Iconis and Tracz’ creation, adapted from Ned Vizzini’s book of the same name, succeeds in injecting some irreverence into its medium, a particular weirdness to its characters-not vacant eccentricity, but definition-that feels somehow new to its genre. Yet, I hesitate to put Be More Chill squarely within the mold that Dear Evan Hansen popularized, Mean Girls commercialized and The Prom piggy-backed. On Broadway, Be More Chill looks a lot like its new-musical peers-sleek and shiny, sardonically teen-focused, duty-bound by the aesthetic eclecticism of today’s youth and built by a score that sounds nearly like a 2008 Vampire Weekend mixtape turned itself into a musical.
It ran for four weeks, but its cast album, through whatever YouTube and Tumblr algorithmic alchemy, became a viral phenomenon, amassing an army of fans across the globe that’s ushered this techno story of teenage angst first to a sold-out run off-Broadway last summer and now to the Lyceum Theatre. The musical first opened at the Two River Theater in New Jersey in 2015. It works, and as Jeremy’s squip takes him to the top of suburban New Jersey high school hierarchy, hairstyle and friends swapped out, the computer’s destructive and evolving potential threatens to take over the entire school, one malleable mind at a time-a sci-fi parable of digital life and teenage insecurity.īut, like its protagonist, Be More Chill is itself a strange product of human creation and digital life, coming to Broadway with an already viral following.
Take a breath and seal the deal,” the lyrics go. “Gotta get an upgrade-don’t worry about the guilt you feel. Take the pill, called a “squip,” manifested by an anime-inspired, Keanu Reeves-esque mentor in his mind (Jason Tam), obey its instructions and the paralyzing social anxiety that comes with being a high school teenager melts into swagger. Jeremy (Will Roland), hopelessly insecure and anxious, learns from his school bully-once a nerd, too-about an ingestible supercomputer that’ll take control of his brain and make him cool. Then the musical ends.īut never has a play gone the way of this well-trodden path via brain-implanted computer domination, as is the case with Be More Chill, Joe Iconis and Joe Tracz viral sensation turned Broadway musical, now open at the Lyceum Theatre.īoth in life and art, the lines between digital and real existence blur in Be More Chill. Sandy learns to be cool by smoking cigarettes and wearing leather pants. I never quite understood how Grease so successfully defied this model. A nerdy, unpopular kid, desperate for social capital, makes a radical transformation, realizes his or her mistake and learns to be themselves again. The high school musical’s calling card has always been the “be yourself” thematic. “Sesame Street: The Musical” Electrifies 24th October 2022.Highlights from the Mladi Levi Festival in Ljubljana 30th August 2022.Bodies of Knowledge – Facilitating Alternative and Humane Ways of Learning 31st August 2022.A Queer Memory Play for the Online Generation: “You Don’t Have to Do Anything” Workshops in NYC This October 29th September 2022.Micro Theatre Festival Returns with 16 Mini Plays This Week 12th October 2022.Interview with Zoe Apostolidou and Emel Aydoğdu. Young Europe IV: Non-Dominant Voices in European Youth Theatre.Exclusive Interview with Stuart Nash, Founder of Nairobi Performing Arts Studio 11th October 2022.“Desdemona Roopakam” to be Staged 16th October 2022.When Playwrights Complicate Dramatic Form: Recent Developments in African American Plays of the 2010s 12th September 2022.On the 25th Anniversary of the STEPS Theatre 14th September 2022 Russian Theater Beyond Time and Place.How Drama Can Help Open Up Conversations on Suicide for Young People in Post-Pandemic Times 18th September 2022.Remembering Joan Littlewood (6 October 1914 – 20 September 2002) 17th October 2022.Prequel, Sequel and Two Fangs: An Exclusive Interview with Dacre Stoker 26th October 2022.“When The World Turns” is a Profoundly Moving Theatrical Experience for Children with Complex Disabilities 27th October 2022.Melissa Etheridge’s Queer Joy: “My Window-A Journey Through Life” 28th October 2022.Clowning “On Beckett,” Irwin Delights at the Emerson Paramount Center 31st October 2022.
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