Dear Evan Hansen

A couple of weeks ago my parents and I spent the day in New York City and the highlight of the day was definitely when we went to see the musical Dear Evan Hansen. Filled with intense subject matter, incredibly moving songs, and three dimensional characters, this musical is one for the history books and truly has something in it for people of all ages. The musical is about a young high school senior with severe social anxiety who, after the suicide of one of his classmates, makes up a huge lie about how he was best friends with this kid who had killed himself just to feel like he belongs somewhere. Like most people, Evan just wants to feel like he belongs and that his life is actually worth living. This is one of the many reasons that this musical is so important because it reminds us all that, no matter what we are going through or struggling with, our lives and what we do with them matter. This musical also emphasizes the effect social media has had on younger generations, especially on how it negatively effects our abilities and desires to experience the world through something other than a computer screen. Which causes us to spend more and more time wasting our lives away in front of a screen and forgetting to live. Another thing that I loved about this show was its realism. It doesn't try to sugar coat any of the issues that it addresses, making for a very emotional experience. I found many parts of the show much more relatable than could have ever really expected. Like Evan's struggle to make friends and just general fear of interacting with people he didn't really know that well, or at all. Another relatable idea in the show, that has probably gone through most people's heads at once, is the thought of wondering how life could possibly be worth living if such horrible things, like losing the people you care about, happen in it. Though I have never been suicidal myself, I have often wondered why life is often so difficult. Though I still don't have an answer to that question, I feel reassured, remembering that every life matters, even mine.