Dear Evan Hansen opens at Arden Theatre Company
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Six-time Broadway Tony Award Winner "Dear Evan Hansen" opens Thursday night at the Arden Theatre Company in Old City.
It's the story of a high school senior whose attempt to belong leads to a lie that spirals out of control.
"The synopsis is hard to frame in a way that doesn't sound like doom and gloom," says cast member Mary Fishburne, "but this is a story with humor. This is a story of hope and perseverance, and a story in which everyone can relate in some capacity."
Dear Evan Hansen has gone from Broadway to touring productions to a feature film.
Now, it's on stage here at the Arden .
Julian Perez plays Connor Murphy, an isolated high school senior who takes his own life on the first day of school.
His classmate, Evan Hansen, creates a well-intentioned web of lies around this tragedy.
Fishburne is a Philadelphia-based theater artist, vocal coach, and playwright.
She plays Connor's mother, Cynthia.
They say this is a story about grief and growth.
"Ultimately, this is a story about growth and healing, and how loss and grief can allow people to change, and more for the good and the bad," says Perez.
"There's a lot of beauty in how kids can break out of that feeling like they don't belong, like they can't be themselves."
EGOT winner and Ardmore's own Benj Pasek is the co-creator of the smash-hit musical.
The direct inspiration for the show comes from his time as a student at Friends' Central School in Wynnewood.
Dear Evan Hansen runs through July 5th at the Arden Theatre Company.
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