Presented by Room 29 Theatre

Directed by Neil Lavin

Review by Hunter King

Church Hill Theatre

        As a theatre geek who was a bit of a social loner in high school during the mid/late 2010’s it is only natural that I had a massive Dear Evan Hansen phase. Whether it was nostalgia, excitement that the rights have finally been released, or the genuine joy I get while reviewing shows, I found myself itching to see Room 29 Theatre’s production. Upon arrival, I was excited and genuinely surprised to see a massive video wall that took up the entire back of Church Hill’s stage.

        If you didn’t have your sad theatre kid phase in the 2010’s, or have otherwise somehow missed out on learning the plot of Dear Evan Hansen, prepare yourselves as this one (on paper at least) is a bit of a doozy. A mentally ill American high schooler with a broken arm, Evan Hansen (Sebastian Schneeberger) is tasked by his therapist to write letters to himself as a form of gratitude meditation, each starting with “Dear Evan Hansen, today is going to be a great day and here’s why…” Evan, a social outcast, must deal with the reality of living at home with his overworked single mother, Heidi (Eilidh Todd).

At school Evan has no friends, outside of his one family friend, Jared (Scott Binnie) and mostly stays to himself, afraid of most social interactions. After a run in with a troubled kid, Connor Murphy (Harrison Owens) where he signs Evan’s cast, Evan tries to print out the letter to himself, which indirectly refers to Evan’s crush on Zoe (Emma Clarkson), Connor’s sister, but his letter is picked up by Connor who takes it and runs off cursing at the world. A short while later Evan is called to the principal’s office, where he meets Larry (Paul Kelly-Copland) and Cynthia (Lyndsey McGhee), Connor’s parents, and learns that Connor had taken his own life. Through a series of misunderstandings Connor’s family comes to believe that Evan and Connor were secretly best friends, and look to him for guidance in their time of grief. Evan finds himself in a difficult place, and questions whether he should tell the truth, or let the grieving family believe a lie that might help with their acceptance of the situation. One lie leads to another, and suddenly Evan must deal with the whole world having its eyes on him.

Room 29 very clearly took a lot of inspiration from the original broadway production, with many of their technical elements matching the 2016 production. One of the most apparent cases of this is with the massive video wall that was used as a backdrop, an impressive piece of technology for Room 29 to have, even if it still had a few bugs here and there. Additionally costumes were very similar to the broadway run, especially for Evan, who here wears the iconic blue polo shirt that Ben Platt made iconic about a decade ago.

Schneeberger plays Evan with a sympathetic naivety, and a physical performance that perfectly encapsulates the overthinking teen. His vocal chops are well suited for the role, as he is able to seamlessly shift from a chesty belt to a falsetto without any breaks or disconnection. Schneeberger’s naturally low voice has a different quality to it than the well-known Ben Platt production, but this only serves the show well, as he manages to find balance between singing recognizable songs that every theatre tenor dreams of (looking at you, “Waving Through a Window”) while also finding his own voice in the character. Unsurprisingly, Schneeberger dominates with these vocals, but as a soloist often in a sea of angels, he fits right in with the rest of his cast.

Outside of Schneeberger, the strongest vocal performances from the night were led by Clarkson and Kelly-Copland, which when paired with McGhee’s strong vocals and incredible acting chops as a grieving mother, made “Requiem” one of the standouts of the show as their three part harmony created a wall of sound that could’ve knocked the roof off of Church Hill then and there. As the Murphys, Clarkson, McGhee, and Kelly-Copland all thrived, especially Clarkson who managed to play Zoe with a brutality that made her grief all the more believable.

While Kelly-Copland was a stunning vocalist, sometimes his portrayal of the stoic Larry could feel as if he was disinterested in the conversation of his lost son, rather than a man on the edge who is trying to hold it together for his family, or because society tells him he has to. The line between stoicism and disinterest is not a wide line, but a pivotal one, and while there were a few moments that felt as if Kelly-Copland was on the wrong side of it, he managed to make up for them with emotional beats, especially in “To Break in a Glove”, that proved that Larry does indeed have feelings.

I have to admit, most of the show seemed to be a near carbon copy of the original broadway staging, and while that performance was excellent in its own right, it was the slightest bit disappointing to see that director Neil Lavin didn’t do more to make the production his own, with that said, Lavin clearly has the directing chops to navigate sensitive material in a way that felt relevant still in 2026, a great accomplishment as the show itself has been subject to a lot of criticism with its handling of topics like mental health and suicide of teenagers. The show, while not incredibly inventive, was clearly handled with sensitivity and an understanding that the material needed a community of empathy surrounding it. One of the few significant changes to the show was seen in Scott Binnie’s portrayal of Jared. While Jared is usually another socially outcast nerd that uses sarcasm and raunchy humour as a defense mechanism, Binnie made the character a lot less caricaturized and more grounded in the reality of high school. Binnie’s Jared was a lot more normal, making moments where he knew how to do IT work on computers a bit more surprising, and the fact that he has trouble making friends surprising. This characterisation makes for an entirely different portrayal, and one that has, in my opinion, a heavier emotional weight than the original.

Eilidh Todd clearly brings a motherly energy to Heidi, and has a natural relationship with Schneeberger. While at times her vocals wavered throughout the night, her big emotional scenes were heavy hitting, leading to a powerful rendition of “So Big/ So Small” that prioritized the performance of a grieving mother, an important choice that really highlighted Todd’s performance overall.

Opening a show at the Church Hill always has its challenges, and Dear Evan Hansen was no exception to this with a few technical difficulties and missed lighting cues (especially in “Sincerely, Me” where every snappy spotlight cue was about a second or two late on the draw), but overall with the ambition behind the technical aspects, the few mistakes were completely forgivable. The technical team also managed to find a good sound blend between band and actors, and while admittedly it did take a few numbers for them to find their sound, by about the third song of the night they were a well-oiled machine.

It was nice to see Dear Evan Hansen finally make its way to the amateur stage, and as a regional premiere, Room 29 put on a worthy performance. Admittedly, there were moments where tears welled up in my eyes (especially in the emotional climax “Words Fail” which Schneeberger handles both vocally and emotionally like a champ), and if you don’t leave feeling moved or having shed a few tears, I’d have a hard time believing we saw the same show.

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