Roman Banks as Evan Hansen
SPOILERS AHEAD
I am trying to piece together the remnants of my brain to put something helpful and informative in word form, but I keep coming back to the same thought.
HOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW????
I always go into the performance of a new actor in the role of Evan Hansen with fairly high expectations, whether or not such a thing is fair or even pragmatic. I reason, if they were good enough to get cast to play Evan Hansen on Broadway, they have to be pretty damn good, right?
I was privileged to see Michael Lee Brown, Taylor Trensch, and (the still-missed) Noah Galvin in each’s first week playing the role. Each actor brought amazing talent to the table and gave the role his own spin. Each impressed me with an accomplished performance. Each made me excited to see them again in the role as soon as I could.
But never have I seen someone THIS good right out of the gate. I know in previous posts, I’ve talked about how certain actors playing Evan in their first week were able to create chemistry with several of their co-stars right away. But never have I seen anyone create an instant chemistry with EVERY other actor on that stage. I was shocked when several actors told me after the show that they’d never even run lines with Roman. Considering the easy rapport and organic feel of the cast interactions in each scene, this seems impossible to believe.
Singing wise, Roman has a beautiful voice, and is one of the few I’ve heard hit those high notes in Waving Through A Window without any hint of struggle. The song felt comfortably within his range. His voice has a lightness and ease to it that works well in this role, especially in his tremedously sung If I Could Tell Her.
Roman’s characterization of Evan is quite simply superb. He inhabits the role with a sweetness that puts the audience on Evan’s side immediately. So much so that when Connor pushed Evan, the audience audibly gasped and even cried out in protest – something in 30+ previous viewings of this show I have never seen happen. Roman’s gentle comic touch was also a big plus, and reminded me not a little bit of the balance Evan’s originator so ably struck between comedy and drama.
Another aspect that Roman brought to the show was that his take on Evan affected how the actors around him played their roles, and resulted in especially strong performances from each of the cast members. It felt like everyone upped their game just that little bit more. I especially liked the tender dynamic between Mallory Bechtel’s Zoe and Roman’s Evan, who actually look and seem like high schoolers a year apart in age.
During Words Fail (the standard gauntlet for any Evan), Roman seemed to have a strategy unique to Evans I’ve seen, in that he was actively trying to swallow down his tears to sing the melody correctly. He definitely accomplished that, and when he completed the song, the dam broke and the tears overtook him. I do think the moment is a little more dramatically effective if Evan’s actor allows himself to let go before the song is over, though this almost always sacrifices some of the melody to the raw emotion.
Overall, I cannot remember being this impressed with a Broadway musical debut in a very long time. What a tour de force by Roman, and an unforgettable memory for all lucky enough to witness it.
romaincrisis
snowghoul
2087
