Be More Chill (musical)
| Be More Chill | |
|---|---|
| Music | Joe Iconis |
| Lyrics | Joe Iconis |
| Book | Joe Tracz |
| Setting | Future |
| Basis | Be More Chill |
| Premiere | Red Bank, New Jersey |
| Productions | 2015 Red Bank |
Be More Chill is an original musical with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz, based on the novel Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini. The musical ran during 2015 at the Two River Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey.
After the overture (“Jeremy’s Theme”), the musical begins with an ordinary day in the life of Jeremy Heere, a high school junior in suburban New Jersey. He heads off to school, tries to avoid interacting with his peers, and meets up with his best (and only) friend Michael Mell at lunch. While pining after his crush Christine Canigula, Jeremy decides to sign up for the school play in an attempt to get closer to her. He laments his status as a social outcast, and begs for someone to teach him how to be cool (“More Than Survive”). At rehearsal that afternoon, Jeremy strikes up a conversation with Christine, who tells him about her love of the stage (“I Love Play Rehearsal”). After rehearsal, while attempting to wash graffiti off of his backpack, Jeremy runs into school bully Rich Goranski. Instead of harassing him, Rich instead tells Jeremy about how he learned to be more self-confident and improve his social standing— after a pathetic freshman year, Rich took a pill called a “super quantum unit intel processor,” or “SQUIP.” The SQUIP is a supercomputer that implants itself in the host’s brain and tells them how to act cool, and Rich tells Jeremy that he should get one (“The SQUIP Song”).
As the two friends play video games that night, Jeremy confides in Michael about his conversation with Rich. Michael is skeptical of the SQUIP and reassures Jeremy that he will always think Jeremy is cool and that they will always be friends, but the two of them decide to visit Rich’s dealer at the Payless ShoeSource in the Menlo Park Mall (“Two Player Game”). Jeremy purchases a SQUIP from the dealer, a scary stockboy, and takes it with Mountain Dew as instructed. Not feeling the effects immediately, Jeremy runs into Christine on a date with Jake Dillinger, one of their castmates in the play, right when the SQUIP activates (“The SQUIP Enters”).
The SQUIP immediately sizes up Jeremy and tells him that it will change everything about him— his looks, personality, social standing, because as it stands now, Jeremy is utterly pathetic (“Be More Chill [Pt. 1]”). While buying a new shirt at the SQUIP’s command, he runs into two of the popular girls from school, Brooke Lohst and Chloe Valentine, who offer him a ride home from the mall (“Do You Wanna Ride?”). Ignoring the SQUIP’s insistence that he take them up on the offer, Jeremy declines and leaves to find Micheal— only to find that Michael has left the mall without him. Seeing what happened when he ignored the SQUIP, Jeremy breaks and vows to become more obedient (“Be More Chill [Pt. 2]”). Realizing that he is grateful to have someone helping him out, Jeremy heads to school in the morning with renewed confidence (“More Than Survive [Reprise]”).
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