I saw "Dear Evan Hansen"

What I saw: "Dear Evan Hansen," a new Broadway musical, at the Music Box Theater on West 45th near like, I dunno, 8th Ave.

What I did beforehand: saw this guy worshipping the clothes in a store, and then met up with my friend Bill from the Internet, and we had drinks. It was hard to feel like we weren't toasting the life of our dead friend, America. RIP, America. We knew you when.

What I wore: two black shirts with jeans, hiking boots, big parka, the earrings before I broke one.

Who went with me: white people.

How I got tickets: just a couple of days before, online, for about $400.

Why I saw this show: I wonder if the world is divided into the bullies and the bullied, with some overlap. 

Where I sat: Row H seat 106, between this guy whose plane from LAX was three hours late making him miss the opening song so he had to sneak in courtesy of an usher with a flashlight and slide past me with his butt in my face after the show had started and, oh, him, and a group of three empty seats on the other side of me that were sold when I checked online. 

Things that were sad: I cried all the mascara off my eyes in the first act.

Things that were funny: people checking their phones at intermission, during a play (partly) about the power of social media.

Things that were not funny: I took off my glasses at intermission (to look at my phone) and they fell off my head and I didn’t notice until the lights dimmed for the second act, so I had to sit there, not able to see perfectly, waiting for the end so I could turn on my flashlight and crawl around. I started looking as soon as people started clapping, but couldn’t find them, and as poeple left the theater a few of the people around me noticed I was looking and pitched in. The person to find them was a house manager. I thanked him, but it felt like it wasn’t enough. 

Something I ate: homemade chips at Joe Allen.

What it is: a fine, energetic musical about a lonely, anxious teen. With moments of great truth about trying not to suck as a parent and featuring a cast that seems to embody their roles, every one of them. Highly recommended. 

Who should see it: liars, teens, parents, people who cannot imagine that social media has a positive impact on the world. People who can't imagine what a middle class white kid in America might be anxious about. Fans of American musical theater. 

What I saw on the way home: too many ads, which is to say, nothing.