are folks who don’t match my DNI or vice-versa (but are still sfw agere): I didn’t want to exclude them as many of my followers might have different personal stances than me! However, to respect both of our DNIs, I didn’t want to tag them, so please feel free to explore their blogs in your own time if they’re up your alley! 

@smollwriting​ (She-Ra, Creepypasta, The Good Place, Vampire Knight, BNHA, Undertale, Castlevania, Disney, Marvel, DC, D:BH, Life Is Strange, Resident Evil, Anne With An E, Black Butler, Tokyo Ghoul, Death Note, Assassination Classroom, AoT, Free!, Lucifer, OHSHC, Arcana, Stranger Things, and MANY more) 

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@ember-owlet​ (Encanto, Chainsaw Man, Beastars, Jujutsu Kaisen, Spy x Family, Witch Hat Atelier, Arcane, DHMIS, Killing Eve, MLP, Steven Universe, Owl House, OTGW, Wednesday, Cats, Heathers, Hadestown, POTO, D:BH, DDLC, FNAF, God Of War, RE:VIII, Last of Us, Undertale, and more) 

@writerpey​ (Arcane, ATLA/LOK, BTS, D:BH, Disney, Downton Abbey, GoT, God of War, Marvel, OFMD, Peaky Blinders, RDR2, Sherlock, Shadow and Bone, Star Wars, Stranger Things, The Batman, Last of Us, Uncharted, Wednesday, WWDITS, and more)

@wonderinglullaby​ (DC, Invader Zim, Breaking Bad, MLP, ATLA, SPN, Doctor Who, Invincible, Inside Job, Walking Dead, Carebears, Bojack Horseman, Stranger Things, Umbrella Academy, OTGW, Spiderman, Deadpool, Horror movies, and more)

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@littlefirefly42​ (Marvel, She-Ra, Riordanverse, Owl House, Adventure Time, Bee and Puppycat, Stranger Things, Heartstopper, Gone, OTGW, DHMIS, Dragon Prince, Goncharov, It, Wednesday, Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, HTTYD) 

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@tinybeebo​ (Doctor Who, Marvel, X-Men, Moon Knight, Law and Order, Psych, Glee, Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen, Greatest Showman, Cobra Kai, Criminal Minds) 

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@littlegummyfox​ (Series of Unfortunate Events, Adventure Time, Marvel, Steven Universe, Wednesday, HTTYD, Disney, Trollhunters, Welcome Home, Star Wars)

@mossysmolboy​ (OHSHC, BNHA, FNAF, Black Butler, Yuri On Ice, Stardew Valley, Creepypasta, D:BH, Sally Face, Arcane) 

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@leos-regression-cove​ (Marvel, Parks and Rec, Good Omens, Bee and Puppycat, WWDITS, OFMD, Abbot Elementary, Ghosts UK/US, Better Call Saul) 

@froggy-clubhouse​ (Mr. Robot, Stranger Things, Teen Wolf, Homestuck, Haikyuu, Lucky Star, DHMIS, FNAF, South Park) 

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@pup-writes-agere​ (Naruto, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Animal Crossing, Sonic, TMNT, FNAF, Danganronpa)

@sfwregressionfanfictions​ (Supernatural, RPF, Stranger Things, Marvel, Criminal Minds, Harry Potter, Addams Family)

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@jjtheresidentbaby​ (Criminal Minds, SPN, Stranger Things, SWAT, Marvel, Teen Wolf)

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@angelbaby-fics​ (Marvel, Stranger Things, other Chris Evans characters)

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@gothicmunson​ (Stranger Things, Our Flag Means Death)

@smallboyontheship​ (Just Roll With It) 

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@prince-honeypaw (BNHA) 

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@bnha-littlespace-things​ (BNHA)

@little-lippie​ (Kpop Girl Groups) 

pyrohrtd (Genshin Impact) 

[quinnfebrey]

WICKED PT. 1 REVIEW

(spoiler free*)

*spoiler free is used generously, there are no major or intentional spoilers but i make no promises for smaller things.

casting:

going into it thought the casting would be the weakest point, but i was pleasantly surprised. that said, i think jon chu’s reasoning for not casting unknowns was total bs and he just wanted a star-studded cast. i also wish they were younger. it was kind of giving movie ben platt terrorizing the teenagers of dear evan hansen. it works for the stage, but my belief was not suspended on the big screen. so while i don’t necessarily agree with how we got here, objectively they were great.

production:

honestly it looked amazing, i wish some parts were graded with a little more contrast, but the colors weren’t muted at all and i thought the cinematography was the perfect level of dramatic and interesting. the highlight was the emerald city. nothing else really stuck out to me in particular but the first 30 seconds or so of one short day looked AMAZING.

the singing:

sounded phenomenal, and this is coming from someone who heard the trailers and panicked. i don’t know what they did in post to make them sound so awful and processed in the trailers, but the movie itself sounded great.

the acting:

i wanted… more. jonathan has such an overly expressive face that worked so well, but cynthia was just the smirk emoji for 2.5 hours and ariana looked like this 🙂 the entire time. they had their moments, of course, but with all the added dialogue (and no song to carry the emotion) i wanted more of a performance.

why the fuck was it 2.5 hours?

i don’t know man. i understood (and enjoyed) some of the additions, but there were an equal number that didn’t add anything, and there were so many scenes where i was like whyyyy is this taking so long. it felt like they were trying to (unsuccessfully) justify the runtime instead of it being a natural result.

2-part split:

this is by far my biggest criticism of the movie. the ending was done BEAUTIFULLY, but the year gap will kill the momentum. i 100% believe that splitting it into two parts will take away from the viewing experience. i actually didn’t have a problem with the splitting when it was first announced, but now that i’ve seen part 1 it feels like a forced cash grab.

rewatchability:

even though i actually really liked it, i don’t think i’d ever electively put it on instead of a stage recording.

SONG BREAKDOWNS:

no one mourns the wicked

a fantastic opening. i went into the movie very skeptical, but it managed to win me over on all accounts. it had the richness and fullness you’d expect + beautiful visuals and ariana proves her doubters (me) wrong immediately.

dear old shiz

the song is nearly identical to the musical, but the changed staging was odd (but also insignificant in a way that made it even more odd).

the wizard and i

i blame the directing for why this song fell flat for me. they toned down the physical animation of elphaba but didn’t add anything else so it was sort of just her walking around and singing at us. also didn’t super love cynthia’s take on it until the last verse, which was phenomenal, probably because the directing didn’t let her do anything with it.

what is this feeling?

SOOOO GOOD!! it sounded amazing, looked amazing, the ensemble was amazing. THIS is what a movie musical is supposed to do: take what was great on stage and expand in a way that is only possible on film. it was fun and inviting and probably one of the strongest numbers in the entire movie.

something bad

i liked what they did with this in terms of the pacing, and i also like that it helped bolster the animal side plot instead of it getting swept into the songs on either side. the singing was unmemorable but the scene was very effective.

dancing through life

i have SUCH mixed feelings on this. i absolutely loved it up until the break when glinda gives elphaba the hat. jonathan sounded amazing, the dancing and cinematography was perfect, but the pacing and flow was totally ruined after what should’ve been a brief interlude for plot. the moment between elphaba and glinda is very strong and still made me cry, but the middle section was just so off-putting.

popular

sooooo good. ariana sounded amazing, and the directing was perfectly energetic. it felt like a music video in the best way. the colors, cinematography, and storytelling was great. they did manage to strip all of the homoeroticism out of it, and ariana’s yuh made a few valiant attempts to escape, but neither detracted from the final product.

i’m not that girl

same issue as wizard and i, i didn’t want just another three minutes of elphaba standing around singing to the camera. the last verse was the best because there was actually something happening visually, which i think also made cynthia sound better. the monologue style number works on stage for a variety of reasons, but felt like a waste of screen time in the movie.

one short day

first 30-60 seconds are AMAZING. took the energy of the stage and shot it to the moon. it actually made me tear up and i have no complaints. the added interlude was a little long, but i’m a sucker for nostalgia bait so i’ll allow it.

a sentimental man

ummm i hated it lol. it felt SO out of place due to some poor (in my opinion) script additions, and the singing wasn’t anything special. the jeff goldblum cameo made them give the wizard way too much emphasis at that point and it completely disrupted the flow of the movie

defying gravity

except for (another) unnecessarily long interlude, this was everything i was waiting for and more. ariana and cynthia sounded amazing together and cynthia sounded PHENOMENAL. ariana delivered the “well, where are your wings?” line perfectly, which is usually for me a weak point with a lot of glindas; and the “i hope you’re happy now that you’re choosing this” verse was perfection both visually and vocally. overall, it did what it was supposed to do: it wrapped up the first act beautifully and showcased cynthia’s voice.

[annabelle--cane]

one of the things that was and is really important to me about dear evan hansen is the way it deals with the question "okay, you've done something unforgivably terrible with permanent consequences. what now?" obviously this is primarily explored with evan, but it's really present with larry, cynthia, and even heidi a little bit, too. it shows people struggling with accepting that they made disastrously wrong choices and trying to find a way to move on that doesn't either double-down or lead directly to total self destruction. which is why I find it utterly maddening to see criticisms that are just "all these characters suck and did bad things, so show = bad." way to miss the whole point, ya dingus.

[crying-over-really-dumb-things]

Man I don’t think I’ll ever really get over how the movie adaptation kind of ruined how the general public views Dear Evan Hansen.

In the stage musical, the narrative actively portrays what Evan is doing as wrong. There are several instances where Evan will have one of his sweet/motivational moments with Alana or the Murphy family, the moment will be over, and we’re left with only Evan on stage and then the instrumental music will shift keys to remind us that “oh yeah, Evan is lying to a grieving family right now.”

In Act Two he starts to really act like an asshole to the people around him, he stops helping with the Connor Project because he’s got what he wanted, he’s dating Zoe. And it all culminates to Good For You where he is finally called out by the people he’s being horrible to, the consequences of his actions are catching up to him. And he finally finally admits to himself and everyone else that he was lying, he was projecting himself and his own issues onto this imaginary Connor. He fully realizes what he’s doing is wrong and comes clean about it.

And our sympathy for Evan as the audience stems from the fact that he is seventeen, and teenagers will sometimes do horrible things when they’re in a bad state mentally. We as the audience know Evan is wrong and we want him to realize he’s wrong as well, we want him to get help and grow from it.

But then the movie comes in and cuts all the songs and moments where Evan could possibly be condemned by the narrative. All the times Evan is an actual ass are either removed or heavily toned down. Disappear and Good For You are completely removed.

It doesn’t help that they have a 30 something year old man playing the part, our sympathy that mainly stems from him being a child is harder to lean into when we’re looking at a full grown adult. It feels less like the story is saying “look at this kid doing horrible stuff, don’t you want him to stop doing the horrible stuff and get some help?” And more like “look at poor little Evan :( don’t you feel bad for him? Everyone’s so mean to him for no reason :(”

So after all that, people who hadn’t interacted with the stage production and only saw the movie come away from it thinking the show is horrible because Evan was an awful person but the narrative seemed to want us to root for him.

And this isn’t to say that DEH is a perfect show by any means, a lot of the criticism for the movie can easily be leveled at the stage production. I just think the original intent of the show got lost in adaptation, and the show that was fairly well received on its Broadway debut is now widely regarded as just plain bad.

[mikefaistinfo]

West Side Story’s Mike Faist Wishes He Got to Sing ‘America’

By Nate Jones, a Vulture senior writer covering movies and pop culture

From the very first trailers for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, one character popped off the screen — the scraggly John Mulaney lookalike playing Riff, leader of the Jets. Without taking anything away from Russ Tamblyn’s jovial performance in the 1961 film, this new Riff is something different. He’s a true street rat, almost feral with a live-wire charisma. Since the film started screening, viewers and critics alike have been asking: Who is this guy?

That guy is 29-year-old Broadway veteran Mike Faist, whom theater buffs will recognize as one of the newsies in Newsies as well as the depressed teen whose death kick-started the plot of Dear Evan Hansen. (Faist got nominated for a Tony but declined to reprise the role for the movie — a wise decision in retrospect.) West Side Story is his 14th screen credit but his first major film role, and it’s a true breakout performance: Alongside Ariana DeBose’s Anita, Faist’s Riff has been spotlighted as one of the best things about the new film, the personification of Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner’s more historically grounded take on the material.

The praise is a long time coming for Faist, who shot West Side Story back in the summer of 2019. As he told Vulture over Zoom recently, he’s spent the intervening months looking for projects that would live up to the experience, living that #VanLife, and thinking about what he actually wants to get out of acting.

In the most recent interview I read, you’d left New York and were living out of a van.

The pandemic did a lot of weird things to everybody. I was working in Austin when everything shut down. They were going to send us back to New York. I’m in Austin. I have all this space, the sunshine. I’m not going to go back to New York and just hang out in my apartment during a pandemic. So I had my dog, and we drove around the country a bunch. I would purposefully stay away from people. I would find people that had farmland. They were nice enough to let me set up a tent. I actually sold my apartment in New York this summer. Got rid of it.

This is maybe a heavy question for early in the interview, but what did you learn about yourself from that experience?

I didn’t know that I liked being alone. I think it’s important to really get quiet. I lived in New York for 13 years. And when you’re here, it’s just like constant adrenaline. Which I love. But I think when you’re here, you don’t realize the toll that it takes until you leave it.

In that interview, you also said you weren’t sure if you hated acting or loved it. That was six months ago — have you come closer to an answer?

I’m embarrassed by this because everyone’s asking. It’s so strange. I don’t know, man. Ultimately, the issue really was that I had come off shooting West Side Story, which was such an incredible experience artistically. It was everything I wanted to do as an actor in terms of how I wanted to approach the work, what I demanded out of myself. And then I had to leave. Jumping into the next project wasn’t a negative experience. But one was such a fulfilling thing, and the other one, I was going to work.

So I was thinking, To what end do I do this? Ultimately, what am I trying to get out of this thing? Do I really need attention that bad? What are the things that I really want to do? Because if it’s just to go from job to job — which is a gift, so I’m not trying to knock it. But it was more just asking myself all these questions about what my goal was. And ultimately, I came to the conclusion recently that I love it. I love it too much, maybe to a fault. I’m a little precious about the craft of it all. I’m learning not to take myself too seriously. Enjoy it, let things come when they come.

You shot West Side Story two and a half years ago. What’s it like watching it after all this time?

It’s so weird. All that time was passing, and there was this thing floating there in the ether. And eventually, maybe the world was going to see it. I remember calling Steven over the pandemic, and I said, “For me, if nobody saw the movie, it wouldn’t matter because the experience was amazing.” Then you go and see the film for the first time, and you’re in a theater with only five people, and you’re just like, Huh.

How so?

In that initial screening, I wasn’t able to relive the experience of making it. You can’t help but watch yourself, and you can’t help but critique. While I was making the film, I felt like I was giving it everything that I had. And then when I saw the film, I was like, Oh, buddy, maybe you need to go find a different job. We’ve all talked about it as a cast. We drove home back to the hotel, and we were all like, “It’s a good movie. But man, I’m bad.” And everyone else was like, “No, you are great, I’m bad.” And I think Steven and Tony sensed that we were all too close to it to actually see what was going on. So they invited us back for another screening. The second time around, I was like, Stop being such an egomaniac and just watch the movie. And being able to remove myself more, I thought it was a great movie. But still, it was an entire theater with four people. At the premiere, I realized why it’s very important to have a collective experience of going to the theater. There’s something about communal experiences that allow you to see aspects of art that you wouldn’t necessarily experience if you were by yourself. And that’s the same thing for when you’re performing onstage in front of an audience. We’re all co-creators in this thing that’s happening right now.

I know the Bruce Davidson portraits of 1950s Brooklyn gang members were a key bit of inspiration for you. What struck you about those photos?

When I saw those photos, I knew that these were the guys. These are the Jets, visually, for me. I’m not trying to knock any production of West Side in the past, but there felt like there was maybe something missing — a certain groundedness, a seriousness or desperateness, that I started understanding as I was doing research. I think that pops off the page with Bruce’s photos. You see these guys, and they’re emaciated, they’re nihilistic, they just don’t care. You can tell that they cannot see what’s beyond tomorrow. And then as you do more research, you find out they’re all orphans. None of these people have families; the only family that they have is each other. And then on top of that, too, they’re heroin addicts. They’re broke. At the end of the day, they would pool money, and instead of really eating, they would just buy wine and get wasted. They just feel so lost.

Tony Kushner also does a good job of making the Jets the embodiment of 1950s white resentment. I’m curious how you approach that element of the character.

Can you elaborate on that a little bit more?

Sure. I mean the way they’re a community that sees people moving in from Puerto Rico and feels like they are an existential threat. They act out in ways that are, to modern eyes, quite racist. But obviously, it still gets at the fact that these are desperate orphans.

Where Tony really nails that, and Steven as well, is the setup of the film. The opening shot, where you see the demolition of all these homes so that Lincoln Center can get built. Everybody’s getting kicked out. It’s like the only thing constant is change. And that’s why this story’s going to be able to be told over and over again. Humans’ inability to deal with change, that’s what makes this story super fascinating to me.

It’s an interesting thing. There are racist acts that happen in this movie. Are the Jets racist? I don’t know. I couldn’t approach that from my point of view: being the actor, trying to empathize with this character who’s doing these really questionable things.

Because you’d be putting a judgement on it?

Yeah. I can’t do that as the actor. My job is to be like, “No, this guy’s the victim.” Now, I accept that this guy does a lot of racist stuff. But where it’s coming from is the xenophobia of it all. It’s the fear of the unknown. And from Riff’s point of view specifically, his home’s getting taken away. His best friend doesn’t want to be his best friend anymore. It comes down to this weird codependent relationship between Tony and Riff. I keep joking that it’s like Thanksgiving. Tony’s a guy who wants to not be that way anymore, but he’s still trying to be loving and have a conversation. But Riff doesn’t have the emotional intelligence to understand that.

Some productions of Romeo and Juliet add a romantic subtext to the relationship between Romeo and Mercutio. Was that something you guys were playing around with as well?

Romantic?

I mean, Riff is sleeping with Tony’s ex. I was wondering if there’s a little transference there.

I think it says something more about Graziella: She has to be with whoever’s the alpha at that moment. I’m not sure if it is romantic. If an audience member wants to interpret it that way, go ahead. That’s fine. But for me, I keep going back to the familial kind of love. Tony and Riff raised each other because there was no one else. They were their only line of defense. It spread out among other guys, but it all started within these two. Which is what we see in gangs, right? You don’t have a family, well, we got you. We will do this for you, but you have to do this for us. You don’t have power in that situation, but you feel accepted.

The new movie shuffles around the musical numbers in terms of who gets to sing what. Is there a song you wish you could sing, even if it doesn’t make sense for Riff?

I mean, “America” is amazing. Those dancers are incredible, man. They’re absolutely amazing. I would love to be in that number. I think all the Jet boys got a little FOMO from that one.

One thing that I and many others who’ve seen the movie have noted is your remarkable resemblance to John Mulaney in this film. Is that something you got before West Side Story, or is it Riff specific?

No, you’re not the first person to say that. People have come up to me and been like, “You ever get that you look like John Mulaney?” It’s fun. It would be fun to see John Mulaney as Riff in West Side Story, though.

He’s got the limbs for it.

For sure. He’s definitely got the nothing-but-arms-and-legs thing going on, like myself.

You said you’re trying to be a little more intentional about where you go from here. What’re the ideal next few years for you?

Tony used the word “stewardship.” And that’s very accurate. We had a deep respect for this story and the legends that have told it in the past. I feel like I have a great responsibility here to do this right. And on top of that, to tackle roles that force me to find the pieces of myself that I didn’t know existed.

What part of yourself did you find here?

I was reading this interview from a while back where Tom Hanks and Steven were talking about Saving Private Ryan. And Tom said there was this weird thing that Steven subliminally did in terms of, you have to step up and take charge of the group. I felt that way too. It wasn’t ever explicitly said. It was just an energy thing he was putting out there, like, “You know what you’ve got to do.” I’m in charge of 15 other guys. Some of them have done some movies, and others this was their first time, they’ve never done this before. I guess what I had learned was that I’m able to do that. I demanded of them. When it was time to have fun, it was time to have fun. And when it was time to shut up and do the thing, it was time to shut up and do the thing. And they ran with that. We did this thing together. They elevated me, and I elevated them.

Find this article on: https://www.vulture.com/2021/12/west-side-story-riff-actor-mike-faist-interview.html

[lonelyroommp3]

in regards to the question do people still care about the tonys. ive seen a lot of tonys posts on my dash today. its just that none of them are about this years tonys they are all people still discoursing about the deh best musical win. i genuinely think that broke the tonys and a bunch of people decided it was the worlds greatest injustice that they were never gonna move past.

the abject patheticness of still being this mad about an awards show seven years later aside, i find it fascinating that so many people who feel this way act as though dear evan hansen is like this technically and artistically awful commercially pandering piece of slop without a single redeeming feature as opposed to, yknow, a fairly well done serious small cast musical (in the mould of critical & cult darling next to normal, no less) that just so happens to be less in-your-face innovative than their preferred choice of best musical. oh and a character does some bad things and isn't hung drawn and quartered about it which is of course a sign of artistic & moral bankruptcy

[cinnamon-stccs]

Back in my hating DEH phase. Fucking hate that show and its message.

I feel like so many Dear Evan Hansen enjoyers like the show because of its music and its actors and the one gripe they usually choose with DEH critics is that they aren’t taking the story seriously. As if the only gripe with the show is “Evan Hansen impersonated a suicide victim so he could bone Connors sister”. But that’s not necessarily the problem. The problem is that Evan doesn’t get any backlash from the Murphys. Not really. And you can argue that forgiveness is important to the story but forgiveness is a choice. And Evan didn’t deserve forgiveness because what he did was awful and really fucking bad- and it doesn’t matter that he’s mentally ill. Being mentally ill doesn’t excuse you from responsibility. That’s why being mentally ill sucks.

And I feel like the show only works for people who aren’t chronically mentally ill- because it doesn’t accurately portray someone who is chronically mentally ill. We know that Evan Hansen is supposed to have GAD and because of that, depression. But why would that make him delusional? It wouldn’t. Evan knows he’s lying and feels bad about it but is so attached to the idea of having friends that he doesn’t want to give it up because he’s getting attention from lying. There are so many better ways for Evan to help his mental health that would not involve ruining his own life or destroying other peoples trust or turning literally “the internet” against the Murphys.

And it’s SO INFURIATING that the same year Evan Hansen SWEEPED the Tonys for its shitty gospel-esque church music and horrid portrayals of the mentally ill- Bandstand by Richard Orebacker, starring Corey Cott and Laura Osnes- a story that aptly portrays not only Anxiety and Depression but PTSD, Good and accurate portrayals of OCD, ADHD, Autism, and chronic pain. It had phenomenal choreography, true-to-form Gershwin inspired tracks and a unique perspective on Greif and DEH still left with 6 awards and bandstand left with 1

[heavenboy09]

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You

The Cutest 🤎🖤Black Actress Child Star 🌟 Now All Grown Up In The Acting Business Today

Born On October 23rd, 1998

She is an American actress and singer. She was included in Time's list of Most Influential Teens in both 2015 and 2016, and has received several accolades, including a Teen Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award, and nominations for four Black Reel Awards and a Critics' Choice Award.

She made her acting debut with the film Colombiana (2011), and had her breakthrough playing Rue in the film The Hunger Games (2012), for which she won the Teen Choice Award for Best Chemistry. She had the recurring role of Macey Irving in the series Sleepy Hollow (2013–2014) and starred as Halle Foster in the sitcom Mr. Robinson (2015). She garnered acclaim for her portrayals of Maddy Whittier in Everything, Everything (2017) and Starr Carter in the film The Hate U Give (2018), the latter of which won her the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture and earned her a nomination for the Critics' Choice Award for Best Young Actor/Actress. Stenberg also starred as Ruby in The Darkest Minds (2018), Alana Beck in Dear Evan Hansen (2021) and Sophie in Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022).

She has been recognized for her outspoken views, particularly towards her activism for LGBT youth, which has received significant media coverage. In 2015, she made her musical debut as part of the folk-rock duo Honeywater. Her single "Let My Baby Stay" was featured in her film Everything, Everything.

Please Help Wish This Young Gifted & Beautiful Black Actress 🤎🖤 A Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊

Ms. Amandla Stenberg👩🏾🤎🖤 🌟

Happy Birthday 🎂 🥳 🎉 🎈 🎁 🎊 To You Ms. Stenberg 👩🏾🤎🖤🌟

#AmandlaStenberg