#laura dreyfuss

[dear-evan-fansen]

So many criticisms of Dear Evan Hansen revolve around the show being messy/morally convoluted as if that was an overlooked flaw in the writing and not the whole point of the show.

Everything in Dear Evan Hansen is intentionally messy. Everything has two sides. Social media is a positive place where people can come together to make a difference AND it's a breeding ground for hate and vitriol. Evan is a deeply caring, empathetic person AND he does a horrible thing. Heidi is a dedicated, loving mother AND she works so hard that she never spends any time with her son. Connor is agressive, angry, violent, AND he is a depressed, lonely person, ostracized by his peers and longing for connection. Larry Murphy is a domineering authority figure who treats his son like a criminal AND he's a frustrated parent that wants to help Connor get better the only way he knows how. Evan's lies are harmful and manipulative AND they give a family that was tearing apart at the seams time to come together, reflect, and grieve.

All of these things can be true at the same time, and one doesn't have to overshadow or cancel out the other. In ignoring one to focus on the other, you're wilfully missing the point of the story. Real life is messy and complex, and that's exactly what the show is trying so hard to emulate. That's not bad writing, it's just being realistic.

Pasek and Paul said that in its earliest form, the show was meant to look at why people insert themselves into tragedy through a much more cynical lense, criticizing people like Evan. But somewhere in the writing process they found that it's not that simple, because people don't just do that shit for no reason, and it's naive to believe they would. Evan didn't do what he did to be popular or get a girlfriend or gaslight a grieving family. He did it because he saw a chance to help people who were hurting. In the process, he found connection that he had longed for his whole life, and allowed that to complicate things, making him a lot more reluctant to do the right thing and come clean. But the show makes it explicity clear that his initial intention was rooted in helping someone else, not himself. And as bad as it was, it did force the Murphys to come to terms with their loss instead of running away from it, to come together instead of drifting apart.

Yes, the morality of everything that happens in the show is deeply questionable, complex and muddy and that's the ENTIRE POINT. It doesn't mean the show is endorsing what Evan did. The vast majority of the fan base doesn't endorse what Evan did either. Most of us understand what that final scene in the orchard is getting at. It's not arguing that what Evan did was somehow morally correct, or handing him some magical "get out of jail free card". It's acknowledging ALL the consequences of his actions (good AND bad, the healing he brought about AND the hurt he caused) and letting us come to terms with that along with him and move forward. That scene encompasses one of the most important messages of the show: that doing something bad doesn't make you evil. One mistake doesn't have to define you for the rest of your life, and it doesn't make you less human, or any less deserving of growth and self acceptance.

#i'm sorry this is so long #i have so many thoughts about this show and i'm so tired of seeing it dragged through the mud #dear evan hansen #deh #ben platt #will roland #mike faist #connor murphy #laura dreyfuss #zoe murphy #heidi hansen #larry murphy #jared kleinman #alana beck

[screaming-static]

Is anyone from the dear evan hansen fandom still alive? Please interact with this post if you are because I swear there's actually no one-

#dear evan hansen #evan hansen #connor murphy #you will be found #waving through a window #broadway #musicals #musical #ben platt #mike faist #will roland #michael parks #laura dreyfuss #rachel bay jones #the insanley cool jared klienmen #zoe murphy #larry murphy #heidi hansen #jared kleinman #alana beck #dead fandom #dead fandoms

[waitwtfismylife]

dear evan hansen is the only reason im still alive

#dear evan hansen #ben platt #mike faist #laura dreyfuss #will roland #musicals #broadway #theatre #musical theatre #theatre kid #you will be found #waving through a window

[yung-sriracha]

The Politician 1x01 ❝ Pilot ❞

#the politician #the politican netflix #ben platt #laura dreyfuss #theo germaine #julia schlaepfer #peyton hobart #mcafee westbrook #james sullivan #alice charles #filmedit #filmtvcentral #filmgifs #filmandtv #film edit #userstream #smallscreensource #finally getting around to giffing this show so i can delete it from my computer #starting with this scene bc i quote this alice line ALL the time #also julia bb im so sorry for how dirty they did you s1 youre actually a gorgeous gorgeous girl #also the coloring on this show is so weird i tried fixing it as much as i could and i still feel like it looks off #mine

[wowbright]

Two Glee cast members in one episode of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel! How did I never hear about this?

#it's the Catskills episode in season 2 #season 2 episode 4 #Hunter Clarington and Madison McCarthy #glee #the marvelous mrs. maisel #laura dreyfuss #nolan gerard funk

[mthguy]

Laura Dreyfuss and Ben Platt perform “Only Us” from the Tony Award winning Best Musical Dear Evan Hansen, music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

“I don't need you to sell me on reasons to want you I don't need you to search for the proof that I should You don't have to convince me You don't have to be scared you're not enough 'Cause what we've got going is good I don't need more reminders of all that's been broken I don't need you to fix what I'd rather forget Clear the slate and start over Try to quiet the noises in your head We can't compete with all that So what if it's us? What if it's us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter? Can we try that? What if it's you And what if it's me And what if that's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away? What do you say? I never thought there'd be someone like you who would want me Well... So I give you ten thousand reasons to not let me go But if you really see me If you like me for me and nothing else Well, that's all that I've wanted for longer that you could possibly know So it can be us It can be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore or matter We can try that It's not so impossible Nobody else but the two of us here 'Cause you're saying it's possible We can just watch the whole world disappear 'Til you're the only one I still know how to see It's just you and me It'll be us It'll be us And only us And what came before won't count anymore We can try that You and me That's all that we need it to be And the rest of the world falls away And the rest of the world falls away The world falls away The world falls away And it's only us”

#youtube #dear evan hansen #ben platt #laura dreyfuss #only us

[auspisious]

I don’t post here often anymore…..

The show that started it all. Thank you, Dear Evan Hansen 🫶 happy trails 🥹

#mike faist #dear evan hansen #dear evan hansen musical #connor murphy #ben platt #evan hansen #will roland #zoe murphy #laura dreyfuss #jared kleinman #rachel bay jones #jennifer laura thompson #kristolyn lloyd

[you-will-be-found]

🥲🥲🥲

#deh era mike my beloved #also laura <3<3 #crying over everyone posting about the show closing #mike faist #laura dreyfuss #dear evan hansen #deh

[oliviaaaah]

DEH cast with members of the Newsies cast

#dear evan hansen #mike faist #tommy bracco #andrew keenan bolger #anthony rosenthal #newsies #laura dreyfuss #will roland #ben platt

[dear-evan-fansen]

It frustrates me when people say "If I Could Tell Her" is Evan trying to use the memory of Connor to "seduce" Zoe. Usually they're joking but some people seem to genuinely believe that's what that song is and I feel like you REALLY have to not be paying attention at all to come away with that conclusion.

The show makes it pretty clear that his only intention going into the song is to make Zoe feel better about the memory of her brother. He doesn't just bring Connor up out of nowhere to get on her good side, Zoe ASKS him what Connor meant in his note and is visibly upset about it. So he tells her all the good things he's noticed about her and attributes them to Connor hoping to make her feel better. He's basically doing the OPPOSITE of trying to get her to fall for him, because he's saying all these sweet things but giving someone else the credit for noticing them, because he knows that's what Zoe wants to hear.

I think the misconception around this song comes largely from the fact that he tries to kiss her afterwards, (which was obviously not a good move at all and no one's denying that) but I feel like it's painfully obvious that that wasn't planned and it came from him misreading things in the moment? If you've never had any kind of experience with romance or intimacy or anything of that sort (which Evan very obviously hasn't), the proper timing for something like that wouldn't come easy to you. It wouldn't be something you just instinctually understand, especially if you're already bad at reading people and constantly overthinking everything they say and do. When you're used to feeling invisible, someone treating you with kindness or making an effort to connect with you can pretty easily be misinterpreted as romantic interest.

And we're talking about a character with crippling anxiety whose idea of flirting was saying "I've seen you play guitar in jazz band I love jazz band I love jazz well not all jazz but definitely like jazz band jazz". Do you really think he understands social cues well enough to know the right timing of that sort of thing? Do you honestly believe he's thinking far enough ahead to plan out some elaborate scheme to make someone fall in love with him? That's crazy. He has a moment of connection with the girl he's been in love with for years and he mistakes her interest in what he's saying for interest in HIM for a split second at the END of the song. Kissing her was not a thought in his mind until that very moment, because he didn't even believe there was a chance in hell that she could ever like someone like him until that moment where they sit on the bed together and actually connect. That was the moment where they stopped being a million worlds apart, and Evan didn't know how to handle it. I feel that every actor I've ever seen play the role has made this abundantly clear. Was it a bad move on Evan's part? Absolutely! But it's not at all the the same as actively trying to manipulate someone into liking you and I'm really tired of people pretending that it is.

#dear evan hansen #deh #evan hansen #zoe murphy #if i could tell her #ben platt #laura dreyfuss #broadway

[coffeelovinggayidiot]

I cannot believe that I spent a month looking for inspiration for how to play my character in theatre when Laura Dreyfuss's preformence as both Zoe Murphy and Mcafee Westbrook exist and are literally perfect!

#zoe murphy #mcafee westbrook #laura dreyfuss #dear evan hansen #the politician

[zazz10]

Am I the only one still absolutely obsessed with DEH and have been since 2016?🥲

#the fandom is dying #and that makes me devasted #dear evan hansen #dear evan hansen supremacy #Broadway #musical theatre #ben platt #mike faist #will roland #laura dreyfuss #colton ryan #I love this show too much #pls bring the hype back #🥲😭 #it’s getting so much hate #which is so sad #and undeserved

[popchoc]

1, 17, 19 puhleaseeee <3

1. a song you like with a color in the title

Azul by Edson e Hudson. Fun fact: I already knew of two versions (Dutch and Spanish) before I heard this one, but this became my favorite straight away. Love the energy!

17. a song that you would sing a duet with on karaoke

I can't sing at all, but if I'd find myself in one of those private room kinda karaoke bars, I might lose myself a little "singing" my parts of Only Us from Dear Evan Hansen. (Ooh, or Take Me or Leave Me from Rent... shit, don't start me thinking musicals, I can go on forever! lol)

19. a song that makes you think about life

Ain't Got No, I Got Life by Nina Simone. Sometimes it's just that simple.

#azul #edson e hudson #only us #laura dreyfuss #ben platt #ain't got no i got life #nina simone #music asks #ask game #thanks for these!

[compulsivewriter]

Halfway to midnight thoughts

Is it just me, or half (maybe more) of the actresses who's played Zoe Murphy becomes a photographer of a sort?

#dear evan hansen #querido evan #zoe murphy #laura dreyfuss #gabrielle carrubba #gillian jackson han #lucy elizabeth anderson #rocio hernandez #photography #musical theater #random musings of the compulsive writer

[madisonmcarthy]

(via laura dreyfuss' instagram stories)

#laura dreyfuss #ben platt

[leek-lark]

Another Ball Park Music/Dear Evan Hansen post because now that I realised this is a possibility I am running through my playlists assigning each song to a character. This one is Zoe Murphy as Girls From High School!!

I interpret this song to be about reflecting back and mourning your past self and the people you knew in high school - who no longer exist because time has passed and everyone grew up (seemingly without warning). The vibes also I think match the nature with which Zoe mourns her brother. Because she acknowledges that Connor’s death has inevitably changed who she is and how she’s perceived. Her feelings about it are so complex - she is angry at him and upset about what he’s done to her. And when Evan comes in more feelings are introduced as she digs up good memories of Connor, and realises that maybe she could’ve known him in another life. But she’s still found herself in this odd in-between place where she doesn’t know what she is, or whether she's defined by her past or present (or future). But the song ends with acceptance, finally saying goodbye; this is why I drew her in the orchard scene/finale outfit. The end of the song makes me cry, it’s very good. 

#I don't know if these thoughts make sense #this song makes me very emotional #and so does zoe's story #I love the murphys #dear evan hansen #zoe murphy #laura dreyfuss #my art #ball park music !!