WAUWATOSA, Wis. — Wauwatosa West High School’s theater program will be the first in the country to perform Dear Evan Hansen — but getting to this point wasn’t easy. After historic floods hit their theater in August, the students and staff faced months of cleanup, renovation and determination before the curtain could rise again.
Watch: Wauwatosa West students rise above setback to premiere Dear Evan Hansen
The floods had filled the orchestra pit with water, coated the stage in mud stains and destroyed the carpet throughout the house floor. The school’s theater program was suddenly facing a massive renovation right as the new school year began.
Evan Hryniewicki, who plays the lead role of Evan Hansen, shared how much the theater means to him.
“I mean, this is like my home away from home,” Hryniewicki said. “It was very awkward starting off with being in the orchestra room, the lunchroom and everything for rehearsals.”
For ensemble member Maddie Ullsperger, seeing the damage firsthand was heartbreaking.
“Just seeing it in shambles, seeing the stage wavy and bumpy from all the water damage, it was just awful,” she said.
But theater director Adam Steffan said the students and faculty never lost hope.
“From flood to fabulous is what I’ve been telling people,” Steffan said. “It’s been just sort of a wild journey, but I keep coming back to the word ‘remarkable’ when I think of where we were in August and where we are now.”
Months of rehearsals and repairs followed, and now the Wauwatosa West theater is ready for its big moment.
Their production is a pilot — Wauwatosa West will be the first high school in the nation to perform Dear Evan Hansen. The show has been adapted into a PG-13 version, making it appropriate for high school audiences while maintaining its powerful themes.
“The story is about a high school teen who struggles with social anxiety, and all the other struggles of high school and social media and all the pressure,” Hryniewicki said. “Being a high schooler playing a high schooler definitely helps, because it brings kind of a source of, like, relatability between me and Evan.”
“It touches on suicide, depression and anxiety, which is very relevant to kids today,” Ullsperger added.
The show’s central message, “You will be found,” has inspired the cast to open a larger conversation about mental health in their community.
Sarah Labonte, a mental health specialist at Wauwatosa West, said the performance carries an important reminder.
“At the core of its message, it’s that we are better together,” Labonte said.
Labonte worked with the students throughout the rehearsal process to help teach them what to do if the content of the performance hit close to home, how to ask for help and how to support each other.
“This is still educational theater, and Dear Evan Hansen gave us the opportunity to pause and check in,” Steffan said.
As the students prepare to take the stage, they hope the audience leaves with a sense of hope and connection.
“You are not alone,” Hryniewicki said. “It always gets better, even when it seems hopeless, even when it seems that nobody is there for you, even when you’re at your lowest. It’s going to be okay.”
“Just take away a message of hope, a message of love and understanding that you are not alone,” Ullsperger added.
As Steffan said, from flood to fabulous, this theater program is ready to welcome the public into its new theater for this pilot performance.
“I’m very proud of all of us and how hard we’ve worked, and it’ll all be worth it when we open,” Hryniewicki said.
Viewer discretion is advised as the show grapples with heavy topics such as suicide, mental health struggles, family dysfunction and more.
Mental health resources will be available in the lobby before and after each performance. Tickets are available now, and opening night is Friday at 7 p.m.
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