Be More Chill
Music and Lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
June 7,  2019
Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.

I made a big mistake in planning this trip with teenagers.  I had thought that the most obvious of shows to take them to – the one that they are obviously jamming to on YouTube would be Be More Chill.  I had thought that there wouldn’t be much for me in this production – but I was happy to “take one for the team.”

But – surprise the teenagers were NOT looking forward to this show.  They found the music and clips on YouTube to be inane and ridiculous for any savyy teenager. We were both in for a pleasant surprise.  Be More Chill really does work.  It sets an understandably low bar – but it hits it each and every time.  Here is bit on this crazy plot:

Change kicks in when Jeremy spends his bar mitzvah money to buy a Squip, a jagged little pill with a bite-sized computer that is supposed to make you cool once you wash it down with green Mountain Dew. The Squip manifests itself as a human (Jason Tam) who only Jeremy can see and hear. Costumed like Keanu Reeves in his Matrix best, Tam is a riot of raunchy advice about how Jeremy should dress and act to connect with the school hotties. 

Be More Chill offers many teachable moments.  I guess you could say it is a modern parable about drug use or the importance of being true to yourself – but luckily none of them get in the way of the show’s crazy fun nature. It certainly is not Dear Evan Hanson when it comes to heart or Mean Girls when it comes to acerbic wit but it is a testament to the power of social network and YouTube to generate an audience out of thin air.  And for this audience it delivers.