#justin paul before pasek and paul

[whyisstarkidfollowingmeshoo]

Jeff has mentioned twice during his livestreams that he and Justin Paul (of Pasek and Paul) were fellow acapella members. They were part of UMich's Amazin' Blue.

Jeff started out as a background singer and was singing his way (and butting heads against music directors) to become music director of the organization (i would have loved to see a MLB merch wearing music director, directing his choir. Did he use baseball terms in music? hhehehe)

In the second photo, Paul is located sitting down on the far left side, meanwhile Jeff is on the far right side, wearing a blue MLB hat.

Oh yeah, I remember that Pasek and Paul were this close to making (or maybe they still are, but there's nothing of it mentioned on their imbd pages) their own musical version about The Trail to Oregon Game. hahha. Jeff has not talked about that. I remember the ruckus it made online and most of the replies were from StarKid fans hahaha.

Paul, you can't do that to your former college music director. But as long as they don't make it identical then it's cool. Unless they copy it Jumanji style and Jeff already wrote and made that back in UMich and even sent scripts of it to a New York festival, however it was panned for being too off-colored.

[androgynousblackbox]

In Short by who?

I would love to give it a listen!

It was written by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul!

I put a video with one version of the song, but here are the lyrics.

We loved and then we lost

While it came at quite a cost

We both had the chance to grow

I've collected my thoughts and once before I go

There's just one thing I want you to know...

I wanna punch you in the face.

Rip out all your hair

I want to burn you alive

And if you survive,

I'll strap you to an electric chair!

Or lean out a window a little too far,

Don't look both ways and get hit by a car

Fall out of a roller coaster,

Take a warm bath with a plugged in toaster!

In short

I hope you die.

This is Vox singing to Alastor, you can't tell me otherwise.

[mthguy]

Laura Dreyfuss and Ben Platt perform “Only Us” from the Tony Award winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

“I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you I don't need you to search for the proof that I should You don't have to convince me You don't have to be scared you're not enough 'Cause what we've got going is good I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget Clear the slate and start over Try to quiet the noises in your head We can't compete with all that So what if it's us? What if it's us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter? Can we try that? What if it's you And what if it's me And what if that's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away? What do you say? I never thought there'd be someone like you who would want me Well... So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go But if you really see me If you like me for me and nothing else Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer that you could possibly know So it can be us It can be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter We can try that It's not so impossible Nobody else but the two of us here 'Cause you're saying it's possible We can just watch the whole world disappear 'Til you're the only one I still know how to see It's just you and me It'll be us It'll be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore We can try that You and me That's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away And the rest of the world falls away The world falls away The world falls away And it's only us”

[zara-anthology]

Dear Evan Hansen

"You will be found" - Evan Hansen

Dear Evan Hansen is a coming-of-age stage musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen played by Ben Platt, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a tragedy that he did not earn".

Evan Hansen struggles with severe social anxiety and feels deeply isolated. His sense of despair is evident in the song "Waving Through a Window": “On the outside, always looking in. Will I ever be more than I've always been?” This line encapsulates Evan’s feelings of being invisible and his longing for connection, highlighting his inner turmoil and sense of despair. Connor Murphy, another central character, faces his own struggles with depression and alienation, leading to his tragic suicide. His story reflects the profound despair that can accompany mental illness and the devastating impact it can have on individuals and their families. The Murphy family’s grief over Connor’s death adds another layer of despair. They grapple with feelings of guilt, loss, and the search for meaning in the wake of tragedy. The song "Requiem" expresses their varied responses to Connor’s death: “I will sing no requiem tonight. 'Cause when the villains fall, the kingdoms never weep.” This reflects the complicated emotions they face, including anger and the struggle to remember Connor positively despite his difficult behavior.

Despite the despair, Evan inadvertently brings hope to others through a lie. He fabricates a friendship with Connor to comfort the Murphy family, which initially brings them solace and a sense of connection. The song "You Will Be Found" becomes an anthem of hope: “Even when the dark comes crashing through, when you need a friend to carry you, and when you’re broken on the ground, you will be found.” This song spreads a message of hope and community, resonating with many characters and the audience as it underscores the idea that no one is truly alone. Throughout the musical, Evan undergoes significant personal growth. Despite his initial deceit, he learns the importance of honesty and authenticity. In the end, he begins to accept himself and his imperfections, which is a hopeful message about personal redemption and the possibility of change. The impact of the "Connor Project," a movement started in Connor’s memory, illustrates how communities can come together to support each other. This collective action represents hope, as it shows the power of empathy and shared experiences in overcoming despair.

I first discovered Dear Evan Hansen in my early high school years. At the time, the story conveyed through the songs made a profound impact on me, and it resonated with me so much that it made me really sad. Years later, while listening to the soundtrack for this anthology, it was able to make me sad all over again, except this time the sadness was more intense than before. It may be due to nostalgia, or perhaps because my life at its current stage better reflects that of the characters in the show now, but for whatever reason, listening to the soundtrack made me feel very sad. I believe the message of being found really resonated with me, as I honestly feel more lonely than ever right now. In that sense I find Evan to be a very relatable protagonist, and despite the choices he made in the story, I can't bring myself to hate him for it. At the end of the day, he, like anyone else, is only human.

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — Waving Through A Window by Kurt Hugo Schneider & VoicePlay

A lot of people begin a new year by reflecting on the past and expressing desires or intentions for the future. So when VoicePlay and Kurt were planning their second collaboration, they decided on the musical theater equivalent of that process, a classic "I want" song from a recent Broadway hit. The emotions of the number were a perfect showcase for Eli's talents.

Details:

title: Waving Through A Window (feat. VoicePlay)

original performer: Ben Platt as Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen (2016)

written by: Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

arranged by: Layne Stein & Kurt Hugo Schneider

release date: 2 January 2018

My favorite bits:

Eli's tentative tone accompanied by the other guys' softly hummed harmonies and Layne's heartbeat body percussion

the lovely ♫ "burn burn burn burn" ♫ bell chord 🔥

Kurt alternating between frantic, stacatto synthesizer lines and long, simple chords to accentuate the dynamics of the song

that crescendo from Earl, J.None, and Geoff behind the first ♫ "Is anybody waving?" ♫ to kick things into the next gear

the cool warbling sound Layne makes at the start of the bridge

the palpable silence before the key change

Eli's beautiful balance between increasing intensity and agility to bring everything home

honorable mention for Layne's wrist brace as an echo of Evan's arm cast in the musical

Trivia:

Filming this video was part of a whirlwind trip to Los Angeles in October, during which they recorded three videos with three different collaborators in two days. They filmed this one on the same day as their "Baby It's Cold Outside" video with Shoshana Bean.

Layne reworked the arrangement to create a purely a cappella version that the guys performed as part of their live shows for a couple years, including at the 2018 Total Vocal concert in NYC.

For the second year in a row, VoicePlay's first video of the year was a Broadway song collaboration released on someone else's channel. The previous year's debut was "Seasons of Love" with AJ Rafael.

Their previous collaboration with Kurt, a "Twenty One Pilots mashup" video, was filmed just over a year before this one.

[d-criss-news]

[UHQ] Darren Criss, left, sings with Oscar-winning composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul at a 2023 Oscars singalong event for the shortlisted best song contender “Good Afternoon” from the Apple Original Films musical “Spirited.” (Photo by Stewart Cook / Apple Original Films)

Watch Darren Criss lead a star-studded ‘Spirited’ singalong to kick off Oscar race

What happens when you get Broadway singers and Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscar- and Tony-winning songwriters in a room with a piano during awards season? Singalongs. Lots of them.

Diane Warren joined in Wednesday night in Hollywood as “Glee’s” Darren Criss and a crowd of music lovers belted out her Oscar-nominated “Armageddon” ballad “I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing.

------

Once the music began at the bash — for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul‘s 2023 Oscar-hopeful tune “Good Afternoon,” from the Apple Original Films musical “Spirited” — it didn’t stop. Hosted by Darren and Mia Criss at their piano bar Tramp Stamp Granny’s, the FYC event kicked off with a performance of Pasek and Paul’s “Good Afternoon,” from the Ryan Reynolds-Will Ferrell “Christmas Carol” retelling, with a Golden Globes-inspired twist.

------

Songwriting duo Pasek and Paul, who won the Oscar for their “La La Land” song “City of Stars,” went on to lead singalongs of their hits from “Dear Evan Hansen” and “The Greatest Showman” with Criss on the microphone.

Grammy-winning, Oscar-nominated singer-songwriter Siedah Garrett later joined Criss singing “Man in the Mirror,” which she co-wrote with Michael Jackson, before “The Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” composer Emily Bear took to the piano to accompany Broadway touring singer Sis (“Oklahoma!”) on the “Little Mermaid” classic “Part of Your World.”

[designaday]

Ultimate Playlist: Men’s Names, E

Scenes From An Italian Restaurant by Billy Joel Three songs in one, this fan favorite features The Ballad of Brenda and Eddie, popular high school sweethearts who married but had financial troubles and eventually divorced.

Eddie’s Coming Out Tonight by Night Ranger Eddie likes to rock and roll. He lives better than he can afford to, has a crazy girlfriend, has it in for you, and is coming out tonight.

Eddie’s Concubine by Eddie From Ohio Sung by the woman Eddie has an ongoing affair with, the song describes a middle-aged, overweight, sleazy nightclub owner. He keeps promising he’ll leave his wife for her, but never does, so she pulls a gun on him.

The Ballad of Eddie Praeger by Paul and Storm An Irish epic in the style of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald about a drunk in a pub bathroom who does battle with a urinal cake.

My Baby’s In Love With Eddie Vedder by “Weird Al” Yankovic The singer is jealous because his girl is infatuated with the lead singer of Pearl Jam.

The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald by Gordon Lightfoot Another epic ballad, this one chronicles the tragic, final voyage of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald, named after the president and chairman of the board of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the company that contracted Great Lakes Engineering Works to design and build the longest ship on the Great Lakes.

Elijah’s Song by Neil Diamond A lullaby for his grandson, the song references Neil’s son Jessie, who has his own music career, and Elijah’s mother, actress Sheryl Lee,.

Saint Elmo’s Fire (Man In Motion) by Joh Par This song is the main theme from the 1985 film by the same name. Saint Elmo’s Bar is where the characters in the movie hang out, but Saint Elmo’s Fire is a weather phenomenon where a corona discharge from a ship’s mast creates luminous plasma, resulting in a blue or violet glow. This effect is named after St. Erasmus of Formia (also known as St. Elmo), the patron saint of sailors.

Elvis is Everywhere by Mojo Nixon This psychobilly song deifies Elvis Presley while labeling Michael J. Fox as the Anti-Elvis. Elvis is the one who built the pyramids and stonehenge, and he’s taking boats from the Bermuda Triangle.

Velvet Elvis by “Weird Al” Yankovic A style parody of The Police, this song glorifies the tacky art trend as much as it does the singer.

Sincerely, Me by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul This is the song from which the 2015 musical Dear Evan Hansen takes its name. The main character, Evan, creates a series of fake emails in an attempt to convince Connor Murphy’s parents that he and Connor had been friends before Connor committed suicide.

Dr. Evil by They Might Be Giants Written for Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. When your name is Evil, that is good, or so you think, but you’re so very wrong.

[georgewiman]

Evangelical Christian Appropriation

So I'm paying my bill at the dentist, and I hear "You Will Be Found" on the Muzak. And just being conversational I mentioned to the clerk; "Oh, they made a country-western version version of 'Dear Evan Hansen?'"

She listened for a moment. "That's a Christian song," she condescended. "It was around before 'Dear Evan Hansen."

Internal thought monologue: " Really? Bejn Pasek and Justin Paul stole a song off Christian radio for a Broadway musical? Hmm."

I let it go, but not really. I looked it up. And sure enough, gospel singers Natalie Grant and Corey Asbury definitely recorded it, negative eleven years before Dear Evan Hansen.

Evangelical Christianity is so damn full of itself. And I have got to start being more taciturn. This would not be bugging me if I'd just kept my mouth shut.

[im-tired-and-bi]

I have a problem with reading sad mlm books. They suck me in and I go way to far in. My favorites have to be The Art of starving by Sam J. Miller (this book is more about him coming to realize the less he eats, the more power he gains. He does come to accept himself and the problems he had with himself and his sisters disappearance.) This was the first queer book I ever read.

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera. (Death cast calls you on the day you'll die. Mateo and Rufus are both going to die. They spend there last day together before coming to an untimely death.)

Dear Evan Hansen, By Val Emmich, Benj Pasek, Steven Levenson, and Justin Paul. (Unlike the musical we are able to see more of Conners story. His past relationship with the boy in the photo and his view of his family. There is so much queer coding in this book.)

[smb0]

I have not one, not two, not three, but NINE concepts (as of reblogging, subject to change)

Production companies would be Sega Sammy Group, RiceBowl Films, Inc. (My (hopefully) future animation studio), Marza Animation Planet, and Swaybox Studios (the company animating Warner Animation's upcoming Robin movie Dynamic Duo). Either Paramount or 20th Century Fox will distribute.

But in case you don't feel like reading on AO3:

Concept #1:

Title: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Red and Black

Directors: Phui Jing Ling, Simon Wells Animation production assistance: Tonic DNA, Kyoto Animation, The SPA Studios, Glitch Productions Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: When the majority of Primp Town is kidnapped by Dark Matter, Amitie and her classmates Sig, Raffina, Klug, and Lidelle, alongside their other friends Arle, Ringo, Ecolo, Lemres, and Feli, set out to rescue the town, find the missing Professor Accord, and save the world... even if it means unlocking powers that were never meant to be unlocked.

Concept #2: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Invasion of the Yogs

Directors: @nenilein , Phil Nibbelink Animation production assistance: Tonic DNA, Cartoon Saloon, Reel FX Creative Studios Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Yoggus and the Yogs come back for revenge, along with planning to harness the magic in this world. Arle and the Madou Team, with the help of the Light Academy Student Council, must stop them before anyone in Primp can be harmed.

Small note: The Madou Team includes Arle, Schezo, Rulue, Witch, Draco, Suketoudara, Lagnus, Serilly, Minotuaros, Skeleton T and Dark Prince.

Concept #3: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Great Minds Think Alike!

Directors: Sam Fell, Naohiro Hirao Animation production assistance: Flying Bark Productions, Toon City Animation, Jam Filled Toronto Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Arle, Schezo, Amitie, and Sig are kidnapped by Doppelganger Arle. Rulue, Draco, Dark Prince, Lidelle and Raffina (reluctantly on Rulue and Raffina's part) decide to rescue them.

Concept #4: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Angelic Fate

Directors: NokiStar (if they want to), Chris Wedge Animation production assistance: Stardust Pictures, Bardel Entertainment, TMS Entertainment, Marza Animation Planet Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: After Primp Town is destroyed by a cataclysmic event, the Puyo cast, led by Klug, Feli, Lemres, and Baldanders, search for a mystical artifact in order to restore their ruined home.

Concept #5: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Sky High Directors: Ralph Zondag, Hiromasa Yonebayashi Animation production assistance: Toon City Animation, Studio Ponoc, Marza Animation Planet Animation medium: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Amitie and Sig go on a high-flying musical adventure of self-discovery.

Concept #6: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Chaos Effect Directors: Paul Brizzi and Gaëtan Brizzi Animation production assistance: Animax Entertainment, Buzzco Associates, Neomis Animation, Toei Animation Animation medium: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Ecolo steals a magical locket from an undead army, and plans to give it to Ringo. After the army finds out, they kidnap Ringo and plan to destroy Primp Town out of spite. It's a race against the clock for Maguro and the Puyo gang to return the locket before Ringo dies and their home is demolished!

Concept #7: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Hear Me Roar!

Directors: Conrad Vernon, Naoko Yamada Animation production assistance: Flying Bark Productions, Kyoto Animation, Glitch Productions, Science SARU Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Draco and the Dark Prince go on a quest to save Lidelle when she is kidnapped by a mysterious foe. This film would be a musical, with songs composed by Tom Snow with lyrics by either Nenilein or Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. John Powell would provide the score.

Concept #8: Puyo Puyo Tetris: The Musical Director: Phui Jing Ling Animation production assistance: Toon City Animation Animation medium: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: A musical retelling of the first PuyoTet game, with songs by Hideki Abe and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Concept #9: Puyo Puyo The Movie: Toil and Trouble Director: Mark Dindal Animation production assistance: Tonic DNA, DNEG Animation Animation mediums: Hand-drawn, CG Premise: Witch, accompanied by Draco and Amitie, goes on a misadventure to retrieve her grandmother's spell book when it is stolen by Dark Matter (the one from Madou Monogatari, not Kirby).

Hope you liked my ideas! More will be added soon, but I can't wait to hear more of yours!

Sega has decided to branch out and have more of their games become movies. You are in charge of making the first Puyo Puyo Movie

How do you do that? And which studio makes it (preferably an American Studio because Paramount is American)

Is it live action or animated?

[thatonemouseykid]

Lmao was anyone going to tell me the Greatest Showman was written by the same people who wrote Dear Evan Hansen or was I genuinely supposed to find out while having a mental breakdown and listening to Never Enough?

[pinksource]

Pink Announces 'All I Know So Far' Title Track Ahead of 'Setlist' Live Album & Doc

The song will drop on May 7.

P!nk announced the release date for the title track to her upcoming live documentary, All I Know So Far, on Thursday (Apr. 29).

The song was produced by frequent collaborator Greg Kurstin and co-written by the singer along with Oscar- and Grammy-winning songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

"All I Know So Far" will drop on May 7, just weeks before the May 21 debut of the Michael Gracey-directed film P!nk: All I Know So Far hits Amazon Prime Video.

The song will also show up on the project's official RCA Records soundtrack, the 16-track All I Know So Far: Setlist, which features live takes on such iconic hits as "Just Like a Pill," "Just Give Me a Reason" and "So What" as well as her MTV Video Vanguard Award Speech, covers of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions" and her heart-swelling duet with daughter Willow, "Cover Me in Sunshine."

The album features live recordings from P!nk's 2019 Beautiful Trauma world tour and it will be accompanied by the 80-page All I Know So Far Limited Edition Zine Set, which contains never-before-seen images from the Beautiful Trauma tour by award-winning photographer Andrew Macpherson.

Check out the full All I Know So Far track list below. (Source)

[writingway-in-writinghell]

Oh there’s more! This role seems to be personally important to Octavia Spencer:

“The songs changed meaning for the characters in terms of the arcs and where we see them in the show, but they also change meaning for people who heretofore had no opportunities to be seen or heard in musical theater,” she said. “What you may or may not know is before this, I was kind of dumped by a collaborator, dumped by an agent, thinking there’s no room in musical theater for a Black girl to exist because it’s not really populated by us. You kind of wonder, if there’s no one else, is there even a way for you to dream?”

Begging the white queer community to acknowledge that having a fat middle-aged Black woman as a love interest in a Christmas movie is EXTREMELY valuable and that you can still ship your gay pair without fully ignoring how important it was to show that Octavia Spencer is a beautiful and desirable woman with a rich inner life and a sharp mind that simply makes you want to love her.

[zara-anthology]

Waving Through a Window

"When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound?" - Evan Hansen

Waving Through a Window is the second song from Act 1 of the 2015 musical Dear Evan Hansen, which premiered on Broadway in 2016. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote both the music and lyrics for the song, which serves as the main protagonist Evan Hansen's "I Want" song. It has since become the signature tune of the character, one of the musical's most famous songs and an anthem for those who have felt depressed and alone and show a desire for connection. The lyrics can be found by clicking "keep reading" below.

In the song, Evan laments how his voice has gone unheard for so long and wonders if it'll ever be heard ("I try to speak, but nobody can hear So I wait around for an answer to appear"). Evan longs to connect with others, but due to his severe social anxiety he feels hopeless and is on the verge of giving up trying. He feels like an outsider, never included in anything but instead observing from a distance ("On the outside, always looking in Will I ever be more than I've always been?"). The bridge of the song is based on a philosophical thought experiment related to the nature of observation and reality, often expressed as "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" In the context of the musical, it's actually foreshadowing to how Evan attempted to take his own life by jumping out of a tree. In this part of the song, he wonders if it even "made a sound" or in other words, if he'll ever be heard.

I do not have social anxiety, nor am I suicidal, yet Evan's experiences and feelings resonate strongly with me. The sense of hopelessness and loneliness he conveys hit a little too close to home for me, as I, like anyone else, have experienced these feelings too. The question of "Will I ever make a sound?" is one that dwells within my mind more often than I like to admit. To this day, I haven't found the answer yet. But I believe that everyone deserves to be remembered, which is the main message of another song in the musical "Disappear". The message is reminiscent of that of the Dinner Party, as no one deserves to be forgotten. I wholeheartedly believe in this message.

[lyrics]

I've learned to slam on the brake Before I even turn the key Before I make the mistake Before I lead with the worst of me

Give them no reason to stare No slipping up if you slip away So I got nothing to share No, I got nothing to say

Step out, step out of the sun If you keep getting burned Step out, step out of the sun Because you've learned, because you've learned

On the outside, always looking in Will I ever be more than I've always been? 'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass I'm waving through a window I try to speak, but nobody can hear So I wait around for an answer to appear While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass I'm waving through a window, oh Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me?

We start with stars in our eyes We start believing that we belong But every sun doesn't rise And no one tells you where you went wrong

Step out, step out of the sun If you keep getting burned Step out, step out of the sun Because you've learned, because you've learned

On the outside, always looking in Will I ever be more than I've always been? 'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass Waving through a window I try to speak, but nobody can hear So I wait around for an answer to appear While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass Waving through a window, oh Can anybody see, is anybody waving?

When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound? When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound? When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound? When you're falling in a forest and there's nobody around Do you ever really crash, or even make a sound? Did I even make a sound? Did I even make a sound? It's like I never made a sound Will I ever make a sound?

On the outside, always looking in Will I ever be more than I've always been? 'Cause I'm tap, tap, tapping on the glass Waving through a window I try to speak, but nobody can hear So I wait around for an answer to appear While I'm watch, watch, watching people pass Waving through a window, oh Can anybody see, is anybody waving back at me? (Oh)

Is anybody waving? Waving, waving, whoa-oh, whoa

[jules-has-notes]

collaboration spotlight — The Phantom Showman mashup by Fernando Varela

When classical singer Fernando Varela first saw The Greatest Showman, the visual spectacle and soaring music reminded him of one of the shows that had originally inspired him to pursue singing as a career, Phantom of the Opera. After some noodling, he found that the songs from both shows could be combined rather nicely.

Details:

title: The Phantom Showman

performers: Fernando Varela (Raoul), Leah Lowman (Christine), & Tony Wakim (Phantom)

original songs / performers: "Never Enough" by Loren Allred as Jenny Lind (vocals) in The Greatest Showman (2017); "All I Ask of You" & "Think of Me" by Sarah Brightman as Christine Daaé & Steve Barton as Raoul de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera (1986)

written by: "Never Enough" by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul; "All I Ask of You" & "Think of Me" by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, & Richard Stilgoe

arranged by: Fernando Varela

release date: 9 April 2018

My favorite bits:

the tinkling music box version of the instrumentation

Fernando's lovely clear voice, with just a touch of vibratto

Leah's hopeful princess-y tone

the echo on the Phantom's call

the little flip up into head voice on the second ♫ "never be enough" ♫

the way the songs from both shows weave together

gotta love a dramatic key change

the big harmonized belting moment with a sudden cut-off

pulling back to just tentative vocals and the music box to end

Trivia:

Being a tenor, Fernando cast himself in the role of steadfast Raoul, who falls in love with his childhood friend Christine when they meet as adults. Which is fitting, in a way. After all, Fernando has admitted that the reason he initially pursued opera as a teenager was to spend time with a girl he liked.

This video was filmed at The Ballroom on Church Street, the same location PattyCake used as their castle interior for "Beauty and the Bieber" a year earlier. With brighter lighting, it made for a decent opera house.

Leah and Tony's costumes were both originally created for VoicePlay's "Phantom of the Opera" music video in 2015.

A few months before this recording, Fernando had been a part of the Royal Christmas Gala tour across Europe, which was headlined by Sarah Brightman, who originated the role of Christine in Phantom.

In the lead-up to the release date, Fernando posted a series of coundtdown images on social media.

This is Tony's third filmed iteration of the Phantom. Before VoicePlay's full version of the show's title song, he sang an excerpt in their "Aca Top 10 — Broadway" countdown, which they also performed on the 2015 Sing-Off tour.

PattyCake had released their own Greatest Showman medley in the form of "The Disney Showman" celebrating the life and legacy of the illustrious Walt a month earlier.

Layne later arranged a portion of "Never Enough" for VoicePlay as part of their "Showman Medley" video with Rachel Potter at the end of 2021.

[aion-rsa]

How Dear Evan Hansen Changes the Musical’s Ending

https://ift.tt/2XGJPiD

This article contains Dear Evan Hansen spoilers, both for the movie and the stage show.

No matter how you come to the story of Dear Evan Hansen, and regardless of the medium, things always have to end at the same apple orchard. It’s fitting since Evan’s first major lie about Connor Murphy, the boy who killed himself, was that they spent whole days in the then-abandoned orchard, talking about girls, boats, and whatever other fantasies Evan could concoct. And it’s here that Zoe Murphy, Connor’s younger sister, requests Evan meet her for the story’s final scene.

This is true of the stage show, which took Broadway by storm five years ago—winning six Tonys including for Best Musical and Best Actor for Ben Platt—and it’s the same for the movie, with Platt’s Evan coming to a now renewed orchard and sitting with the cinematic Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever). Among the trees, Evan can see at least one good thing that came out of his lies: The Connor Murphy Project reopened this small slice of paradise.

Yet how Dear Evan Hansen gets to that moment in the movie is drastically different from the stage musical. Then again, so is the world in the five years since the musical’s Broadway debut (and six since it was first performed in Washington D.C.). Hence why director Stephen Chbosky and screenwriter Steven Levenson, who adapted his own book from the stage, have attempted to adjust to our current social climate. The new ending addresses the harshest criticisms about the Evan Hansen character, and the values his tale might promote. This is, after all, a musical about a troubled young man who exploits the suicide of a stranger in his school to increase his popularity and to insinuate himself into the dead boy’s family.

But is the new ending an actual improvement? Well…

How Dear Evan Hansen Ends on Stage

The entire narrative of Dear Evan Hansen pivots on a misunderstanding between Evan and the Murphy family as the latter grieve over the suicide of Connor. When Connor’s parents, Cynthia and Larry, first misconstrue Evan’s letter to himself as their son’s suicide note, Evan attempts to correct them. However, they seem so heartbroken, and Evan is so desperate to please and be accepted—by anyone—he quickly goes along with it and begins spinning tales about his and Connor’s intimate friendship.

The musical is thus a rising crescendo that builds as Evan climbs higher and higher off his mistruths. So the inevitable moment where his house of cards comes crashing down is the narrative’s real climax. And yet, in the original version of Dear Evan Hansen, the story more or less ends right there. After Evan confesses in the song “Words Fail” that he lied about the letter and his entire friendship with Connor, the horrified Murphys walk away from him one by one, with various degrees of disgust. He then comes clean to his mother in the final big song of the show, “So Big / So Small,” where she comforts her son. She’ll never walk away.

The musical then quickly jumps one year into the future, with Evan revealed to be working part-time and attending community college, hoping to save up enough money to someday attend a university. Zoe, who’s now a senior in high school, invites Evan to the orchard where he thanks her family for never revealing his secret to the public—never telling the world he lied about Connor. And, rather incredulously, Zoe absolves Evan and the audience of any guilt. She says, “Everybody needed [the lie] for something.” She even goes so far to say it “saved my parents.” It brought her family closer together.

So while it’s still bittersweet since Evan’s relationship with the Murphys, including Zoe, is forever severed, there are still no real consequences for Evan other than Cynthia and Larry won’t pay for his college education. Even his guilt is assuaged, and he can brag to Zoe that he’s been reading the 10 books Connor said were his favorites in eighth grade. The show more or less ends in a figurative group hug by omitting through a time jump all of the messy fallout from his choices.

How Dear Evan Hansen the Movie Ends

In the film, “Words Fail” is still the climax of the story, with Evan confessing his sins and Zoe walking away. However, in one telling addition, Cynthia (played with delicate fragility by Amy Adams) is barely able to whisper, “I think it’s time for you to leave” while holding back tears. Since she was Evan’s biggest champion, that she is now the one who states explicitly he is disinvited from their home hits hardest.

Then after Evan’s heart-to-heart with his mother (Julianne Moore), we actually see Evan attempt to make amends for his misdeeds. For starters, the whole reason the truth finally came out in both versions of the story is because of the machinations of a schoolmate named Alana (Amandla Stenberg in the film), who accidentally unleashed a whole social media mob on the Murphys, with randos on the internet blaming the parents for Connor’s suicide.

On stage, this plot element is entirely dropped after Evan confesses to the Murphys, who presumably bear the brunt of the social media hate in quiet while protecting Evan’s secret. In the film though, Evan actually attempts to talk to Zoe in school the following week and she asks him to leave her alone. She also reveals the only reason her parents haven’t unmasked what Evan did is because “they’re afraid you’ll do something to yourself.” Like Connor.

Thus Evan gets on Twitter that night and tells the world, “[The Murphys] don’t deserve your hate. I do.” He confesses. Afterward, he again becomes a high school pariah, but we learn in montage he is more content this way as he tries to make further amends to the Murphys by not only reading Connor’s favorite books but tracking down someone’s phone video of Connor during his stint in rehab. Evan even finds footage of Connor playing his guitar, a feat he hid from his parents. The new song “A Little Closer,” which scores the final montage, is revealed to be a melody Connor wrote and sang in rehab, and Evan is able to at least mail that to Connor’s parents. He’s finally given them something true that they didn’t know about their son.

Only then, before the current school year ends, does Zoe invite Evan to an apple orchard and they reminisce about what might’ve been.

Does It Improve Evan Hansen and the Story?

The clear implication for adding these sequences, plus a song that the real Connor Murphy character can sing, is intended to fix the moral and thematic slipperiness at the heart of Dear Evan Hansen. Through a series of hummable ballads by songwriters Benji Pasek and Justin Paul, and some heartbreaking performances, including by Platt in the original cast, the stage production relies on the power of its emotions to overwhelm logic or deeper analysis. Some might even say it manipulates.

Yet over the years, the musical has had its fair share of detractors who pointed out how calculating and toxic the Evan Hansen character can appear. And the fact the musical just ends on the emotional high point without actually bothering to sift through the wreckage of what Evan did has always been a cheat.

Conversely, there are a few fleeting sequences in the stage version where the musical at least briefly seems to consider its darker implications. Evan’s loose group of (bad) friends in Alana and Jared contribute to this element in the song “Good for You,” where they sing in unison, “Well, I guess if I’m not of use, go ahead, you can cut me loose. Go ahead now, I won’t mind.”

The Alana relationship is particularly interesting in the show since it is only after she demands of Evan “how” will he raise $17,000 that he shows her Connor’s “suicide note.” He immediately protests after she decides to post it online, but did he not on some level show it to her in order for her to use it to raise $17,000 and reopen the apple orchard? After this scene, Alana ghosts him, suggesting she was herself only using Evan to brandish her social clout in the school and, eventually, her college applications.

The Dear Evan Hansen movie tries to wipe even this thorniness away. The context of Evan showing the note to Alana is handled slightly differently, but as a consequence there’s no ambiguity on why he showed it to her—he did not intend for her to share it online. She also, like Evan, is softened around the edges when she does answer Evan’s ringing phone on-screen and cries that she tried to take the letter down but it’s still all over social media.

The logic behind the change would seem to make both Evan and Alana more purely sympathetic and blameless for their mistakes. In Alana’s case, she isn’t a master manipulator, and in Evan’s case it is beyond his control when others take things too far. He then puts in the work to help the Murphys, beginning by admitting to the world his dishonesty.

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These were obviously conscious choices made after the five years and full lifetime which passed since 2016—a year where Barack Obama was still president and the #MeToo movement hadn’t yet occurred. Now in an age where social accountability, especially in online life, and alleged authenticity are valued more than ever, having a hero who lies to the world and gets away with it is inherently problematic. So the flaws in Evan’s choices, and even Alana’s, are “fixed” with crocodile tears of regret from Alana, and then Evan making an actual effort to atone for his mistakes.

Yet I would argue it doesn’t actually improve the fundamental issues with the musical. In the case of Alana, having a character show the ugly side of social manipulation, even among ostensibly sympathetic figures, was one of the truer impulses in a story that otherwise glorifies the healing power of finding validation from strangers on the internet. While both the film and show also depict the downside of online life with a discordant singing hydra coming after the Murphys, it’s only because of a couple of misguided mistakes. And in the case of the stage show, the larger message is Evan’s musical platitudes are simply too powerful (or profitable) for the Murphys to shatter.

In 2021, Evan and his creators make the choice that he can admit his mistakes. Yet the story still attempts to justify Evan’s actions, which ironically puts the film at odds with itself. It basks in the splendor of Evan’s self-help ballad, “You Will Be Found,” and then shows him suffering comeuppance for lying—even if Zoe still gives him final absolution.

The one significant change that clicks for me is Evan at least seeking out some hidden truth about Connor, and sharing it with the real people who actually loved him instead of strangers, who in turn would only again offer performative gestures and signaled virtue toward a kid they otherwise ignored. Hearing Colton Ryan’s Connor sing for himself—for the first time in any medium—and not merely be a puppet for Evan’s self-serving fantasies was a significant, moving improvement over how this thread is resolved on the stage.

Still, I think going further in that direction with Evan realizing the crassness of what he created, and the emptiness of his bromides, would’ve made this a more interesting narrative. But what do I know? My instincts wouldn’t have turned this into a Broadway anthem for Generation Z. So how about yourself? Do you like the new ending to Dear Evan Hansen?

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