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| Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| So I've been wondering if somewhere down the road, DEH could be cast with a woman playing Evan Hansen. (Evan can be a woman's name, e.g. Evan Rachel Wood, for example.) I'm not an expert in the script so I don't know how much re-writing would be necessary, but I suspect it'd be very little, though they might have to cut or replace the baseball glove song and Connor (Connie?) would of course have a brother instead of a sister. It seems to me that the themes of DEH cut completely across the gender line and thus it might be an interesting concept. Thoughts? |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: CCentero 05:08 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Yes--let's sexually appropriate Evan Hansen for the Anastasia crowd. It's a male character, complete with specifics about being a male adolescent , including what it's like for a male not to grow up with a father figure. Sickening idea. | |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: Delvino 05:31 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - CCentero 05:08 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| I concur. Gender decidedly plays a role in adolescence and this story is specifically constructed on teenage boy experience, two boys who end up linked. Yes, a fair amount of rewriting would be required and for what? Create a new show. I do believe the cast will continue to be diverse and Evan could be cast with a young man of any ethnicity or national origin. It's not even a "Hamilton" leap, though why not for the others? Evan's biological father is never seen, so why presume he is white? |
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| Upon reflection | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 06:11 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - Delvino 05:31 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| OK, it's not the first time I've had a bad idea, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I'm convinced that Evan Hansen should be a male role. | |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: TheHarveyBoy 06:45 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| WRITE YOUR OWN DAMN MUSICAL! | |
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| So TheHarveyBoy said... | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 12:33 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - TheHarveyBoy 06:45 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| WRITE YOUR OWN DAMN MUSICAL! With due respect, I believe that misses my point, and by a wide mark. I was really asking two questions. First, I was asking that since the themes of the show are not in any way gender specific, would it not be possible to have Evan Hansen be played as a (straight) woman at some point down the road, perhaps after it had been up for three or four years, with what I think would involve very little rewriting. As I said originally, I'm not very well versed in the script, I only saw the show twice, once at Second Stage and once on Broadway shortly after it opened. But I THINK it might be done by changing the sexes of Evan, Connor and Zoe. So, in no way was this an attempt to rewrite the musical into something it's not. It's the contrary, using the identical musical and not change the focus one iota. The second question I was asking is that even assuming that it could be done, would it make sense to do it, possibly from merely a marketing perspective after several years.? Understand that I'm not advocating this at all, it just occurred to me that the possibility might exist and I was interested in the perspective of others here. |
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| Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays? | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 12:55 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: So TheHarveyBoy said... - broadwaybacker 12:33 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| I don't hear it very often among younger people. I think of Evelyn Wood, Evelyn Keyes, all from long ago, but not among millennials. | |
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| re: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays?- | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 01:12 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays? - PlayWiz 12:55 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| No, that was only a tongue in cheek title for the thread. My idea would be to keep the name the same, as I said when referring to Evan being either a boy's name or a girls"s name in the OP. | |
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| re: Eva's very popular right now. ;) nm | |
| Posted by: SuzanneR 02:52 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays?- - broadwaybacker 01:12 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| nm | |
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| re: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays?- | |
| Last Edit: PlayWiz 01:23 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| Posted by: PlayWiz 01:22 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays?- - broadwaybacker 01:12 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| For every Dolly Levi or Mame or Norma Desmond and other big over-the-top woman's parts, there's a much smaller amount of Harold Hills or Sweeney Todds, so I would keep this one as is in the men's column. Of course, going the other way, I'd love to see a "Bells Are Ringing" with an Elliot (instead of Ella) Peterson trying to help his female writer client Jessie (Jeffrey) Moss, with perhaps some variations among the dentist, struggling Marlon Brando-esque actor, etc. | |
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| re: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays? | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 01:00 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: Isn't Evelyn kind of an old-fashioned name nowadays? - PlayWiz 12:55 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
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| How about Eva? (If we can have both Eva and Evan Longoria...why not Hansen?) ;-) | |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 07:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - TheHarveyBoy 06:45 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I could't agree more. I mean, this starts to sound like the what-ifs my sixth-grade friends and I would play, trying to imagine a Funny Girl in which we could play "Danny" Brice or a show in which we could be "James" Dennis. If a female performer could get cast as the male character Evan, well, that would be a director's choice, but isn't it important that the character is a boy--especially with various relationships (I haven't seen, just listened to and read synopses). I grow weary... |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Posted by: JohnPopa 04:22 pm EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - BruceinIthaca 07:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I can't imagine leaving "Violet," a show I absolutely adore, and thinking 'they should make it with a male lead so it relates to me more.' If the themes are universal, as the saying goes, why do people want to change it so they can relate to it? | |
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| If i could tell her | |
| Posted by: dramedy 05:34 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Would have to be changed a lot. Even if you made it connor's brother, it would not make sense that connor would even notice his brother filling out teen quizes, his smile, stars on the jeans. Those are girl things and a brother wouldnt look at that admiringly. And i dont see how female evan would find that attractive. . The song works because male evan loves female zoe. | |
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| for performance accessibility it might behoove them to have a Female Evan version written... | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 06:23 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:13 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: If i could tell her - dramedy 05:34 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I know they don't have to worry about money, but I know they also care about it being exposed to teens everywhere and performed a lot... and very few high schools have boys who can sing this role. They wrote a lot of material for Evan and unless the school has a guy who can act well and sing well to pull off even a sliver of what Platt has to, the show will come off very poorly or not be done. It doesn't help that 3 of the main roles are parents, and the teen roles who aren't Evan do not have that much to do comparatively. This isn't great for a high school. However casting options for talented female leads in high schools are traditionally much wider. I don't think it would take that much time for the authors to do some tweaking to make an alternative female Evan version available for licensing, at least upon case by case approval. |
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| I don't see why you would need any script changes | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 02:51 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Other than pronouns, there's no reason why you couldn't have an actress playing Evan, with Connor still having a sister. The baseball glove song could stay exactly as is. | |
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| I think making her a lesbian | |
| Posted by: dramedy 05:29 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I don't see why you would need any script changes - Ncassidine 02:51 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Would change the show dramatically and not for the better. | |
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| re: I think making her a lesbian | |
| Posted by: KingSpeed 08:58 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I think making her a lesbian - dramedy 05:29 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Ugh. Are you for real? | |
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| re: I think making her a lesbian | |
| Posted by: Ncassidine 06:17 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I think making her a lesbian - dramedy 05:29 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I honestly don't think it would change anything. | |
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| My reasoning Spoilers | |
| Posted by: dramedy 11:32 am EDT 07/09/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I think making her a lesbian - Ncassidine 06:17 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Teen suicide due to gay issues is 30-40% of all suicide attempts. I suspected in the first act that he broke his arm falling out of the tree on purpose, which of course comes out in the second act as suicide attempt of his own. Now, he is just a typical teenager not fitting in. Too add a gay aspect i think might make the character less relatable. Im not an expert in the ways to kill one self, but i think girls tend to do pills or wrist cutting and boys would be more violent. I remember one study with guns found then men shoot themselves in head snd women aim for the heart or abdomen. | |
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| re: I think making her a lesbian | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 05:34 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I think making her a lesbian - dramedy 05:29 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Yes, I completely agree, dramedy. Obviously (I hope) it's not what I had in mind in suggesting the possibility that Evan could be female. I'm still curious about how you all think that might work. (The thread got off the track a bit re the baseball glove song). |
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| re: I don't see why you would need any script changes | |
| Posted by: JohnPopa 02:52 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: I don't see why you would need any script changes - Ncassidine 02:51 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| The baseball glove would remain one of the worst songs ever written for a musical, regardless of Evan's gender :) | |
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| re: I don't see why you would need any script changes | |
| Posted by: JLagow (JLagow@aol.com) 03:18 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't see why you would need any script changes - JohnPopa 02:52 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| The more I listen to the album, the more it grows on me (and I didn't particularly like the song when I saw DEH). Anyone else feel the same? |
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| re: I don't see why you would need any script changes | |
| Posted by: jeffef 03:39 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't see why you would need any script changes - JLagow 03:18 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| It's one of the few songs I will ff or skip. Ok song in the whole piece I suppose. | |
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| re: I don't see why you would need any script changes | |
| Posted by: skier74 10:19 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: I don't see why you would need any script changes - jeffef 03:39 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Yeah, I always skip it too. | |
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| re: Dear Evan Hansen | |
| Posted by: Ann 02:33 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:30 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| Is there something male-centric about the baseball glove song? | |
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| re: Dear Evelyn Hansen | |
| Last Edit: broadwaybacker 02:54 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| Posted by: broadwaybacker 02:45 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evan Hansen - Ann 02:33 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| No, there isn't. I have a daughter who played Little Leauge baseball, so that's not what I meant. In the context of the show, the song is about the father-son relationship that Connor's father longed for but never had. So, it was really more an issue of how it would fit if Evan was female. No sexism intended. |
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| re: Dear Evan Hansen | |
| Posted by: Ann 02:52 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evelyn Hansen - broadwaybacker 02:45 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| If Connor is female too, it wouldn't matter. If Connor is male and Evan is female, I think the dynamics might change too much. | |
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| re: Dear Evan Hansen | |
| Last Edit: jeffef 03:47 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| Posted by: jeffef 03:44 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Dear Evan Hansen - Ann 02:52 pm EDT 07/08/17 | |
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| I don't see why it wouldn't work. If you've heard or read discussions with the creators, their theme was social media's fascination and ours as human beings with the tendency of associating with tragedy to feel good about ourselves. Or something like that. Please forgive if I misquote. But it's not about specifically Evan or Conner or any of their relationships, in a bigger sense. It's just the device they used to delve into the social media thing, if I remember correctly. I love this show and the score. |
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