March 20, 2025 • 27 mins
The six-time Tony Award winning show “Dear Evan Hansen” is bringing its North American Tour to the State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ. The show boasts music and lyrics by EGOT winners - that’s an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and a Tony - Benjamin Pasek and Justin Paul. “Dear Evan Hansen” offers a score that will have you whistling the tunes on your way out of the theater.
The show tackles some sensitive topics in a way that audiences have been connecting with deeply since its Broadway premiere in 2016. The musical focuses on lonely high school student, Evan Hansen, who always feels like he’s on the outside looking in. Evan finally gets what so many of us are searching for—the chance to fit in. What follows is a poignant, funny, and powerful musical about how even though it can be hard, we can find each other—and ourselves—along the way.
Gina Rodriguez and cast members Bre Cade and Caitlin Sams engage in an introspective discussion about what has been a groundbreaking and deeply touching musical.
Please note a Trigger Warning for today’s chat. Both this episode and the show itself will touch on child loss and death by suicide. Please listen with care.
Thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (00:03):
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
The six-time Tony Award-winningshow, dear Evan Hansen, is
bringing its North American tourto the State Theater in New
Brunswick, new Jersey.
The show boasts music andlyrics by EGOT winners.
That's an Emmy, grammy, oscarand a Tony Benjamin Pasich and
(00:23):
Justin Paul.
Dear Evan Hansen offers a scorethat will have you whistling
the tunes on your way out of thetheater.
The show tackles some sensitivetopics in a way that audiences
have been connecting with deeplysince its Broadway premiere in
2016.
The musical focuses on lonelyhigh school student Evan Hansen,
who always feels like he's onthe outside looking in.
(00:44):
Evan finally gets what so manyof us are like he's on the
outside looking in.
Evan finally gets what so manyof us are searching for the
chance to fit in.
What follows is a poignant,funny and powerful musical about
how, even though it can be hard, we can find each other and
ourselves along the way.
Now I would be remiss if Ididn't offer a trigger warning
for today's chat.
Both this episode and the showitself will touch on child loss
(01:06):
and death by suicide.
Please listen with care.
That said, my conversation withcast members Brie Cade and
Caitlin Sams allowed for anintrospective discussion about
what has been a groundbreakingand deeply touching musical.
Take a listen.
It's nice to meet both of you.
Thank you for taking the time.
(01:26):
I appreciate it, sure.
Yeah, thank you Take a listen,enjoying it.
I'm actually yeah, it is.
Bre Cade (01:32):
We're having really nice reception here, and it
doesn't hurt that the weatherhas been very nice, like
unseasonably nice, in the timethat we've been here, so I think
(01:53):
we've been spared from some ofthe more typical cold
temperatures, definitely.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:59):
I think that's great.
Well, let's just jump into theshow.
Let's start with Brie.
If you wouldn't mind justtelling me a little bit about
your character and what youappreciate about this role?
Caitlin Sams (02:09):
Oh sure, so I play Heidi Hansen, evan's mom, in
the show.
She is a single mom.
She's working, she's puttingherself through school, you know
, and doing a lot of differentthings to try to just be a good
mom, all while trying to connectwith her young high school son,
and that's been really hard too.
(02:29):
What I really appreciate aboutplaying this role is that, with
all the roles too, they're verygrounded, real people, and
especially Heidi.
She can kind of come off alittle bit as a mess, but I
think that she's just doing herbest and she's very real and I
think that, you know, you canreally see yourself in in her
character and it's fun to playher.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:50):
She's relatable.
I get that Definitely.
And Caitlin, how about you?
Bre Cade (02:55):
So I play Cynthia Murphy, who is a mom who, on the
surface, looks like she shouldhave it all together.
She tries so hard to be theperfect wife, be the perfect mom
, and things just aren't goingas well as she had hoped.
She's pretty estranged from,like, all of the members of her
family.
As much as she's trying to keepit all together, she's really
(03:20):
at odds with all of the membersof her family and and her family
really is at a crisis point.
Um, that then like tips overwhen her, her son, kills himself
, um, and that is sort of theinciting incident of the whole
musical.
What I do appreciate aboutplaying her I mean she's she's
in a heavy place in her life,certainly, but what I appreciate
(03:42):
about getting to play her everynight is it's been surprisingly
sort of therapeutic for me toplay her every night, because
it's there is this time everyday that I am just supposed to
stand on stage and like be intouch with my own sadness, which
is a difficult thing to do, butit's, there's a, there's a
(04:03):
freedom in it in a way to havethat, that time set aside every
day to just like cry aboutthings that you need to cry
about.
And I've.
I've come to find that I like Itend to feel better at the end
of the show because I it's justsort of this emotional exercise
that I have to go through everynight.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:22):
Talk about a catharsis.
Bre Cade (04:24):
Yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:25):
I was going to ask, and I think you
sort of just touched on it, butI'm going to ask anyway.
For me, I think, anything abouta musical is difficult because
I can't sing.
But from an emotionalstandpoint I'm wondering what
for each of you, is the mostchallenging song or moment in
the show and whether that is,you know, vocally speaking, as
(04:47):
tied to the emotion.
We can talk about that too.
But because it's such a heavyshow, like you mentioned, I'm
wondering at what point it wasmost difficult in prepping for.
Caitlin Sams (04:58):
I would say, for me personally, doing one of the
songs in the show is called soBig, so Small that my character
gets to sing and I love it.
It's such a beautiful song butit's a little bit different than
the other songs musically.
It's a little bit more nakedwith the orchestra, it's not as
full and as loud and it's in avery vulnerable place
(05:19):
emotionally, physically, andwhere it's written for my voice
and I love doing it.
It.
But it's so hard to not justbreak down and cry during the
song.
We, I mean, have plenty oftimes during rehearsals and some
shows, of course, but it'sreally more about her son and
not so much her.
So you know you don't want totake away from that, but, um,
yeah, it's, it's hard to not crythrough that one.
(05:41):
So that's, that's been a littlechallenging, but it's a song I
love.
I really love performing it andthe audiences have been great
and it's just such a beautifullywritten song and such a
wonderful scene.
So I really look forward tothat every night.
Bre Cade (05:53):
There is kind of a tipping point, I think at
several points in this musical,where you can cross over a sort
of threshold with the emotion,where, like it can, it can
overcome you and it has happenedto to several of us at some
point where, like you're notdoing your acting or you're
singing anymore.
You just are like workingthrough the emotion and luckily
(06:16):
the story really supports that.
Like there's there's there's nopressure to ever like that
you're going too far with yourfeelings but at the same time,
like it is a musical and likeyou're trying to sing the songs
as they are written as well.
So I mean, we definitely wentthrough a lot of that in the
rehearsal process.
Now that we're like well intoour run I think everybody has it
(06:38):
in their bodies to a placewhere, like we can find that
happy balance between having theemotion but still like showing
off all of our, our well-trainedtalents that we're, you know,
trying to put to use totally yes, that exactly I'm always amazed
at how singers are able tocontrol their voices when
(06:59):
they're overcome with emotion,and it's almost a relief to hear
that sometimes you give in tothat emotion.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:05):
Yeah, it's a very it's a very human
response, and I think sometimesor at least for me as an
audience member sometimes Iforget that the humans on stage
aren't perfect and and they willalso react to what's happening.
And this is a show aboutanxiety, depression, suicide.
These are really really heavythings, yeah.
(07:26):
But I suppose that also leadsme to ask you has it influenced
your personal outlook orapproach to life when you are
off the stage?
Bre Cade (07:37):
I definitely think that, like I, it reminds you, it
reminds you every day, itreminds you, it reminds you
every day and this is like youknow, I think.
I think there's a sense of thisthat people, people understand.
You know sort of the phrase youdon't know what somebody else
is going through.
But I think that is like whenyou you kind of look at this
(07:58):
story every day, I do, I do tryto keep that in mind as I go
through my daily life.
And obviously, like we're on theroad all the time, we're out of
our element, we have like a lotof high, there's a lot of
high-stress things about the jobthat we're doing and people all
just handle that differentlyand we know one another really
well to a certain extent.
(08:18):
But also like we don't knowwhat we all have like our own
individual lives back home.
There are things that are goingon and, um, we all have to like
show up at the theater and likedo this hard thing every day
and you never know, like whatpeople are arriving to the
theater I mean that's with oneanother or our audience members
too.
Like we don't know what theyare.
They are arriving to thetheater with, you know, on their
(08:39):
shoulders.
Um, so I think that's the thingthat I just try to keep in mind
and then always give givepeople grace and grace and space
to, you know, be, be in theplace that they are.
Caitlin Sams (09:06):
Yeah, exactly, I totally agree with that and
especially the whole likeelement in the show with the
relationship between the parentsand the children too.
It's, you know, I don't havekids, but I have people, you
know, moms, dads, all sorts ofpeople coming up to me every
night at the show.
Our parents are all just, youknow, grown up children.
In a way, they're just big kidsand everyone has these feelings
(09:26):
and goes through something anddoesn't know the perfect way to
handle things and they're justtrying to do the best that they
can do on a daily basis too.
So I think it's interestingthat it raises these questions
and these conversations, thatbetween parents and children,
which is really cool.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:39):
Grown up kids.
I love that and I actuallyremember being a teenager and
coming to that realization forthe first time that my parents
were just people who didn't knowwhat they were doing.
And whoa was that trippy?
Caitlin Sams (09:51):
Yeah, yeah, they're just.
They're doing it for the firsttime.
It's like we expect so much ofthem and then we realize, wow,
they haven't done this beforethey didn't, like you know, read
a book about.
Bre Cade (10:03):
I mean, maybe they did , but that doesn't mean that
it's gonna be perfect.
I think about that all the timewith, um, the character Zoe,
who plays my daughter, and likeshe really kind of comes for
Cynthia at certain points andI'm like god, I know, I did this
to my mom.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:12):
I know I love the dynamic between the
parents and the children in thisshow.
And, brie, you said you don'thave kids.
Caitlin, do you have children?
I don't?
Great, so all three of us arein the same boat.
So I wanted to ask you if,having played a mother, it has
(10:32):
opened up conversations withyour own parents or with the
parents in your life, maybe yourfriends who have kids?
Has it expanded your mind oryour viewpoint when it comes to
raising children?
Bre Cade (10:44):
I think I mean, I'm pretty, I'm, I'm already
determined that there I won't behaving kids in my life.
So it doesn't.
It doesn't make me think anydifferently about um, like
myself in you know that aspectUm, um, but it definitely.
It definitely makes me thinkabout, like, how we all have
kids in our lives, whether we'reparents or not.
There are there young people inour lives and just thinking
(11:06):
about, like, how can I be asupportive person and and an
asset and an ally to, to theyoung people in my life and
although, and the parents, youknow, the people that I love,
who are doing their best to likeraise healthy, well-adjusted
children, how can I be a supportsystem for them?
Because you really can't do italone.
It takes, it takes a village.
Caitlin Sams (11:29):
Yeah, that's so true.
My sister I don't you know mysister has a bunch of kids and I
see what she goes through andshe just like she is just the
strongest person.
She's such a great mom.
She just does it all for herfamily and it's really
incredible and you kind of likelearn a new lesson every week
having kids, and I'm sure my momcan attest to that too.
My mom and my youngest sistersaw the show together and it was
(11:50):
kind of like a quick hi andgoodbye.
They came out of state and itwas really nice and I could tell
they really loved it.
And then when we're in Jerseyin a couple weeks which I'm very
excited about I'll have a lotof people coming.
So I'm sure I'll be having manydiscussions with my in-laws and
family members and you know myparents and things like that,
and I'm fortunate where Iactually live, right next door
to my parents in New Jersey.
(12:11):
So once this contract's over,I'm sure I'll be going over
there having dinner, havingcoffee, and we'll be talking
about the show for months, whichwill be, which will be,
interesting.
My parents have some coolperspectives and they always
surprise me with with some oftheir, their viewpoints, which I
can really appreciate.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (12:26):
That's fantastic For me, caitlin.
I also have decided that Idon't want children, so it's I
approach shows like this.
I approach art about theparent-child relationship very
differently, but it does make methink less about well.
No, I won't say that I do thinkabout the children in my life,
(12:47):
of course, and I want to be asupportive person.
But I really want to learn howto empathize with my own parents
or with my own mother and think, oh gosh, I guess I was
difficult.
You know just, I wasn't adifficult kid, necessarily, but
I think having a child isdifficult and I used to be so
mad at her as a teenager andgetting older now and seeing
(13:11):
someone else portray a mother iseasier for me than actually
looking at my own mother somehowand trying to understand what
she was going through.
Does that make sense?
Bre Cade (13:22):
Yeah, that totally makes sense.
I definitely feel it.
Now that I've over the lastfive years, I start getting to
these kind of milestone agesthat I remember my mom being and
then and then you just likeit's very you know you kind of
trip out a little bit being likedamn, I, yeah, like this this
(13:44):
is the point that my mom was atand like look at what she was
dealing with, like at that sotrippy.
Yeah, but it does, it does.
I think it's made me moreempathetic, I think in a good
way.
So I'm definitely appreciativeof that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:58):
For for sure the same empathy.
Empathy is a big one In thatvein, I think I think, bree, you
mentioned it before that thereare people who come up to you
after the show and share theirexperiences with you.
So have there been any thatreally stick in your mind,
interactions or reactions thatwill stay with you?
Caitlin Sams (14:18):
Oh my gosh, so many.
Yeah, it's, it's.
It's crazy how it affectspeople and it's just so
beautiful and I, you know I canput myself in their shoes,
having been audience members andcertain shows, and it just like
touched you so much.
Recently, though, I my husbandand I have a friend who's going
through some health issues, andit's been pretty scary and we
(14:39):
don't know what's going tohappen.
Unfortunately, and right as wefound out, an audience member in
Mesa after the show told methat his mom went through a
pretty horrible cancer battle.
It was stage four.
It wasn't looking good andluckily she's okay, she
recovered and she's looking good.
And you know, luckily she,she's okay, she recovered and
(15:00):
she's doing great.
And I it was so strange, I likeneeded to hear that in that
moment, you know like it needsto give me that little spark of
hope, or that you know what'sthe what's the chance that
someone would say that to me,and I told my husband and we had
a good, good cry about it.
It's one of his good friends,so it was just like kind of a
cathartic thing, but littlethings like that happen all the
time, and it's especiallytouching to like seeing dads
(15:20):
come across like you know, we'replaying moms, but when dads
come up and say, oh my God, whenyou sang that song at the end,
that was, that was me and my son, or me and my daughter I'm a
single dad and blah, blah, blah,it's interesting because we
don't hear so much, so much ofthat.
You know that.
(15:40):
You know what I mean, um, butuh, yeah, there's just so many
different stories and and somany different people from
different places that that sharetheir experience and you could
tell, really appreciate it.
It's very touching.
Bre Cade (15:47):
Caitlin anything that stood out for you.
Um, someone came up, brie, Ithink you were there just even
the other day.
Um, here in St Paul, a woman, awoman came up and she was.
She was impeccably dressed tooLike.
She looked like a Cynthia, likeshe had like a beautiful white
coat and like a really goodhaircut.
And she came up to me and shewas like I saw this show in in
2016.
(16:09):
Um, like, like the originalcompany, and that was right
after my son had died.
And she said she's like it's,she's like I'm so happy to now
like come back and see it again10 years later.
And she was like that's mydaughter over there, that's my
Zoe, um, and she's like, andwe're just in like a different,
it's such a different place nowand like that that is.
It's so, so touching to hearlike I don't know, I just that
(16:32):
you can have, that.
You can have this like piece oftheater, that like um, that you
can like come back to and itstill is impactful in a way.
But like that's the thing, likeour lives move on and so a
piece of theater can meansomething to you in one time in
your life and then just be likeso different a decade later.
(16:53):
But I do think it's.
I'm always really impressed howyoung people still really seem
very drawn to this show, like Ican see it was so popular when
it was first on Broadway, andwith good reason.
But I'm I am always reallyimpressed to see that like there
are still like high schoolersand young adults who are drawn
to it, just because, I don'tknow, like trends move on so
(17:14):
fast, and so I'm.
I do find it really touchingthat this show seems to still
have, like, the resonance andthe staying power.
Caitlin Sams (17:20):
Yeah, it's incredible.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:22):
That's one of the things I love about art
how it can bring together peoplethat you wouldn't necessarily
expect to relate to one another,like single dads approaching
you.
It's something that we're notall thinking about all the time,
because we understand, as women, how difficult it is to be the
mother, and it's sad thatsometimes we overlook the single
(17:43):
dads.
So I'm glad that the show isspeaking to people and that
they're they feel comfortablecoming up to the actors and
talking about it with them, byPasig and Paul, and I'm
personally a fan of their, theirmusic, their style.
I'm going to ask the tabooquestion of do you have a
(18:04):
favorite song?
And I'll say you know what I'll.
I'll broaden the scope Do youhave a favorite Pasig and Paul
song?
Doesn't?
Bre Cade (18:14):
even have to be from the show.
Maybe that'll save you.
That gives you the out it'shard to pick.
I mean you, that gives you theout it's hard to pick.
I mean, I'm also I I'm also afan?
Um of this.
I mean, I think the score inparticular, like it's just so,
it's catchy in that way that youlike want a contemporary pop
musical to be, but the, the Ijust love singing the harmonies
every day.
Like they're so, they're sogood and they're so like rich um
(18:37):
and the orchestrations.
I think in this show, like thelike the strings are just like
oh, there's so much longing andyearning and like it's so it
really all.
Like there's no element thathas not been so carefully
curated um in this show, whichis, I think, why people respond
to it, because they're like,even if you don't know why you
(18:58):
like it, there's something aboutit, it swells within you, it
gives you that Broadway feelingthat you really want when you're
sitting there.
That being said, I do think soBig, so Small is just one of the
.
It's just such a well writtensong.
Like just the lyrics and the,the, the story of it Like you
(19:20):
don't cause you could hear thatsong and not really need to know
anything else about dear EvanHansen, to get a sense of what
that, what this moment is goingthrough in that moment.
And then, of course, brita sucha such a bang up job, singing
it every night.
Caitlin Sams (19:35):
So Thank you, that's funny.
You say that I love so Big, soSmall, of course, but I was
going to say Requiem, I think isso gorgeous.
It's one of the songs thatCaitlin as Cynthia and Larry and
Zoe the family sing togetherthe three of them, and it's so
beautiful and it's sointeresting because the three of
them are all in three differentplaces, like physically and
emotionally, and they're allkind of coming together and
(19:57):
singing some of the same words,maybe with different meaning,
and the harmonies are sogorgeous and it's just, it's
such a powerful song and Ialways say there's like so much
power and stillness too, and thethree of them, just the way the
picture is finally, having seenthe show and the lighting and
everything about it is just,it's so gorgeous.
I love getting to hear thatevery night.
Bre Cade (20:15):
The one that gets stuck in my head the most,
though, is Sincerely Me.
That is the one that I likesinging to myself.
Caitlin Sams (20:22):
That's the hit, that's the bop.
The kids love it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (20:25):
If I had to choose and I mean nobody's
pressuring me to do so, but I'lltell you, anybody have a map.
I mean we were talking aboutrelating to our parents, right,
and trying to understand and beempathetic so that one really
struck me and it wasn't the onethat I thought would stick with
me, but I, I really enjoy thatone.
(20:47):
And then, second, if I had tochoose a second, waving through
a window, because I mean andeverybody knows that one, I
think, even if you haven't seenthe show, I think everybody's
heard that at some point, but Ilove the.
I think I'm at a point in mylife and maybe it's in your mid
to late 30s you start realizingthat friendships are harder to
come by.
Loneliness is a new experiencethat you have to define later in
(21:13):
life and I think waving througha window speaks to that.
So you don't have to be ateenager to relate to that song.
Well, I guess all of thesesongs are relatable.
You don't have to be a teenageror a mom.
Everything is relatable.
Caitlin Sams (21:26):
Map is great and it was the hardest song for me.
To learn that I'm still findingthings every week to perfect
with that song.
Rhythmically it is so deceivingand so hard.
I had no idea it's so.
It's so wild to me that it'sthe first song in the show and
it doesn't start off the show.
I kind of think it's so cool,like it's not a typical musical
(21:46):
where the show starts with amonologue and then map happens
and you see these two worldsbetween that you know evan and
his mom and cynthia and herfamily and kind of crossover,
singing the same song but withtotally different scenarios
happening even though they'restill very similar.
It's very interesting.
But man, is that a hard song.
We drill that one a lot.
It's very tricky.
Bre Cade (22:08):
It is a typical opening number, for sure.
They always talked about likeour directors and our creative
team always talked about how thestart of the show needs to feel
like you were dropped into theworld of these characters and
which.
But that is like a good way tostart a musical, especially one
like Durham Enhanced, where,like the, the world that you're
(22:29):
in is like like visually notsuper clear, like you're, you're
like you know, you know you'rein like somebody's house or
whatever, but like we have build, there's not like there's not
an elaborate set or anythingaround us to tell us like here's
where we are.
So it does need to be thestorytelling where, like you
just kind of like flash up andyou are inside these families
worlds.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:50):
I might regret asking this, but I'm
going to do it anyway.
Has either of you seen themovie version of the musical?
Caitlin Sams (22:58):
I have not.
I've actually never seen theshow live until our production
when I had my swing out.
And yeah, I saw that a coupleweeks ago for the first time.
And then I never know, I'dnever seen the movie.
I really I didn't even reallyknow the score that well before
I auditioned.
I knew waving, of course, but Idon't know how the show missed
me.
I knew it was on Broadway and Ialways meant to see it and I
(23:19):
just never did.
Bre Cade (23:20):
It was the same.
I had never seen it either.
Before I saw our production.
I had listened to the castalbum back when it was really
popular, but I didn't see themovie because people talked
about how it wasn't very good.
And then, even when we were inrehearsal, the encouragement was
to not watch it because it wasnot necessarily going to be
helpful.
Um for us and um, and of coursethe, the broadway team other
(23:43):
than than the crossover of benplatt, like the, the creative
team that was responsible forthe broadway production, didn't
necessarily have that big of ahand in what was happening with
the movie.
Caitlin Sams (23:52):
Maybe I'll watch it someday just for fun yeah,
maybe at the end we'll have aviewing together, all of us,
yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:00):
That could be fun.
That could be fun.
I mean, I'm glad our audiencescan't see the faces I was making
.
I will say this I did not getthrough the whole movie.
I gave it a try because I wascurious and I actually haven't
seen the show yet the stage showI just listened to the
(24:22):
soundtrack because, thank Godfor YouTube, I was able to
listen to the whole soundtrackopening.
It clicked for me why I thinkthe movie didn't work for people
(24:43):
, because they didn't reallydrop you into that world in the
same way where you're forced toimmediately make assumptions
about people.
They kind of tried to.
This is not a review of thefilm and I shouldn't do it, but
I feel like they were spoonfeeding and I think that your
creative team advised you wellin in staying away from it.
However, I do think it could besuper fun for you to, once the
(25:05):
show wraps, all watch andcritique yeah, I mean just the
wig alone, that's.
Caitlin Sams (25:10):
That's the only image I have in my head is that?
Bre Cade (25:12):
yeah, that curly wig.
I'm very curious.
I know that.
Yeah, what's the?
Caitlin Sams (25:16):
wig budget on these sets.
I don't understand.
Bre Cade (25:19):
That's the thing, like , sometimes, when I see a
musical, like movie or on thestage, that doesn't necessarily
work.
It does give me an appreciation, though, for like it's so hard
to make a successful musicalBecause you have like they were
set up for success with thatmovie.
You have this smash Broadwayhit and then you're you're using
the star that was like soassociated with it, and you have
(25:43):
other acts like Amy Adams.
You know you have like Academyaward winners and yet somehow it
doesn't quite come together, sothat I don't know it does.
I still think there's valuesometimes in watching those
things, because because that'sthe only way that we, like you
just never know, you never knowwhat the thing is that it's like
really gonna knock it out ofthe park.
Caitlin Sams (26:01):
Totally.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:02):
It's true when done well, everything looks
really easy right, and it's notuntil you see something done
poorly that you go oh, all right, Maybe there was a lot of work
that needed to go into that.
Bre Cade (26:14):
Right.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:15):
So I'm unfortunately going to have to
wrap up, as much as I lovetalking about this and I'm
looking forward to the show, butdo you have anything you'd like
to say to your New Jerseyaudiences, who are looking
forward to you at the StateTheater?
Caitlin Sams (26:27):
Get your tickets if you haven't gotten them yet.
And I cannot get you tickets.
I love everyone, but I cannotget you tickets.
I don't work at the box office.
I don't work at the box office.
I don't have a bunch of ticketsin my backpack that I'm just
selling on the streets.
I think people think thatsometimes, but I'm very excited.
I cannot wait for the StateTheater.
I am so, so psyched.
Bre Cade (26:47):
Same.
We'll see you there.
You know I don't have a ton ofpeople coming to Jersey, but if
Bree is any indication it'sgoing to be a rowdy, rowdy
weekend any indication it'sgoing to be a rowdy weekend.
Looking forward to it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:59):
The Dear Evan Hansen tour will stop at
the State Theater in NewBrunswick this March 28th
through the 30th.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
STNJ.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
(27:20):
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from, the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
(27:42):
and my thanks to Bre Cade andCaitlin Sams for speaking with
me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
This is Gina Marie Rodriguez and you're
listening to the Jersey ArtsPodcast.
The six-time Tony Award-winningshow, dear Evan Hansen, is
bringing its North American tourto the State Theater in New
Brunswick, new Jersey.
The show boasts music andlyrics by EGOT winners.
That's an Emmy, grammy, oscarand a Tony Benjamin Pasich and
(00:23):
Justin Paul.
Dear Evan Hansen offers a scorethat will have you whistling
the tunes on your way out of thetheater.
The show tackles some sensitivetopics in a way that audiences
have been connecting with deeplysince its Broadway premiere in
2016.
The musical focuses on lonelyhigh school student Evan Hansen,
who always feels like he's onthe outside looking in.
(00:44):
Evan finally gets what so manyof us are like he's on the
outside looking in.
Evan finally gets what so manyof us are searching for the
chance to fit in.
What follows is a poignant,funny and powerful musical about
how, even though it can be hard, we can find each other and
ourselves along the way.
Now I would be remiss if Ididn't offer a trigger warning
for today's chat.
Both this episode and the showitself will touch on child loss
(01:06):
and death by suicide.
Please listen with care.
That said, my conversation withcast members Brie Cade and
Caitlin Sams allowed for anintrospective discussion about
what has been a groundbreakingand deeply touching musical.
Take a listen.
It's nice to meet both of you.
Thank you for taking the time.
(01:26):
I appreciate it, sure.
Yeah, thank you Take a listen,enjoying it.
I'm actually yeah, it is.
Bre Cade (01:32):
We're having really nice reception here, and it
doesn't hurt that the weatherhas been very nice, like
unseasonably nice, in the timethat we've been here, so I think
(01:53):
we've been spared from some ofthe more typical cold
temperatures, definitely.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (01:59):
I think that's great.
Well, let's just jump into theshow.
Let's start with Brie.
If you wouldn't mind justtelling me a little bit about
your character and what youappreciate about this role?
Caitlin Sams (02:09):
Oh sure, so I play Heidi Hansen, evan's mom, in
the show.
She is a single mom.
She's working, she's puttingherself through school, you know
, and doing a lot of differentthings to try to just be a good
mom, all while trying to connectwith her young high school son,
and that's been really hard too.
(02:29):
What I really appreciate aboutplaying this role is that, with
all the roles too, they're verygrounded, real people, and
especially Heidi.
She can kind of come off alittle bit as a mess, but I
think that she's just doing herbest and she's very real and I
think that, you know, you canreally see yourself in in her
character and it's fun to playher.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (02:50):
She's relatable.
I get that Definitely.
And Caitlin, how about you?
Bre Cade (02:55):
So I play Cynthia Murphy, who is a mom who, on the
surface, looks like she shouldhave it all together.
She tries so hard to be theperfect wife, be the perfect mom
, and things just aren't goingas well as she had hoped.
She's pretty estranged from,like, all of the members of her
family.
As much as she's trying to keepit all together, she's really
(03:20):
at odds with all of the membersof her family and and her family
really is at a crisis point.
Um, that then like tips overwhen her, her son, kills himself
, um, and that is sort of theinciting incident of the whole
musical.
What I do appreciate aboutplaying her I mean she's she's
in a heavy place in her life,certainly, but what I appreciate
(03:42):
about getting to play her everynight is it's been surprisingly
sort of therapeutic for me toplay her every night, because
it's there is this time everyday that I am just supposed to
stand on stage and like be intouch with my own sadness, which
is a difficult thing to do, butit's, there's a, there's a
(04:03):
freedom in it in a way to havethat, that time set aside every
day to just like cry aboutthings that you need to cry
about.
And I've.
I've come to find that I like Itend to feel better at the end
of the show because I it's justsort of this emotional exercise
that I have to go through everynight.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:22):
Talk about a catharsis.
Bre Cade (04:24):
Yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (04:25):
I was going to ask, and I think you
sort of just touched on it, butI'm going to ask anyway.
For me, I think, anything abouta musical is difficult because
I can't sing.
But from an emotionalstandpoint I'm wondering what
for each of you, is the mostchallenging song or moment in
the show and whether that is,you know, vocally speaking, as
(04:47):
tied to the emotion.
We can talk about that too.
But because it's such a heavyshow, like you mentioned, I'm
wondering at what point it wasmost difficult in prepping for.
Caitlin Sams (04:58):
I would say, for me personally, doing one of the
songs in the show is called soBig, so Small that my character
gets to sing and I love it.
It's such a beautiful song butit's a little bit different than
the other songs musically.
It's a little bit more nakedwith the orchestra, it's not as
full and as loud and it's in avery vulnerable place
(05:19):
emotionally, physically, andwhere it's written for my voice
and I love doing it.
It.
But it's so hard to not justbreak down and cry during the
song.
We, I mean, have plenty oftimes during rehearsals and some
shows, of course, but it'sreally more about her son and
not so much her.
So you know you don't want totake away from that, but, um,
yeah, it's, it's hard to not crythrough that one.
(05:41):
So that's, that's been a littlechallenging, but it's a song I
love.
I really love performing it andthe audiences have been great
and it's just such a beautifullywritten song and such a
wonderful scene.
So I really look forward tothat every night.
Bre Cade (05:53):
There is kind of a tipping point, I think at
several points in this musical,where you can cross over a sort
of threshold with the emotion,where, like it can, it can
overcome you and it has happenedto to several of us at some
point where, like you're notdoing your acting or you're
singing anymore.
You just are like workingthrough the emotion and luckily
(06:16):
the story really supports that.
Like there's there's there's nopressure to ever like that
you're going too far with yourfeelings but at the same time,
like it is a musical and likeyou're trying to sing the songs
as they are written as well.
So I mean, we definitely wentthrough a lot of that in the
rehearsal process.
Now that we're like well intoour run I think everybody has it
(06:38):
in their bodies to a placewhere, like we can find that
happy balance between having theemotion but still like showing
off all of our, our well-trainedtalents that we're, you know,
trying to put to use totally yes, that exactly I'm always amazed
at how singers are able tocontrol their voices when
(06:59):
they're overcome with emotion,and it's almost a relief to hear
that sometimes you give in tothat emotion.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (07:05):
Yeah, it's a very it's a very human
response, and I think sometimesor at least for me as an
audience member sometimes Iforget that the humans on stage
aren't perfect and and they willalso react to what's happening.
And this is a show aboutanxiety, depression, suicide.
These are really really heavythings, yeah.
(07:26):
But I suppose that also leadsme to ask you has it influenced
your personal outlook orapproach to life when you are
off the stage?
Bre Cade (07:37):
I definitely think that, like I, it reminds you, it
reminds you every day, itreminds you, it reminds you
every day and this is like youknow, I think.
I think there's a sense of thisthat people, people understand.
You know sort of the phrase youdon't know what somebody else
is going through.
But I think that is like whenyou you kind of look at this
(07:58):
story every day, I do, I do tryto keep that in mind as I go
through my daily life.
And obviously, like we're on theroad all the time, we're out of
our element, we have like a lotof high, there's a lot of
high-stress things about the jobthat we're doing and people all
just handle that differentlyand we know one another really
well to a certain extent.
(08:18):
But also like we don't knowwhat we all have like our own
individual lives back home.
There are things that are goingon and, um, we all have to like
show up at the theater and likedo this hard thing every day
and you never know, like whatpeople are arriving to the
theater I mean that's with oneanother or our audience members
too.
Like we don't know what theyare.
They are arriving to thetheater with, you know, on their
(08:39):
shoulders.
Um, so I think that's the thingthat I just try to keep in mind
and then always give givepeople grace and grace and space
to, you know, be, be in theplace that they are.
Caitlin Sams (09:06):
Yeah, exactly, I totally agree with that and
especially the whole likeelement in the show with the
relationship between the parentsand the children too.
It's, you know, I don't havekids, but I have people, you
know, moms, dads, all sorts ofpeople coming up to me every
night at the show.
Our parents are all just, youknow, grown up children.
In a way, they're just big kidsand everyone has these feelings
(09:26):
and goes through something anddoesn't know the perfect way to
handle things and they're justtrying to do the best that they
can do on a daily basis too.
So I think it's interestingthat it raises these questions
and these conversations, thatbetween parents and children,
which is really cool.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (09:39):
Grown up kids.
I love that and I actuallyremember being a teenager and
coming to that realization forthe first time that my parents
were just people who didn't knowwhat they were doing.
And whoa was that trippy?
Caitlin Sams (09:51):
Yeah, yeah, they're just.
They're doing it for the firsttime.
It's like we expect so much ofthem and then we realize, wow,
they haven't done this beforethey didn't, like you know, read
a book about.
Bre Cade (10:03):
I mean, maybe they did , but that doesn't mean that
it's gonna be perfect.
I think about that all the timewith, um, the character Zoe,
who plays my daughter, and likeshe really kind of comes for
Cynthia at certain points andI'm like god, I know, I did this
to my mom.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (10:12):
I know I love the dynamic between the
parents and the children in thisshow.
And, brie, you said you don'thave kids.
Caitlin, do you have children?
I don't?
Great, so all three of us arein the same boat.
So I wanted to ask you if,having played a mother, it has
(10:32):
opened up conversations withyour own parents or with the
parents in your life, maybe yourfriends who have kids?
Has it expanded your mind oryour viewpoint when it comes to
raising children?
Bre Cade (10:44):
I think I mean, I'm pretty, I'm, I'm already
determined that there I won't behaving kids in my life.
So it doesn't.
It doesn't make me think anydifferently about um, like
myself in you know that aspectUm, um, but it definitely.
It definitely makes me thinkabout, like, how we all have
kids in our lives, whether we'reparents or not.
There are there young people inour lives and just thinking
(11:06):
about, like, how can I be asupportive person and and an
asset and an ally to, to theyoung people in my life and
although, and the parents, youknow, the people that I love,
who are doing their best to likeraise healthy, well-adjusted
children, how can I be a supportsystem for them?
Because you really can't do italone.
It takes, it takes a village.
Caitlin Sams (11:29):
Yeah, that's so true.
My sister I don't you know mysister has a bunch of kids and I
see what she goes through andshe just like she is just the
strongest person.
She's such a great mom.
She just does it all for herfamily and it's really
incredible and you kind of likelearn a new lesson every week
having kids, and I'm sure my momcan attest to that too.
My mom and my youngest sistersaw the show together and it was
(11:50):
kind of like a quick hi andgoodbye.
They came out of state and itwas really nice and I could tell
they really loved it.
And then when we're in Jerseyin a couple weeks which I'm very
excited about I'll have a lotof people coming.
So I'm sure I'll be having manydiscussions with my in-laws and
family members and you know myparents and things like that,
and I'm fortunate where Iactually live, right next door
to my parents in New Jersey.
(12:11):
So once this contract's over,I'm sure I'll be going over
there having dinner, havingcoffee, and we'll be talking
about the show for months, whichwill be, which will be,
interesting.
My parents have some coolperspectives and they always
surprise me with with some oftheir, their viewpoints, which I
can really appreciate.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (12:26):
That's fantastic For me, caitlin.
I also have decided that Idon't want children, so it's I
approach shows like this.
I approach art about theparent-child relationship very
differently, but it does make methink less about well.
No, I won't say that I do thinkabout the children in my life,
(12:47):
of course, and I want to be asupportive person.
But I really want to learn howto empathize with my own parents
or with my own mother and think, oh gosh, I guess I was
difficult.
You know just, I wasn't adifficult kid, necessarily, but
I think having a child isdifficult and I used to be so
mad at her as a teenager andgetting older now and seeing
(13:11):
someone else portray a mother iseasier for me than actually
looking at my own mother somehowand trying to understand what
she was going through.
Does that make sense?
Bre Cade (13:22):
Yeah, that totally makes sense.
I definitely feel it.
Now that I've over the lastfive years, I start getting to
these kind of milestone agesthat I remember my mom being and
then and then you just likeit's very you know you kind of
trip out a little bit being likedamn, I, yeah, like this this
(13:44):
is the point that my mom was atand like look at what she was
dealing with, like at that sotrippy.
Yeah, but it does, it does.
I think it's made me moreempathetic, I think in a good
way.
So I'm definitely appreciativeof that.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (13:58):
For for sure the same empathy.
Empathy is a big one In thatvein, I think I think, bree, you
mentioned it before that thereare people who come up to you
after the show and share theirexperiences with you.
So have there been any thatreally stick in your mind,
interactions or reactions thatwill stay with you?
Caitlin Sams (14:18):
Oh my gosh, so many.
Yeah, it's, it's.
It's crazy how it affectspeople and it's just so
beautiful and I, you know I canput myself in their shoes,
having been audience members andcertain shows, and it just like
touched you so much.
Recently, though, I my husbandand I have a friend who's going
through some health issues, andit's been pretty scary and we
(14:39):
don't know what's going tohappen.
Unfortunately, and right as wefound out, an audience member in
Mesa after the show told methat his mom went through a
pretty horrible cancer battle.
It was stage four.
It wasn't looking good andluckily she's okay, she
recovered and she's looking good.
And you know, luckily she,she's okay, she recovered and
(15:00):
she's doing great.
And I it was so strange, I likeneeded to hear that in that
moment, you know like it needsto give me that little spark of
hope, or that you know what'sthe what's the chance that
someone would say that to me,and I told my husband and we had
a good, good cry about it.
It's one of his good friends,so it was just like kind of a
cathartic thing, but littlethings like that happen all the
time, and it's especiallytouching to like seeing dads
(15:20):
come across like you know, we'replaying moms, but when dads
come up and say, oh my God, whenyou sang that song at the end,
that was, that was me and my son, or me and my daughter I'm a
single dad and blah, blah, blah,it's interesting because we
don't hear so much, so much ofthat.
You know that.
(15:40):
You know what I mean, um, butuh, yeah, there's just so many
different stories and and somany different people from
different places that that sharetheir experience and you could
tell, really appreciate it.
It's very touching.
Bre Cade (15:47):
Caitlin anything that stood out for you.
Um, someone came up, brie, Ithink you were there just even
the other day.
Um, here in St Paul, a woman, awoman came up and she was.
She was impeccably dressed tooLike.
She looked like a Cynthia, likeshe had like a beautiful white
coat and like a really goodhaircut.
And she came up to me and shewas like I saw this show in in
2016.
(16:09):
Um, like, like the originalcompany, and that was right
after my son had died.
And she said she's like it's,she's like I'm so happy to now
like come back and see it again10 years later.
And she was like that's mydaughter over there, that's my
Zoe, um, and she's like, andwe're just in like a different,
it's such a different place nowand like that that is.
It's so, so touching to hearlike I don't know, I just that
(16:32):
you can have, that.
You can have this like piece oftheater, that like um, that you
can like come back to and itstill is impactful in a way.
But like that's the thing, likeour lives move on and so a
piece of theater can meansomething to you in one time in
your life and then just be likeso different a decade later.
(16:53):
But I do think it's.
I'm always really impressed howyoung people still really seem
very drawn to this show, like Ican see it was so popular when
it was first on Broadway, andwith good reason.
But I'm I am always reallyimpressed to see that like there
are still like high schoolersand young adults who are drawn
to it, just because, I don'tknow, like trends move on so
(17:14):
fast, and so I'm.
I do find it really touchingthat this show seems to still
have, like, the resonance andthe staying power.
Caitlin Sams (17:20):
Yeah, it's incredible.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (17:22):
That's one of the things I love about art
how it can bring together peoplethat you wouldn't necessarily
expect to relate to one another,like single dads approaching
you.
It's something that we're notall thinking about all the time,
because we understand, as women, how difficult it is to be the
mother, and it's sad thatsometimes we overlook the single
(17:43):
dads.
So I'm glad that the show isspeaking to people and that
they're they feel comfortablecoming up to the actors and
talking about it with them, byPasig and Paul, and I'm
personally a fan of their, theirmusic, their style.
I'm going to ask the tabooquestion of do you have a
(18:04):
favorite song?
And I'll say you know what I'll.
I'll broaden the scope Do youhave a favorite Pasig and Paul
song?
Doesn't?
Bre Cade (18:14):
even have to be from the show.
Maybe that'll save you.
That gives you the out it'shard to pick.
I mean you, that gives you theout it's hard to pick.
I mean, I'm also I I'm also afan?
Um of this.
I mean, I think the score inparticular, like it's just so,
it's catchy in that way that youlike want a contemporary pop
musical to be, but the, the Ijust love singing the harmonies
every day.
Like they're so, they're sogood and they're so like rich um
(18:37):
and the orchestrations.
I think in this show, like thelike the strings are just like
oh, there's so much longing andyearning and like it's so it
really all.
Like there's no element thathas not been so carefully
curated um in this show, whichis, I think, why people respond
to it, because they're like,even if you don't know why you
(18:58):
like it, there's something aboutit, it swells within you, it
gives you that Broadway feelingthat you really want when you're
sitting there.
That being said, I do think soBig, so Small is just one of the
.
It's just such a well writtensong.
Like just the lyrics and the,the, the story of it Like you
(19:20):
don't cause you could hear thatsong and not really need to know
anything else about dear EvanHansen, to get a sense of what
that, what this moment is goingthrough in that moment.
And then, of course, brita sucha such a bang up job, singing
it every night.
Caitlin Sams (19:35):
So Thank you, that's funny.
You say that I love so Big, soSmall, of course, but I was
going to say Requiem, I think isso gorgeous.
It's one of the songs thatCaitlin as Cynthia and Larry and
Zoe the family sing togetherthe three of them, and it's so
beautiful and it's sointeresting because the three of
them are all in three differentplaces, like physically and
emotionally, and they're allkind of coming together and
(19:57):
singing some of the same words,maybe with different meaning,
and the harmonies are sogorgeous and it's just, it's
such a powerful song and Ialways say there's like so much
power and stillness too, and thethree of them, just the way the
picture is finally, having seenthe show and the lighting and
everything about it is just,it's so gorgeous.
I love getting to hear thatevery night.
Bre Cade (20:15):
The one that gets stuck in my head the most,
though, is Sincerely Me.
That is the one that I likesinging to myself.
Caitlin Sams (20:22):
That's the hit, that's the bop.
The kids love it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (20:25):
If I had to choose and I mean nobody's
pressuring me to do so, but I'lltell you, anybody have a map.
I mean we were talking aboutrelating to our parents, right,
and trying to understand and beempathetic so that one really
struck me and it wasn't the onethat I thought would stick with
me, but I, I really enjoy thatone.
(20:47):
And then, second, if I had tochoose a second, waving through
a window, because I mean andeverybody knows that one, I
think, even if you haven't seenthe show, I think everybody's
heard that at some point, but Ilove the.
I think I'm at a point in mylife and maybe it's in your mid
to late 30s you start realizingthat friendships are harder to
come by.
Loneliness is a new experiencethat you have to define later in
(21:13):
life and I think waving througha window speaks to that.
So you don't have to be ateenager to relate to that song.
Well, I guess all of thesesongs are relatable.
You don't have to be a teenageror a mom.
Everything is relatable.
Caitlin Sams (21:26):
Map is great and it was the hardest song for me.
To learn that I'm still findingthings every week to perfect
with that song.
Rhythmically it is so deceivingand so hard.
I had no idea it's so.
It's so wild to me that it'sthe first song in the show and
it doesn't start off the show.
I kind of think it's so cool,like it's not a typical musical
(21:46):
where the show starts with amonologue and then map happens
and you see these two worldsbetween that you know evan and
his mom and cynthia and herfamily and kind of crossover,
singing the same song but withtotally different scenarios
happening even though they'restill very similar.
It's very interesting.
But man, is that a hard song.
We drill that one a lot.
It's very tricky.
Bre Cade (22:08):
It is a typical opening number, for sure.
They always talked about likeour directors and our creative
team always talked about how thestart of the show needs to feel
like you were dropped into theworld of these characters and
which.
But that is like a good way tostart a musical, especially one
like Durham Enhanced, where,like the, the world that you're
(22:29):
in is like like visually notsuper clear, like you're, you're
like you know, you know you'rein like somebody's house or
whatever, but like we have build, there's not like there's not
an elaborate set or anythingaround us to tell us like here's
where we are.
So it does need to be thestorytelling where, like you
just kind of like flash up andyou are inside these families
worlds.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (22:50):
I might regret asking this, but I'm
going to do it anyway.
Has either of you seen themovie version of the musical?
Caitlin Sams (22:58):
I have not.
I've actually never seen theshow live until our production
when I had my swing out.
And yeah, I saw that a coupleweeks ago for the first time.
And then I never know, I'dnever seen the movie.
I really I didn't even reallyknow the score that well before
I auditioned.
I knew waving, of course, but Idon't know how the show missed
me.
I knew it was on Broadway and Ialways meant to see it and I
(23:19):
just never did.
Bre Cade (23:20):
It was the same.
I had never seen it either.
Before I saw our production.
I had listened to the castalbum back when it was really
popular, but I didn't see themovie because people talked
about how it wasn't very good.
And then, even when we were inrehearsal, the encouragement was
to not watch it because it wasnot necessarily going to be
helpful.
Um for us and um, and of coursethe, the broadway team other
(23:43):
than than the crossover of benplatt, like the, the creative
team that was responsible forthe broadway production, didn't
necessarily have that big of ahand in what was happening with
the movie.
Caitlin Sams (23:52):
Maybe I'll watch it someday just for fun yeah,
maybe at the end we'll have aviewing together, all of us,
yeah.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (24:00):
That could be fun.
That could be fun.
I mean, I'm glad our audiencescan't see the faces I was making
.
I will say this I did not getthrough the whole movie.
I gave it a try because I wascurious and I actually haven't
seen the show yet the stage showI just listened to the
(24:22):
soundtrack because, thank Godfor YouTube, I was able to
listen to the whole soundtrackopening.
It clicked for me why I thinkthe movie didn't work for people
(24:43):
, because they didn't reallydrop you into that world in the
same way where you're forced toimmediately make assumptions
about people.
They kind of tried to.
This is not a review of thefilm and I shouldn't do it, but
I feel like they were spoonfeeding and I think that your
creative team advised you wellin in staying away from it.
However, I do think it could besuper fun for you to, once the
(25:05):
show wraps, all watch andcritique yeah, I mean just the
wig alone, that's.
Caitlin Sams (25:10):
That's the only image I have in my head is that?
Bre Cade (25:12):
yeah, that curly wig.
I'm very curious.
I know that.
Yeah, what's the?
Caitlin Sams (25:16):
wig budget on these sets.
I don't understand.
Bre Cade (25:19):
That's the thing, like , sometimes, when I see a
musical, like movie or on thestage, that doesn't necessarily
work.
It does give me an appreciation, though, for like it's so hard
to make a successful musicalBecause you have like they were
set up for success with thatmovie.
You have this smash Broadwayhit and then you're you're using
the star that was like soassociated with it, and you have
(25:43):
other acts like Amy Adams.
You know you have like Academyaward winners and yet somehow it
doesn't quite come together, sothat I don't know it does.
I still think there's valuesometimes in watching those
things, because because that'sthe only way that we, like you
just never know, you never knowwhat the thing is that it's like
really gonna knock it out ofthe park.
Caitlin Sams (26:01):
Totally.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:02):
It's true when done well, everything looks
really easy right, and it's notuntil you see something done
poorly that you go oh, all right, Maybe there was a lot of work
that needed to go into that.
Bre Cade (26:14):
Right.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:15):
So I'm unfortunately going to have to
wrap up, as much as I lovetalking about this and I'm
looking forward to the show, butdo you have anything you'd like
to say to your New Jerseyaudiences, who are looking
forward to you at the StateTheater?
Caitlin Sams (26:27):
Get your tickets if you haven't gotten them yet.
And I cannot get you tickets.
I love everyone, but I cannotget you tickets.
I don't work at the box office.
I don't work at the box office.
I don't have a bunch of ticketsin my backpack that I'm just
selling on the streets.
I think people think thatsometimes, but I'm very excited.
I cannot wait for the StateTheater.
I am so, so psyched.
Bre Cade (26:47):
Same.
We'll see you there.
You know I don't have a ton ofpeople coming to Jersey, but if
Bree is any indication it'sgoing to be a rowdy, rowdy
weekend any indication it'sgoing to be a rowdy weekend.
Looking forward to it.
Gina Marie Rodriguez (26:59):
The Dear Evan Hansen tour will stop at
the State Theater in NewBrunswick this March 28th
through the 30th.
For tickets and moreinformation, be sure to visit
STNJ.
org.
If you liked this episode, besure to review, subscribe and
tell your friends.
A transcript of this podcast,links relevant to the story and
more about the arts in NewJersey can be found at
(27:20):
JerseyArts.
com.
The Jersey Arts Podcast ispresented by Art Pride New
Jersey, advancing a state ofcreativity since 1986.
The show was co-founded by andcurrently supported by funds
from, the New Jersey StateCouncil on the Arts.
This episode was hosted, editedand produced by me, gina Marie
Rodriguez.
Executive producers are JimAtkinson and Isaac Serna-Diez,
(27:42):
and my thanks to Bre Cade andCaitlin Sams for speaking with
me today.
I'm Gina Marie Rodriguez forthe Jersey Arts Podcast.
Thanks for listening.
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