Be More Chill started out as a 2004 young adult book by Ned Vizzini. It was adapted to a low-profile but positively reviewed musical at New Jersey’s Two River Theatre in 2015. In 2018, it was slated for a two month revival run at New York’s Pershing Square Signature Center, before becoming sold out, extended one week, and finally announced that it will move to Broadway next year! So, how has such a small musical managed to come so far?

Be More Chill follows the story of Jeremy Heere (played by Will Roland in the revival), who’s your everyday high school nobody until he learns about Squips. A Squip is a pill sized supercomputer that, as explained in “The Squip Song”, “implants in your brain and it tells you what to do”. It promises to help Jeremy become cool, confident, and eventually to get the girl he’s been pining for — Christine.

After a friend recommended the musical to me, I listened to the original cast album on repeat for two months, rushed to snag a ticket before they sold out, and was recently able to see the show’s revival. And it was well worth the wait. The costumes were bright and interesting – especially the Squip’s, which became darker and more dramatic as his true intentions became more clear. Each performance was energetic and heartfelt. The cast is clearly passionate about this project and grateful for its fan base, since everyone came to the lobby for signings and pictures afterward.

Every character is likable and relatable. Jeremy’s best friend and fan favorite Michael, played by George Salazar, has great chemistry with Roland during the losers’ ballad “Two Player Game”. It’s hard not to like the cocky Rich, who sees his old self in Jeremy and helps him get a Squip. Airhead jock Jake and popular girls Brooke, Chloe, and Jenna are great comic reliefs. My personal favorite is the adorable theatre geek Christine, played by Stephanie Hsu, who has talked about the importance of playing an unabashedly quirky, Asian-American love interest on the stage. “It’s so important to have leading female characters that are not like, you know, six-feet tall, a size zero and blonde and perfect and live in a castle”. You might also know her as Karen from the SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical.

There’s a lot of teen dramas about becoming popular and the importance of being yourself; but, I think that this one feels less cliché and more personal than the rest. Maybe because Jeremy’s insecurities and self doubt can be applied to anyone our age. The popular kids don’t need to trip him in the cafeteria, or send an embarrassing photo of him to the whole school (seriously, how does that even happen in movies?) for us to feel for him. We’re able to relate to his inner struggle and feel hopeful by the musical’s upbeat end.

So, I encourage you to check out the original album with over 150 million streams on Spotify! You can definitely understand the story from the lyrics alone, and then decide if you’re interested in seeing the show on Broadway in 2019. I think it’s a musical that you could kind of be into.