When I went to see the musical Dear Evan Hansen in June, there was a song in the program that I hadn’t heard about anywhere else beforehand - a reprise of the Act I finale, “You Will Be Found”, right before the climax of the second act. When the moment came, it proved to be one of the most emotionally effective moments of the whole show, through the contrast between the two versions of the song. In its first appearance, “You Will Be Found” follows the titular protagonist’s sudden rocket to viral fame after his improvised speech at a school assembly about his (fake) friendship with the deceased Connor Murphy. Evan Hansen’s hopeful message reassures both the show’s audience and the many internet commenters we hear sporadically thanking him throughout the song is that, “If you only look around, you will be found. You are not alone.” The pre-recorded commenters all sound genuinely thankful to Evan, and the music has a soaring quality, soft and gentle at times but mainly loud and proud. The use of the chorus, which only appears in one other song in the whole show, makes it feel even more powerful, and all together it creates an image of a joyful community, celebrating their membership in it and inviting the audience to join. However, this positive portrayal of social media as a welcoming, uplifting place was not what the creators of the show were originally going for when they were first shaping “Dear Evan Hansen”. They had planned to take a more satirical approach, showing the evil side of the internet and the destructive power it can rain down on those it decides to target.
This dark underbelly is put on full display in the “You Will Be Found Reprise”. For context, after Evan realizes how his lies have been ruining the few genuine relationships he has, he’s convinced himself that there’s only one way out of his situation. To prove to his friend Alana that his friendship with Connor was real, he shows her Connor’s suicide note that was addressed to Evan; what he doesn’t tell her is that this is actually a letter he wrote to himself as an assignment from his therapist. Unfortunately, not only does Alana believe Evan, but she almost immediately releases the letter online, despite Evan’s protests, to bring the attention of the public back to Connor. Here the reprise kicks in, but this time instead of creating a feeling of community and acceptance within the audience, it awakens feelings of dread and true fear. It’s hard to recall from memory exactly what the music was like, but I recall it being mostly the same while still somehow sounding harsher, sharper, and more dissonant, as though you’re standing in the middle of a battlefield. The commenters have all turned on the Murphy family after reading the “suicide note”, and call each one of them out for failing to get Connor the help he needs. They use crude and cruel language, holding nothing back - I specifically recall one person calling Connor’s sister Zoe a “bitch”. The lyrics are the same as the ones quoted in the previous paragraph, but with everything else combined, they take on a new meaning: There is nowhere you can hide from the ever-watching eyes of the Internet. There are other factors that play into making this moment so impactful, such as the lighting and graphics, but it’s the use of the music and other sounds that bring this moment to life in a horrifying relatable way.
