***** On the Friday night drive to Aurora, to enjoy a nice dinner at one of the many downtown restaurants, and then the opening night of “Dear Evan Hansen” at Paramount Theatre, Jane kept saying that we had seen this play several times. As everyone knows, I never feel that seeing a play again, is in fact seeing it again. As I always say, a different stage, director, cast and of course interpretation, will make you feel that what you are seeing is not what you have seen before. With the Paramount, that has always been the case, and tonight was no different than any other theater night in Aurora. They did it again!

Most of you probably know the story ( book by Steven Levenson, music & lyrics by Benj Pasek & Justin Paul), about a teen ager who is quite nerdy and has almost zero friends. His family life is not ideal, just him and his mom, who attends school and works, so she has little time for Evan. Evan has been instructed by his therapist to write himself a letter every day that starts with “Dear Evan Hansen, Today is a good day” ( or something like that). He is in the high school library doing just that when another student enters. His name is Connor ( deftly handled by Jake DiMaggio Lopez) and he is a “greaser”, bully type, who has a sister, Zoe ( the adorable Isabel Kaegi). Evan thinks she is cute and would love to get to know her. His daily letter to himself comes out of the printer, and Connor, being the bully he is, takes it, reads it and pockets it.

This is where the real story begins- Connor commits suicide and the note is found on him, making everyone think that he was writing this to Evan and that they were friends. From this point on, the entire school believes that they were best buddies and Evan ( by the way, Cody Combs, who truly nails this role is amazing. His voice, his movement and his acting are all top notch. I am thinking he will be around the Chicago theater scene for some time) begins to be popular. He is also taken in to the hearts and souls of Connor’s parents, Cynthia ( Bri Sudia) and Larry ( played to perfection by Devin DeSantas) as well as Zoe ( the aforementioned Kaegi).

This is a small cast musical with lots of heart and soul. Evan’s mom is played by Megan McGinnis, his computer friend Jared by Pablo David Laucerica and the school “blogger” by Elaine Watson.Evan gets Jared to assist him in back dating text messages and e-mails so that the parents will see just how close they were. During all of the story telling with solid direction by Jessica Fisch, and some choreography ( somewhat limited) by Kasey Alfonso, we still have bits and pieces of Connor. “Sincerely Me” in the first act is done by Connor, Jared and Evan and is great at moving the story along. Other songs will stay in your head as well: “For Forever”, “You Will Be Found” and  “Disappear” are three powerful songs. The music is led by Celia Villacres with musical direction by Kory Danielson.

There are a few other people involved with making this production the powerhouse that it is, so let’s mention Angel Alzeidan, Maxwell J. DeTogne, Jordan Radis , Sara Reinecke, and Jake Zinman, who do the offstage vocals. There is also a virtual chorus and a Community Voices choir. While the direction and the cast are wonderful, the tech portion of this production shows the quality of this company. From their very first production, they have shown the cleverness and inginuiity that makes them stand out among regional theater companies.

Andrew Boyce ( set), Stephanie Cluggish ( costumes- FYI you will not see the typical shirt that is known as “the Dear Evan Hansen shirt”),  Greg Hoffman ( lighting), Adam Rosenthal ( sound) , Ethan Deppe ( electronic music design), Aimee Plant ( props), Anthony Churchill ( projection) and Max Fabian ( fight and intimacy direction). These folks truly excelled at doing what makes this production bring us 2 1/2 hours of pure enjoyment as we watch a story unfold that is filled with heart and soul, while at the same time teaching us that in this world of computer technology, our lives can change in an instant. The internet can bring us some wonderful and educational adventures. However, as one can see from this story, one little mishap, if not fixed on day one can lead to a world that is fearful and challenged. This is one that should be on every parent’s “to do” list and watching some of the teens that were with parents in tonight’s performance, I am sure that the ride home was an adventure, to say the least.

“Dear Evan Hansen” will continue thru – Mar 22nd with performances as follows: