“Be More Chill: The Musical” is going to be revived for off Broadway from July 26 – Sept. 23, 2018. With this revival, several members of the original cast from the Two River Theater production will make a comeback. The only exception currently is that Will Connolly who will not be reprising his role as Jeremy Heere, and will instead be played by Will Roland.
Two River Theater originally put on the musical back in 2015, though its overall popularity took a fair amount of time to amass, and is only a recent hit and has since made “Be More Chill” a cult classic. In 2017, the Exit 82 Revival came to the stage starring Matt Dalton as Jeremy.
“Be More Chill” revolves around the life of a junior in high school named Jeremy Heere, a self proclaimed geek that just wants to survive his last two years at Middle Borough High School.
As this is his known status, those above him in the social hierarchy of his school bully him and his best friend (who is called the anti-social headphone kid), Michael Mell. Jeremy’s main goal is to get his crush, Christine Canigula (Caniglia in the novel), to notice him and possibly score a date. Due to Christine’s love for plays, Jeremy uses the school play as an opportunity to help develop his relationship with her.
From there, the main school bully, Rich, corners Jeremy in the bathroom and offers him something called a SQUIP (Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor) that can make him go from the bottom to the top.
When Jeremy gets the SQUIP in his possession, his life temporarily improves as it helps him climb up the social ladder and get closer to his crush. However, good things cannot last forever and the illusion of a better life slowly starts to degrade over the course of the story.
Overall, the theme of “Be More Chill” revolves around stereotypes and depending on the interpretation, the danger of drug abuse or abusive people. There’s high school drama rooted in the feelings of the students, a lack of help from the adults around them, and how repressing certain parts of yourself can do far more harm than good in the long run.
Other notable productions have come out in 2018 such as the Australian Production put on by Manly Black Box Theatre, the UK Premier cast from the Self Proclaimed Theatre Company, and the West Australian Production by Phoenix Theatre Inc. (which is the only version of the musical where the SQUIP is played by a female).
The musical is based on a book of the same title by Ned Vizzini, published in 2004. Tragically, Vizzini commited suicide on Dec. 19, 2013 by jumping off the roof of the building where his parents lived. He spoke and often wrote about his struggles with severe clinical depression while he was alive.
Depending on whether the novel is read or the musical is heard or seen first, the audience can be heavily affected on how to interpret the characters and how their qualities translate. Either way, being chill about the changes may be the best way to enjoy the experience entirely.
Erika Brandenburg
Staff Writer