PicksInSix Review: Dear Evan Hansen - Paramount Theatre

The Struggle to Feel Less Alone.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Kaitlyn Linsner

We are chronically online. Profit-maximizing algorithms fuel our social media compulsions. Phones serve as digital pacifiers to distract us from discomfort, inconvenience, and simple boredom. Poor teenagers face a growing mental health crisis thanks in large part to excessive screen time. How strange yet commonplace it is to feel isolated in a world where you can connect with others via email, text, a phone call, FaceTime, TikTok, you name it.

Amidst this shared experience backdrop, “Dear Evan Hansen” touches on relatable and noteworthy topics like distorted online realities, loneliness, grief, self-acceptance, and navigating mental health struggles. But, to me, despite its overwhelming appeal, the musical format does not serve the message well. This is not a critique specific to Paramount Theatre’s new staging of “Dear Evan Hansen” directed by Jessica Fisch which is the first produced by any Chicago-area theater since the musical’s national tour. Rather, this is a critique of a plot that fails to take a deep and constructive look at issues that need that level of care and attention. Especially considering the entire story centers on Evan Hansen (Cody Combs) exploiting the suicide of a high school classmate for social clout.

What could have been a heartfelt dark comedy or biting satire is instead a confusing, sometimes funny, but mostly serious, journey through arguably misplaced sympathies for a historically beloved, socially anxious protagonist who lies with good intentions. Perhaps that is the point of “Dear Evan Hansen.” For the audience to explore moral complexities and the gray spaces of loss, compassion, and forgiveness through song and dance. How much of this meaning, though, is a projection of the audience’s own desire to connect and be seen?

The music and lyrics by Benk Pasek and Justin Paul do offer some resonating emotional depth, and the Paramount Theatre company sings each anthem beautifully, namely in “You Will Be Found.” The production’s notable performances include Evan (Combs) in the powerful and revealing “Words Fail,” Zoe Murphy (Isabel Kaegi) in the honest and raw “Requiem” and Evan’s mother Heide (Megan McGinnis) in the tender and heartfelt “So Big/So Small.” Heide ultimately saves Evan from his unraveling and McGinnis’s display of strength and vulnerability in the difficult moments is inspiring.

The impressive and digitally-heavy set by scenic designer Andrew Boyce, lighting designer Greg Hofmann and projections designer Anthony Churchill elevates the narrative and does well to display the chaos of our tech-driven lives. Director Fisch’s staging also aptly places the characters in the foreground to bring us closer to real life and the tangible experiences not available on the internet.

All in, Paramount's “Dear Evan Hansen” is polished, entertaining, and highly recommended for those who love this musical and want to experience it again and for those interested in seeing a talented company deliver an emotionally charged and bittersweet performance. For everyone else, depending on who you bring along, be prepared for a frank discussion on the way home.  

Editor’s Note: Paramount’s content advisory: This show contains mature and potentially triggering content centered on mental health issues and teenage suicide. If you or someone you know is facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just need someone to talk to, the caring counselors at 988 Lifeline are available for you. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You are not alone.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | KAITLYN LINSNER serves as an Assistant Attorney General in the Public Utilities Bureau of the Office of the Illinois Attorney General.

PHOTO | Boris Martin

Paramount Theatre
presents
Chicago Regional Premiere
Dear Evan Hansen
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL
through March 22, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Stereophonic - Broadway in Chicago

Rumour Has It: The Radio Edit
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Sarah Frances Fiorello

In 2024, “Stereophonic” made history garnering a whopping 13 Tony Award nominations, the most ever received by a play. It went on to win five Tony Awards, as well as a smattering of Drama League Awards, Outer Critics Circle Awards. The prior year, it brought home an impressive seven Drama Desk Awards from its off-Broadway production at Playwrights Horizons. A shortened version of the play, dubbed as “The Radio Edit” by writer David Adjmi, is embarking on its First National Tour, opening Wednesday and playing at Broadway In Chicago’s CIBC Theatre through February 8.

The play begins nearly mid-sentence, dropping us in without a running start to the durational drama of seven characters (eight if you count the recreational drugs)—five bandmates and two sound engineers—who bear a striking and legally controversial resemblance to “Fleetwood Mac,” the subject of a now-settled lawsuit over the story loosely tracing the recording of “Rumours,” the legendary and notorious album. “Stereophonic” spans one year in four acts, over roughly 2 hours and 50 minutes of stage time, cut from its Broadway run time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. We watch this group of deeply talented and deeply troubled musicians struggle with their rising fame, inner demons, and what it means to gain the world while simultaneously losing the most important things in it: all while making a live, one-of-a-kind album right before our eyes.

There’s much to appreciate about this production, not the least of which is a truly talented group of multi-hyphenate artists who, for nearly three hours, deliver faithfully to their characters, the story, and, well, a delightfully nostalgic ‘70s vibe. Christopher Mowod as the lovable drunk-sober-drunk again Reg is charming and heartbreaking, all wrapped up in one.  Jack Barrett as Grover shows us what it’s like to love something so much, you’d go to hell and back for it, and how to perfectly time the swivel of a chair to get a laugh from an 1,800-seat theatre. Denver Milord as Peter gives us a front row seat on his genius-narcissist rollercoaster, while Claire Dejean as Diana, his lover and bandmate, suffers underfoot. And did I mention? They do all this while recording a live, one-of-a-kind album, right before our very eyes.

This play takes its time. It settles into long pauses and relishes in the pedestrian and mundane dialogue you very well might hear sitting around with a group of friends or artists who don’t realize they are on stage and responsible for entertaining you. It moves at a pace that mimics the painstaking and methodical slowness of making something excellent. It details the granularity of perfection and the all-too-common breakdown that accompanies it. I minded none of these things. In a time when entertainment moves at frames per second as if cooked in a microwave oven, I was grateful to slow all the way down to sit with these characters on a cold January evening in Chicago.

That said, I was left wanting more. Having not seen the Broadway production, the version that made a big splash and churned out tons of happy patrons, I can’t say for sure what is lacking here or what changed. Perhaps it has lost layers of character development when trimming down to “The Radio Edit” version—those small twists and turns that are revelatory, allowing us to see ourselves in the characters and have compassion for them. The plot—while intentionally left at a low hum—felt muddied. Some points were under-developed, like the relationship between Holly and Reg, and others overly-stressed, like Peter’s run amok, self-destructive journey. Maybe something intimate is foregone in moving to a theatre house nearly double the size of the Golden Theatre, where it received such a warm Broadway reception. Maybe something is lost in moving the show, period. Some spaces are sacred and carry a bit of magic. Just like the recording studios legendary musicians have been flocking to for decades.

Still: go see “Stereophonic.”  I will always advocate that a night at the theatre is a night well spent and that theatre doesn’t need to be great or perfect to be moving or important. Anything that reveals our shared humanity, especially right now, is worthy of our time. Go enjoy some classic rock music, composed by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, performed in a setting that—in the context of the music industry—that is all but ancient history.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | SARAH FRANCES FIORELLO is a graduate of Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Music Theatre and a Chicago-based poet, writer, and performer.  Instagram: @writtenbysarahfrances

PHOTO|Julieta Cervantes

Broadway in Chicago
presents
First National Tour
Stereophonic
CIBC Theatre
17 East Adams Street
through February 8, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: Come From Away - Paramount Theatre

Paramount’s Heartwarming Hit Channels Friendship, Hospitality.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Regina Belt-Daniels

A quandary—at least that must have been what the residents of the Newfoundland town of Gander were dealing with as 38 airplanes carrying 6,579 passengers from 100 countries landed at the Gander airport on September 11, 2001. “Come From Away” marks both Paramount Theatre’s season opener for the 25-26 Broadway Bold Series as well as the Chicago Regional premiere of the show based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the Gander townspeople and the “come from away”(a.k.a. stranded) passengers. The award-winning show, the work of playwrights Irene Sankoff and David Hein who are also responsible for the music and lyrics, originated at the Jolla Playhouse in San Diego on its way to earning three Drama Desk awards (including Best Musical) and seven 2017 Tony Award nominations, winning for Best Direction.

The 90-minute musical (no intermission) is masterfully directed by the multiple Jeff Award-winning Trent Stork, and joins a prestigious string of hits—27 in all—of outstanding Paramount productions including “Cats,” “Frozen,” “Kinky Boots,” and “School of Rock” among others. Stork has assembled a clever and creative production team including choreographer Kasey Alfonso, scenic designer Milo Bue, costume designer Izumi Inaba, lighting designer Greg Hoffman, sound designer Adam Rosenthal, projections Mike Tutaj, wigs hair and makeup designer Katie Cordts and dialect coach Susan Gosdick. Stage manager Amber R. Dettmers keeps the well-paced show running smoothly.

This production is in the capable hands of Music Director Kory Danielson with the very talented Associate Musical Director Kailey Rockwell conducting the performance on Sunday evening. The songs are heart-tugging, lively, energetic, determined and performed flawlessly by Danielson’s eight-piece band, some who are seated on stage and are included in the story. Most notable of the 14 songs are the company sung “Welcome to the Rock,” “Screech In,” “Something is Missing,” and the standout performances of “I Am Here” by Soara-Joye Ross (Hannah) and “Me and the Sky” by Andrea Prestinario (Captain Beverley), both of whom have amazing vocal ranges.

Each member of the ensemble of 18 create multiple endearing and vibrant characters celebrating friendship, compassion, and extraordinary hospitality. The themes of kindness, global community and resilience resonate in everyone, however, I did favor Russell Konstans’s Mayor; Nick Druzbanski’s Constable Oz; Abby C. Smith’s Gander citizen Beulah, and the already mentioned Soara-Joyce Ross’s worried mom Hannah and Beverley Bass, the first female American Airline captain played by Andrea Prestinario.

There is plenty of charming humor in both the songs and dialogue surprisingly in such a historically tragic event. In “Welcome to the Rock,” which introduced both the plot and setting, we hear “small place on a rock in the ocean, and you won’t understand half of what we say,” comments about the infamous Tim Horton’s where everything starts and ends, the six cardiologists dance and the reason why the planes were sent to Gander.

“Come From Away” is entertaining, educational and sings of miracles. There is something for everyone, even as we recognize and remember the tragedy of 911. You will be crying and dancing through the finale with the superb cast. You don’t have to ‘come from away’ to enjoy this heartwarming story and you have until October 12 to experience it yourself.

Postscript: There is another existing quandary in Aurora. The City Council of Aurora has cut Paramount’s budget impacting future shows at the Copley—which closed a critically acclaimed production of “True West” last weekend—and has already canceled upcoming productions of “Covenant” and “Ride the Cyclone.” Paramount Theatre is among the largest subscription series in the country and yet the theater now is facing an inevitable reduction to its overall programming from 900 to 700 performances annually. “Million Dollar Quartet” is thriving at the year-old Stolp Island Theatre even as additional reductions to the Riveredge Park and Paramount School of the Arts are on the table. Hopefully, the City Council will reconsider this key investment in the arts for the citizens of Aurora and the surrounding region.

Guest Contributor|Regina Belt-Daniels is a retired special education teacher who has acted, directed, and staged managed throughout Illinois and has reviewed theater for numerous publications for over a decade.

PHOTO|Brett Beiner 

Paramount Theatre
presents
Chicago Regional Premiere
Come From Away
23 E Galena Blvd
Aurora
through October 12, 2025

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PROGRAM

For more reviews, visit: Theatre In Chicago

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