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La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and McCoy Rigby Entertainment presents the regional theatre premiere of “Dear Evan Hansen”. 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score including 2018 Grammy winner for Best Musical Theater Album.
“Dear Evan Hansen” is a modern classic with a message that has resonated with audiences around the world: “You Will Be Found.” Seventeen-year-old Evan Hansen (Tyler Donovan McCall) has felt invisible his entire life living with social anxiety and depression. His overworked mother, Heidi Hansen (Gwen Hollander) has little to no free time to spend with her son.
Depressed drug user Connor Murphy (Nic Hermick) feels threatened by Evan’s awkwardness and constantly abuses his sister. Evan also happens to be infatuated by Connor’s sister, Zoe Murphy (Kendyl Sayuri Yokotama), struggling to find the right words and things to say to her.
But when tragedy strikes the Murphy family, Connor and Zoe’s parents Cynthia Murphy (Jill Van Velzer) and Larry Murphy (Josh Adamson) seek answers in Evan. He is thrust into the center of a rapidly evolving controversy. Evan’s family friend Jared Kleinman (Gabriel Vernon Nunag) fans the flames. Excitable and overachiever Alana Beck (Analisa Idalia) dig for more support for their noble efforts but unknowingly based on fabricated tales. Evan is given the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to be somebody else. As his web of well-intentioned lies begins to unravel, though, Evan is forced to confront the fact that the price of belonging may be far steeper than he bargained for. Recommended for ages 13 and up.
McCoy Rigby Entertainment continues to produce Broadway level productions the community can confidently relay on. You can’t go wrong with any shows presented at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts. “Dear Evan Hansen” has an outstanding reputation that is not necessarily for everyone. The subject matters and character portrayals comes with sensitivity and maturity that in some areas get played for laughs. The audience may and will get uncomfortable but the show does not let you down. Many musicals have their leads start in the beginning as reprehensible yet has a heart of gold that by the end attempt to make the wrong things right and has some level of redemption. It’s difficult to root for someone like Evan or his so called friends in the manner of their choices and motivations.
The subpar layer of superficialness quickly expressed in the brief opening and undeniably catchy “Waving Through a Window” showcase the truth and emotional core that is the glue to what comes next. Feeling unseen and unheard being a common human experience instantly strikes chord and everlasting attachment to its message. Certainly a standout moment compared to the rest of the music catalog much of which tainted and spoiled from rabid fiction. Painting the facade of a relationship with a person not able to speak for themselves living in agony under self preservation and the intoxication of the slightest attention by no means creates a hero nor an anti-hero for the speaker. As the main character undergoes an emotional whirlwind based on the storm of their own creation so is the audience struggle to hold any sympathy. A plague that continues to grow and fester in its own filth fed by more distressing adolescence. Is this advancing level of discomfort considered endearment?
The entire cast is perfectly suited for their roles. The chemistry with everyone on stage is right where they need to be with the friendships, bonding, disagreements, bonding, and attachments.
Kendyl Sayuri Yokotama as Zoe spearheaded “Requiem” with winsome poise and poignant fragility. Equally matched perplexity with her her duet with Tyler Donovan McCall as Evan in “Only Us”. A beautiful song on its own focusing on the personal relationship beyond the chaos of the outside world. Just as long as you ignore Evan is living a lie that Zoe is yet to be aware of. A song of lovers for characters you don’t want together.
Gwen Hollander as Evan’s mother delivers a resounding and moving rendition of “So Big/So Small” pulling on heartstrings over a mother’s bond to her son. The hardships conveyed through toiling vocals holds so much to what little is said.
“Dear Evan Hansen” is a bewildering twister of how we want to remember those who are gone. Will the negative outweigh the good? How much good is possible to identify? What balance and value is there for life? How much more harm can the living be doing even with good intentions? “Dear Evan Hansen” transfixes the harrowing toll of mental illness and its effects of acceptance and perseverance. The musical dives head first into dark themes with attempts at discomforting humor. This will not be everyone’s taste, but could open up to more flavors of discussion if one is prepared to take a sip with an open mind. If the audience can react strongly with the character of Bear Bailey in the supernatural horror film “Obsession”, I’d be intrigued with the comparison to Evan Hansen.
Book by Steven Levenson. Music and lyrics by Grammy, Tony, Emmy, and Academy Award winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (The Greatest Showman, La La Land). Musical direction by Ryan O’Connell. Direction by Broadway and the 1st National Tour Stephen C. Anthony.
Playing October 30, 2026 through November 22, 2026 at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd. in La Mirada, CA.
For more information including ticket sales, visit www.lamiradatheatre.gov
