History Theatre / DearEvanHansen

** The poster has Evan's cast with [[EngineeredHashtag #youwillbefound]] drawn on it.

* PlasterCastDoodling: Two lonely high-school students, Evan and Connor, cross paths after Evan breaks his arm falling from a tree. Connor offers to sign Evan's cast "so we can both pretend we have a friend." The poster has the sentence, "#youwillbefound" on Evan's cast, as well.

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** While it's never referred to by name, Evan shows a lot of the signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Or, depending on who's playing him, he can also be portrayed as being on the UsefulNotes/{{autism spectrum}}.
** Connor is also implied to have some sort of mental illness, as he is emotionally volatile, paranoid about what others think of him, and apparently had a history of suicidal ideation. It has been suggested that he may have borderline personality disorder or UsefulNotes/{{bipolar disorder}}.

* NoAntagonist: There is literally no bad guys in this play. Instead, it's Evan's inability to escape from his lie, and the Murphys' quick acceptance of these deceptions as comfort, combined with Heidi's repeated attempts to please Evan, create most of the problems.

** Jared: His first line is a joke to Evan regarding his broken arm, believing that Evan stalked Zoe's Instagram and subsequently had ADateWithRosiePalms.

* FullNameBasis: Evan's letters to himself always open with "Dear Evan Hansen" as a sort of ritual; then close with "Sincerely, Me." Because of this structure, people are able to mistake the letter for a letter ''to'' Evan ''from'' Connor. In "Sincerely, Me," he and Jared have to keep up the pretense that he and Connor corresponded this way -- as his letters to Connor begin "Dear Connor Murphy."
** The novelization retcons this by saying that "Evan Hansen" is ''not'' his full name -- it's actually "Mark Evan Hansen", and he never uses the "Mark" out of respect for his mom (since it's his dad's name).

** While it's never referred to by name, Evan shows a lot of the signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Or, depending on who's playing him, he can also be portrayed as being on the autism spectrum.
** Connor is also implied to have some sort of mental illness, as he is emotionally volatile, paranoid about what others think of him, and apparently had a history of suicidal ideation. It has been suggested that he may have borderline personality disorder or bipolar.

** ArtisticLicenseMedicine: A bigger issue is that Evan didn't initially intend the "perfect day" he had with Connor at the apple orchard to be the same day he broke his arm. "For Forever" starts with the line "End of May or early June". It's currently ''September'', and a broken arm typically heals in six to eight weeks. Unless he somehow repeatedly re-injures it -- which isn't the case -- the earliest he could've broken his arm is in July -- after the end of the previous school year when he was working his summer job at the park. The creators revealed that "For Forever" was written before the script was nailed down and it was too late to change the line when they noticed the discrepancy. They left it in as a bit of DramaticIrony, showing the Murphys could've exposed Evan immediately had they been really paying attention.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The implied setting of the show changed multiple times throughout the writing process and in the finished product the writers chose to leave it ambiguous, leaving various contradictory hints throughout the show. Early versions of the script referred to the show taking place in "Portland" (either the one in Oregon or Maine), and the final version of the show keeps a line where Cynthia Murphy describes ordering wine from a special vintner "just outside Portland" (although given their wealth the Murphys could easily be ordering wine from anywhere in the country). On the other hand, Larry Murphy appears to be a fan of the Baltimore Orioles, and [[EasterEgg index cards Evan drops into the audience]] mention "our home state of Maryland". Evan mentions that his summer job was as a ranger at Ellison Park, which is a [[https://www2.monroecounty.gov/parks-ellison.php real place]] near Rochester, NY; meanwhile the ice cream parlor named "A La Mode" on the way to the orchard is also a [[http://alamodeicecreamparlor.com/ real place]] in Ocean City, NJ. The only thing we really know ''must'' be true about Evan's hometown is that it's in an area known for apple orchards, which doesn't really rule out any of the above answers.
** A FreezeFrameBonus of [[https://www.instagram.com/p/Bdh21ROhLfX/ Larry's business card]] indicates his law firm is based in Gaithersburg, MD, but then immediately contradicts this by giving it a phone number with a 214 area code (for the Dallas-Fort Worth area).

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Connor was a volatile and violent person who made life hell for his family and regularly threatened to kill his sister Zoe. After his death, they are torn between grieving for him and unresolved bitterness at the pain he caused them, with Zoe outright refusing to forgive him or grieve for him. If someone does a lot of bad things before they die, their death doesn't erase what they've done, nor will people automatically forgive them just because they're now gone.
** Evan didn't actually plan ahead his lies very well and the deeper in he gets the more they contradict themselves; all it takes is for the smartest person involved in the story (Alana) to stop sympathizing with him and start looking at him with a little bit of skepticism and it all comes falling apart.
** Going viral is very dangerous (as noted in the CutSong "Going Viral"), and as heartwarming as the flood of strangers moved by Connor's story in "You Will Be Found" seems, mobs of strangers like that can unpredictably turn ugly in an instant if their moods shift, which is exactly what happens in "You Will Be Found (Reprise)" when they decide someone needs to be blamed for Connor's death.

* ThePowerOfLegacy: A core theme of the show, along with ThePowerOfLanguage and ThePowerOfLove. The heartbreaking truth is that Connor ''must'' have had more to his life than being a vicious bully and abuser, but ''nobody knows anything about him'' to contradict that image. Evan's initial decision to lie about knowing Connor was driven by the desire to comfort his mother and give her just one positive memory of her son... and even after he confesses his deception, the Murphys keep up the ruse in public, because the world now needs the story that Connor's life has become.

-->'''Evan:''' ''♫ I gotta tell you life without you has been hard. ♫''\\

'''Evan:''' ''♫ ...has been bad. ♫''\\

'''Evan:''' ''(Annoyed) ♫ ...has been rough. ♫''\\

** The Connor Project is obviously inspired by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trevor_Project The Trevor Project]], which is specifically aimed at LGBT teens (and was itself inspired by the short film ''Film/{{Trevor}}'').

* AdultFear: Your child dying by suicide or, to a lesser extent, not being able to provide for them.

The musical has received widespread critical acclaim for its music, story, and performances of its original cast, headlined by Creator/BenPlatt as Evan Hansen. [[Literature/DearEvanHansen A novelization]] was published in 2018, not long before Universal announced their plans for a [[Film/DearEvanHansen film adaptation]], which was eventually released in 2021.

** While it's never referred to by name, Evan shows a lot of the signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder. Or, depending on the actor playing him, he can also be portrayed as being on the autism spectrum.

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The title phrase in "For Forever" is an intentionally childish phrasing previously used by Pasek and Paul in their musical ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogfight_(musical) Dogfight]]'' for the main characters' promise to never abandon their friendship.

The musical has received widespread critical acclaim for its music, story, and performances of its original cast, headlined by Ben Platt as Evan Hansen. [[Literature/DearEvanHansen A novelization]] was published in 2018, not long before Universal announced their plans for a [[Film/DearEvanHansen film adaptation]], which was eventually released in 2021.

* RealityEnsues:
** Connor was a volatile and violent person who made life hell for his family and regularly threatened to kill his sister Zoe. After his death, they are torn between grieving for him and unresolved bitterness at the pain he caused them, with Zoe outright refusing to forgive him or grieve for him. If someone does a lot of bad things before they die, their death doesn't erase what they've done, nor will people automatically forgive them just because they're now gone.
** Evan didn't actually plan ahead his lies very well and the deeper in he gets the more they contradict themselves; all it takes is for the smartest person involved in the story (Alana) to stop sympathizing with him and start looking at him with a little bit of skepticism and it all comes falling apart.
** Going viral is very dangerous (as noted in the CutSong "Going Viral"), and as heartwarming as the flood of strangers moved by Connor's story in "You Will Be Found" seems, mobs of strangers like that can unpredictably turn ugly in an instant if their moods shift, which is exactly what happens in "You Will Be Found (Reprise)" when they decide someone needs to be blamed for Connor's death.

* GenreSavvy: Alana. [[spoiler: After spending most of the play exaggerating how close she and Connor were, she (rightly) starts to suspect Evan of making up the whole story of their friendship. She still falls for Evan's story when he shows her Connor's "suicide note", though.]]

* AdultFear: Your child committing suicide or, to a lesser extent, not being able to provide for them.

The musical has received widespread critical acclaim for its music, story, and performances of its original cast, headlined by Ben Platt as Evan Hansen. [[Literature/DearEvanHansen A novelization]] was published in 2018, not long before Universal announced their plans for a [[Film/DearEvanHansen film adaptation]]. In 2020, production officially began on the film, which will have the original composers (Music/PasekAndPaul), writer (Steven Levenson), and star (Ben Platt) attached. It will be also directed by Stephen Chbosky (who previously directed ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower'' and ''Literature/{{Wonder|2012}}''), and also feature Creator/KaitlynDever, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/AmandlaStenberg (who gets a MovieBonusSong), Creator/AmyAdams and Creator/DannyPino. It was released on September 24, 2021.

The musical has received widespread critical acclaim for its music, story, and performances of its original cast, headlined by Ben Platt as Evan Hansen. [[Literature/DearEvanHansen A novelization]] was published in 2018, not long before Universal announced their plans for a film adaptation. In 2020, production officially began on the film, which will have the original composers (Music/PasekAndPaul), writer (Steven Levenson), and star (Ben Platt) attached. It will be also directed by Stephen Chbosky (who previously directed ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower'' and ''Literature/{{Wonder|2012}}''), and also feature Creator/KaitlynDever, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/AmandlaStenberg (who gets a MovieBonusSong), Creator/AmyAdams and Creator/DannyPino. It was released on September 24, 2021.

The musical has received widespread critical acclaim for its music, story, and performances of its original cast, headlined by Ben Platt as Evan Hansen. [[Literature/DearEvanHansen A novelization]] was published in 2018, not long before Universal announced their plans for a film adaptation. In 2020, production officially began on the film, which will have the original composers (Music/PasekAndPaul), writer (Steven Levenson), and star (Ben Platt) attached. It will be also directed by Stephen Chbosky (who previously directed ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower'' and ''Literature/{{Wonder|2012}}''), and also feature Creator/KaitlynDever, Creator/JulianneMoore, Creator/AmandlaStenberg (who gets a MovieBonusSong), Creator/AmyAdams and Creator/DannyPino. It is scheduled for release on September 24, 2021.

->''[[YouAreNotAlone ♫ 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. ♫]]''

* InTheStyleOf: The show's score borrows heavily from late 90s/early 2000s radio-friendly [[AlternativeRock alternative]] music (Music/VanessaCarlton, Music/{{Train}}, Music/BarenakedLadies) and gives it a showtunes glean. "Sincerely, Me", meanwhile, is a stylistic sound-alike of [[Music/BenFolds Ben Folds Five]].

* InTheStyleOf: The show's score borrows heavily from late 90s/early 2000s radio-friendly [[AlternativeRock alternative]] music (Music/VanessaCarlton, Music/Train, Music/BarenakedLadies) and gives it a showtunes glean. "Sincerely, Me", meanwhile, is a stylistic sound-alike of [[Music/BenFolds Ben Folds Five]].

* InTheStyleOf: The show's score borrows heavily from late 90s/early 2000s adult [[AlternativeRock alternative]] music (Music/VanessaCarlton, Five For Fighting, Music/BarenakedLadies) and gives it a showtunes glean. "Sincerely, Me", meanwhile, is a stylistic sound-alike of [[Music/BenFolds Ben Folds Five]].

* DarkReprise:

** Played straight with "You Will Be Found". The song initially conveys the message that if one is lost, they can be helped upon by others. The next time it's sung, [[spoiler:it represents the abuse that the Murphys have received from social media, as they believe the Murphys didn't care enough about their son]].
** Imaginary Connor sings "For Forever" to Evan as a warning in Act 2 not to tell the truth to the Murphys, or the happiness he was dreaming so hard about in that song will be permanently lost to him.

* TheElevenOClockNumber: "Words Fail".