by Lauren Perl. @laurenperl_.
BETHESDA, MD. - This just in: “Waving Through A Window” is out! As Dear Evan Hansen approaches the end of its six-year Broadway run, community theaters are eagerly waiting for MTI to release the rights to perform the musical to the public. In the excitement, many tenors have reportedly forgotten one important detail: the Bb in “Waving Through A Window" isn’t within their vocal range.
“Singing Dear Evan Hansen is like a second puberty. My voice is out of my control,” noted tenor Matthew Pigott as he anxiously fanned his sweaty hands under hand dryers in the National Unified Auditions bathroom. “I always crack on the Bb4’s, and … any note between there and middle C.”
Piggott is not alone. As “Waving Through A Window” becomes a mainstream audition song, admissions officers for collegiate musical theatre programs report an uptick in vocal cracks amongst auditionees.
“When boys enter carrying that sheet music, I stare them down and ask ‘why do you think you’ll be different?’,”claimed the Carnegie Mellon Dean of Admissions Ruth “There’s Nothing Problematic About South Pacific” Winthrop. “The only ‘crack’ I want to hear is the shattering confidence of Evan Hansen wannabes.”
Auditionees find Ruth ruthless.
“My son is a star - she wouldn’t even WATCH him. He just warmed up for 3 hours in the waiting room,” stated Mama Rose-In-Training, Octavia Piggott, as she discreetly cleaned up broken glass caused by her son’s previous Bb attempts. “He’s so stressed, he even cracked on his easy song, ‘Luck Be A Lady’, and his speak-singing song, 'I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face'.”
Due to its vocal complexity, composers Benj Pasek and Justin Paul tragically decided to remove all public access to the "Waving Through A Window" sheet music. At press time, the only public remnant of “Waving Through A Window” is a faint tap-tap-tapping on the third-story window of the Music Box Theatre.