BEING A LOSER HAS NEVER BEEN SO COOL.
Broadway's new musical sensation is BE MORE CHILL. It's already "one of the most popular new musicals in America," raves The New York Times. And The Wall Street Journal cheers, "It's going to hit big - and deservedly so!" Discover this hilariously honest show for yourself, featuring an electric, ear-worm filled score by "one of Broadway's next great songwriters" (Billboard).
What if popularity came in a pill? Would you take it, no questions asked? In BE MORE CHILL, achieving the "perfect life" is now possible thanks to some mysterious new technology - but it comes at a cost that's not as easy to swallow. What could possibly go wrong? Blending the contemporary with retro sci-fi, this thrillingly exciting, comically subversive, and deeply felt new musical takes on the competing voices in all of our heads. And ultimately proves, there's never been a better time in history to be yourself - especially if you're a loser... geek... or whatever.
Be More Chill feels squawkily split between camp sci fi romp and searing teenage-life-today commentary. The title itself is the last annoying puzzle. If anything the show suggests that we all have to live with our insecurities and other inner demons; the trick is not to let them dominate us.
But however much you root for it, Be More Chill ultimately seems like a talented, likable team that is playing in the wrong league, and the Lyceum looms around it like a judgment. Directed in broad strokes by Stephen Brackett, the show doesn't take itself seriously enough; many of the jokes are underbaked, and by the time it reaches its wacky, hectic finale, it has thrown internal logic out the window. And the production's embrace of cartoonishness works against the sentimental effects it sometimes reaches for, especially since we have little reason to care about Jeremy one way or the other; Roland, who was terrific as the needling sidekick in Dear Evan Hansen, sings well but doesn't project the sensitivity that might help fill out his role. Be More Chill takes it for granted that we'll like Jeremy just because most of the kids at his school do not. But unpopularity, like popularity, only goes so far.
2018 | Off-Broadway |
New York Premiere at Signature Center Off-Broadway |
2019 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
2021 | West End |
West End Premiere West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design for a Musical | Bobby Frederick Tilly II |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | George Salazar |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical | Stephanie Hsu |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Lyrics | Joe Iconis |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Music | Joe Iconis |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Musical | Be More Chill |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Charlie Rosen |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Orchestrations | Charlie Rosen |
2019 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Alex Basco Koch |
2019 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Be More Chill |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical | George Salazar |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Musical | Be More Chill |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Score | Joe Iconis |
2019 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Projection Design | Alex Basco Koch |
2019 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Joe Iconis |
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