Music and Lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini
Orchestrations by Charlie Rosen
May 30-June 22, 2019
BE MORE CHILL
BEST MUSICAL IN ST. LOUIS, 2019– The Riverfront Times
“Productions like this are exactly what contemporary theatre needs.”
– Tanya Seale, BroadwayWorld
“One of New Line’s best productions in recent history.”
– Kevin Brackett, ReviewSTL
“A startlingly fresh musical that avoids cliché to tell an exciting and at times very funny story about modern teenagers with a sci-fi twist.”
– Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times
“Teen angst has rarely been so entertainingly outrageous.”
– Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“The powerful connection between actors and theatergoers is electric and palpable.”
– Lynn Venhaus, St. Louis Limelight
“A spectacular production. . . A total blast.”
– Tina Farmer, KDHX
You're offered a pill with a tiny supercomputer inside, to be taken with some Mountain Dew, that will install a personalized voice inside your head that will tell you how to be cool.
Do you take it?
New Line closed its 28th season with a totally sold-out run of the hot, new, sci-fi rock musical BE MORE CHILL -- while the show was running on Broadway! -- with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Tracz, based on the bestselling novel by Ned Vizzini. It’s an honest, fearless, funny look at life in the digital age, exploring teen depression, bullying, and other current issues through the comic lens of sci-fi films of the 50s, horror flicks of the 80s, and teen movies of the 90s. The show has been selling out everywhere it runs.
Jeremy is just an average, nothing-special teenage nerd -- until he finds out about the Squip ("Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor"), a tiny Japanese supercomputer in a convenient pill, which promises to "upgrade" him and bring him everything he desires most: a date with Christine, an invite to the coolest party of the year, and a chance to survive life in his suburban New Jersey high school.
Be More Chill made its world premiere at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 2015, it ran off Broadway briefly, and then it opened on Broadway in March 2019. A hit with audiences and critics alike, The New York Times wrote, "Be More Chill is one of the most popular musicals in America." The Wall Street Journal raved "you don't have to be a millennial to revel in the spunky charms of Be More Chill. See it now if you can wrangle a ticket, because it's going to hit big - deservedly so." The Hollywood Reporter called it, "so winning that it's hard to resist," and Vox called the show, "a sensation. ... wildly adored ...universal. ... The audience was screaming at every song." Variety wrote, "It's one thing to be told that Be More Chill is a viral hit on the internet. It's quite another to experience the hype live and in the room, where the audience explodes like it's at a rock concert. ...People have come from all around the country, if not all around the world to see it."
New Line's cast included Jayde Mitchell (Jeremy), Dominic Dowdy-Windsor (Squip), Kevin Corpuz (Michael), Zachary Allen Farmer (Jeremy’s Dad), Melissa Felps (Brooke), Evan Fornachon (Rich), Isabel Cecilia Garcia (Jenna), Grace Langford (Christine), Ian McCreary (Jake), and Laura Renfro (Chloe). The show was directed by Mike Dowdy-Windsor and Scott Miller, with music direction by Nicolas Valdez, choreography by Michelle Sauer and Sara Rae Womack, lighting and scenic design by Rob Lippert, costume design by Sarah Porter, sound design by Ryan Day, and the New Line Band under the leadership of Marc Vincent.
Produced by arrangement with Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals, New York.
Want to explore more?
We recommend:
The novel Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini
The Be More Chill vocal selections
The Be More Chill cast recording
A great Vanity Fair article about Be More Chill on Broadway
The Stage Grok podcast's Be More Chill interviews:
-- Be More Chill songwriter Joe Iconis
-- Be More Chill actor Katlyn Carlson
-- Be More Chill producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper
-- Be More Chill orchestrator and music supervisor Charlie Rosen
Ned Vizzini's Author Page and his other books on Amazon
