Set in suburban Jersey and based on Ned Vizzini’s out-there 2004 novel, Be More Chill is about a frustrated high school junior named Jeremy (Will Roland, best-known for Dear Evan Hansen), who swallows a grey pill that’s a Japanese supercomputer called a SQUIP. It implants itself in his brain and guides him through the intricacies of teenage social protocol. Continue Reading
The musical Be More Chill has some baggage. It’s about high school angst that verges on cliché, and it’s a showcase for the kind of head-banging pop, in this case by composer/lyricist Joe Iconis (Smash), that’s commonplace in today’s musical theater. It also has an out-there sci-fi premise: Hopelessly uncool high school sophomore Jeremy Heere (Dear Evan Hansen’s Will Roland) swallows a pill-shaped supercomputer called a SQUIP that implants itself in his brain and instructs him in the finer points of teenage social etiquette.Continue Reading
