The popular Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen, which won six Tony Awards, has spawned into a West End production, a film, and even a novel. Daniel Efrat, a veteran of blockbuster translations (Hairspray, School of Rock, Tangled), has now translated it into Hebrew, with Hi Evan Hansen debuting last week at the Cameri Theater.
The 135-minute production, including a live band, stars Alon Sandler (Immigrants, Scarred, Deep in the Water) in the title role that made Ben Platt a star.
This is a high school musical drama that delves into serious issues and has a strong suicide trigger warning. Although it is a tear-jerking, heartwarming tale, told from multiple perspectives, there are many funny moments and comedic songs. The parents’ point of view is just as prevalent as the teenage characters’.
The stage at the sold-out opening night show in Tel Aviv was similar to the original Broadway production. It is basic and peppered with multiple large screens. During the play, the screens showed texts, video calls, and Instagram videos to emphasize teenagehood in the age of social media, telling a heartbreaking story about everyone who has harbored loneliness.
Heavy themes in a musical
While the story is plot-heavy, it is a musical. Fans of the original will be pleased to hear that the music did a great job of rhyming and maintaining the original composition, though they could not directly translate to do so. For example, in the song “For Forever,” the line “Two friends on a perfect day” becomes “Thanks for the day, friend.” Hebrew has no word for requiem, so the lyrics of that titled song instead became “I will not cry now.”
Clever changes were made from the original performance to account for humor and culture. For example, the characters talked of buying things on AliExpress, discussed a bar mitzvah, and said “l’chaim.”
While the original lyrics aren’t always so clever, with multiple lazy rhymes and simplistic vocabulary, the plot shines through, along with all-star singing and composition.
The cast was phenomenal, performing with spot-on acting and passion. In every single case other than the main character of Evan, the cast was an improvement on the original.
Unfortunately, after months of preparation, Alon Sandler lost his voice due to the flu and was swapped by Rafael Abbas at the last minute. While Rafael looks the part and can act like the awkward, bumbling Evan, he does not have Ben Platt’s range, and they do themselves no favors by pretending otherwise.
The range of the notes was too high for Rafael. Instead of lowering the octave or changing some of the higher keys, they kept everything the same, which resulted in his voice cracking multiple times. It created the perhaps false impression that the star wasn’t the most talented singer on that stage. Of course, it could simply be because of the late notice in which he was told to go on stage. However, isn’t that what understudies are for?
The audience didn’t seem to mind as they clapped along with the bouncier numbers and cried during the song “So Big, So Small.” As the play ended, they leaped to their feet for a standing ovation.