'YOU WILL BE FOUND': 'DEAR EVAN AANSEN' FINDS ITS WAY TO MANILA

“You are not alone.” “You are doing okay.” “You matter.” “You are enough.”

- PAM PASTOR

These are just a few of the many messages left by theatergoers on a board at the lobby of The Theatre at Solaire, beneath the heading “Words You Needed to Hear Today.” One message stands out — scrawled again and again: “You will be found.”

It’s a lyric from Dear Evan Hansen,” running at The Theatre at Solaire until Oct. 5. The musical, which tells the story of a socially anxious teenager who finds his voice through an unexpected lie, has become a global phenomenon since it premiered on Broadway in 2016.

It features music by the Emmy-, Grammy-, Oscarand Tony-winning duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and a book by Steven Levenson, and won six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Actor, plus a Grammy and an Olivier Award.

Dear Evan Hansen explores themes of mental health, social media, loneliness and belonging, grief and loss, deception and its consequences, authenticity and family — the kind you're born into and the kind you choose.

GMG Productions executive producer Sam Sewell said, “We're seeing this palpable shift into having material onstage that feels more and more of a reflection of the young audiences that are coming to the theater. And those young audiences are present here in Manila.”

She noted that the theater-going audience in the Philippines is very young — around 10 to 12 years younger than audiences in other countries. “That's very exciting for us,” said Sam. “They're looking for material that they see themselves in, and I think Dear Evan Hansen is the perfect example of that.”

It’s a show that Filipinos have been requesting for a long time, said Sam. “It's something that we knew our audience really wanted to see.”