REVIEW: Be More Chill on Broadway

On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. Our final show of the trip was the highly anticipated but highly disappointing Be More Chill.

I am so sorry, you guys. I really was excited to see this show and then come on here and write a glowing review. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do that with a clear conscience. As much as it pains me to say it, I would like to recommend any self-proclaimed #Squips (the name Be More Chill fans have given themselves) to close this page and continue to celebrate and support the show that you clearly love a lot more than I do.

After spending four hours sitting on the sidewalk outside the Lyceum Theatre on a rainy Sunday morning, I scored rush tickets to Be More Chill. I was ecstatic.  The buzz coming off the show's sold-out Off-Broadway run was practically deafening, and I was seeing it for cheap before it exploded on Broadway! My family and I went into the show completely blind. All we knew was that Will Roland, one of our favorite cast members from Tony Award-winning megahit Dear Evan Hansen, was the star.

As we took our seats, we immediately noticed the majority of audience members were under the age of seventeen. "Cool, so at least it's not too raunchy," I thought, since I was still recovering from sitting next to my father during the graphic sex scene in the previous night's performance of Network. We spent the time before the show studying the logo of the show title and trying to figure out what was the weird icon replacing the dot above the i in Chill. "I think it's a loading bar... like on a computer!" "No, it looks like a pill to me!" "Okay, $5 goes to whoever's right!" It turns out we were all correct, technically.

The lights went down, and all of a sudden all those aforementioned teens started screaming like we were at a One Direction (or Beatles according to my parents) concert. "Oh okay, so it's that type of audience," I thought while I subtly rolled my eyes. The screams got louder as Will Roland took the stage. The screams continued and got more hysterical as every single other cast member made their respective entrances. I'm all about entrance applause, but that was a little much for me. The very first thing that happened in the show was Will Roland pulling out a bottle of lotion as he waited for his porn to load on his computer. "I thought this was a family friendly show," my mom hissed in my ear as she eyed all the teenagers surrounding us.

Yeah, we weren't off to a good start.

Be More Chill follows a misfit high school student (Roland) who suddenly finds the secret to being a cool kid. The secret is an expensive pill called a "Squip." Once the Squip is ingested, a small computer is inserted in the brain and gives guidance on how to be cool. No, I'm not kidding. That's the actual plot. I'd like to say that the storyline at least drives home the morals of staying true to yourself and loyal to the people in your life who accept you for who you really are, but even when that opportunity presented itself within the plot, the writers fell way short. On that note, the writing fell short across the board. The music was basic, unimaginative and repetitive. I could have written the songs, and that's no compliment; my songwriting skills are equivalent to those of a gnat. Every time I thought the plot might take a more positive and endearing turn, I was slapped with more sleazy jokes, screaming teenagers, and a sci-fi world of which I was not prepared.

When we reached intermission, we collectively agreed that we didn’t necessarily hate the show, but that it certainly wasn’t one of our favorites. My mom and I agreed that Act 2 would redeem the show with a great teaching moment of explaining the underlying morals I discussed earlier. The lights dimmed for Act 2 and we were filled with hope, but eventually I stopped willing the show to get better and instead started praying for the show to end faster.

As far as performances are concerned, I can't say I genuinely enjoyed any of them. Will Roland, fresh off a fabulous performance in Dear Evan Hansen, seemed uninspired in his turn as a leading man. His "transformation" from misfit to cool kid wasn't believable, but I blame that more on poor direction than Mr. Roland himself. If I had to pick the strongest performance of the show, I would have to go with George Salazar as Michael, the stereotypical sidekick and comedic relief. He was the most dedicated to his character, and though he had a low bar to surpass, he was one of the few onstage who caused me to crack a smile. By far, the best vocals of the cast belong to Jason Tam, who plays the Squip-computer-thing personified. He had a very nice voice, some of the better songs, and rather flamboyant costumes which I'm sure are fun to wear.

One last thing: it took forever and a day for the show to end! If it were up to me, there were easily about ten minutes of filler that could have been cut. Finally the show ended, and while the rest of the audience leapt to their feet during curtain call, I was covering my ears to try and preserve the last of my hearing that was left. I left the theatre profoundly disappointed that a show I was so excited to see ended up being such a flop.

To be perfectly frank, even though I thoroughly disliked Be More Chill, they have clearly found a niche market within a demographic much younger than I (I'm generalizing here, I know that there are plenty of people my age or older who equally love this show). This show was not for me, but that doesn't mean it's not for everyone. I wish all involved with Be More Chill the best, and I hope the show has a successful run so that those involved may have job security. However, if they are awarded heavily come Tony season this spring, I will be extremely confused. If this is what the future of Broadway holds, I want no part of it.

Be More Chill is currently running at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City. The show began Broadway performances on February 13th, 2019, officially opened on March 10th, 2019, and is currently set for an open run (no scheduled closing date). You can purchase tickets at Telecharge.com, on the TodayTix app, or frequently at the TKTS booths at Times Square, Lincoln Center, or South Street Seaport. Additionally, the theatre sells a limited amount of $40 general rush tickets for same-day performances.

Run Time: 2hrs 30mins with one 15min intermission

Be More Chill rating: PG-13

Hillary's Score: 1/10
Check out my other show reviews here!

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