Report on musical Dear Evan Hansen

On air most news reports last around 2 to 3 minutes  but as with most things, the work that goes into that short space of time is, by comparison, huge.  So, after a number of phone calls and conversations we decided to do a report on the musical Dear Evan Hansen. It covers some pretty tough topics like grief, suicide and bereavement but, on top of this, the touring show was directed in Nottingham and features a news clip from our BBC East Midlands studio.

So, allocated one of our most experienced and total top cameraman, Neil Evans, we arrived at Curve in Leicester.  It seems obvious but TV really is all about pictures and when the stage is in darkness filming is challenging.  Although I often film on my phone which is great quality and lends a more intimate feel to a report, something like this hugely benefits from the experience of a top film cameraman and the quality of his pictures. 

The lead part of Evan played by Ryan Kopel was just one of the nicest, most thoughtful men ever and a joy to interview.  And if I thought he was great then my next two interviewees Alice (playing mother) and Lara from the ensemble were just a dream. It’s not always that every interviewee is brilliant but at Curve - they were. 

With the structure of the film in my head it was important to access some footage of the show itself (especially given the fact most theatre), and with the thumbs up on that front and some mental editing as we did the interviews we set back for the studios.  Once I had viewed the footage it was into the edit suite.  We also managed to access the original recording of the news clip I did for the show (which was a bit of a triumph and involved several people helping).

The edit (thanks to top editor John who managed a brilliant piece of artistic/technical wizardry to pull my news clip out of a still photo of the show) took about 2 hours which left me a less than optimal 5 minutes in makeup before dashing to the studio for the 6 O' clock headlines. And then the piece went out and it was just fabulous - so good that I’m definitely booking some tickets to see the show even though I’ve missed it in the East Midlands.  Look out Oxford - we’re going to be on our way!!