If the current Main Stem revival of Kiss Me, Kate celebrates the eternal glory of Broadway’s yesterday, Be More Chill, now at the Lyceum after a hit run Off-Broadway earlier this season, ushers in a promising tomorrow. The basic premises of both shows are silly fun and borrow heavily from other sources. Kate mixes Shakespeare and traditional backstage showbiz plotlines; Chill blenderizes teen-tuner tropes from shows such as Mean Girls, Heathers, and Dear Evan Hansen, along with dash of sci-fi/horror a la Little Shop of Horror and the film “Limitless.” Be More Chill has proven a cult hit with younger theatergoers who are attending multiple times.
High-school outcast Jeremy (adorably nerdy Will Roland) discovers if he ingests a black-market mini-computer in pill form, it will direct his every move on the path to popularity. Of course, his new found coolness means dumping his geeky best friend Michael (quirky George Salazar) and risking his sanity and the safety of the world as the insidious device known as a Squip (personified by sleek Jason Tam) takes over his conscience and attempts to conquer humanity.
As noted, the concept, based on Ned Vizzini’s YA novel, has echoes of other shows, but Joe Tracz’s book and Joe Iconis’s score provide enough originality and zip to compensate for the familiarity. Stephen Brackett’s direction and Chase Brock’s choreography keep the action moving quickly and smartly enough to gloss over any dull patches.
Roland, who played a supporting role in Dear Evan Hansen, captures Jeremy’s anguished ego with sensitivity and displays admirable vocal endurance, seldom leaving the stage and putting across a slew of comedy numbers and ballads.
Salazar and Tam offer strong support as does Stephanie Hsu as Christine, Jeremy’s eccentric love interest in a sweetly charming, off-beat performance. Her solo number “I Love Play Rehearsal” is a delightfully weird character sketch, delivered with just the right out-of-the-box brio.
Be More Chill is not an earthshaking groundbreaker, but it is a clever hoot causing audiences under 40 to fall in love with musical theater. Not such a bad thing.
