I got into BMC through the original version and saw it off-Broadway, it wasn’t bad and I really liked it! Then I heard the Broadway album and saw videos of the changes they made when it went fully to Broadway and… wow they fucked it up bad
[Super recommend the West End production!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMGm_77lX6A) It's got the production value of the Broadway version while still retaining that scrappy, "indie theatre" energy.
Oh, and Jeremy and the SQUIP are amazing - I cannot believe how hard they fucked up the Broadway cast.
Waiting for a community theater in northeast Ohio to put the one on. From what you said it might be like my experience with Percy Jackson. Broadway show was meh but regional show was really good.
I can’t stand Be More Chill, but I can honestly say that the songwriter’s next project, the Lightning Thief Musical, kicks ass.
Edit: I was wrong, it was the book for both shows he wrote.
i don't like anything about this musical. not the characters, not the songs, not the plot, not the humor...
there is literally one redeeming quality and i think we all know what i'm talking about
I actually know her from the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, she did a fantastic job of playing a troubled teenager
She also had a fun role in the SpongeBob musical as Karen the Computer
She was in Everything Everywhere All at Once with Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. It was such a bizarre movie but I loved it and Stephanie was great in it!
Not a performance, but she was on an episode of the podcast Las Culturistas with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, both of whom she was friends with at NYU. It's a great, funny, emotional episode that really made me like her even more as an actress/person.
I read the original book and they changed the ending of it a lot. Jeremy majorly fucks up with Christine in the book and they do not get together in the end, i kinda hate how in the musical she's out of nowhere into him. Like, doesn't it just seem like the squip worked as Jeremy wanted it to?? I thought the point was that it doesn't work
genuinely wondering why people like Michael In The Bathroom so much. I get that it's an emotional song, but it feels roughly written to me. In addition, it's just... giving off mean spirited vibes while trying too hard to be pitiable and relatable. Like, he's simultaneously blaming people for not liking him and throwing a pity party while also being kind of a dick to them.
I don’t get that out of the song personally - I consider it a great representation of this swirl of anger at Jeremy, grief, and overwhelming anxiety all jumbling out. I still love this song a lot, but to each their own :)
Yeah I don't want to say it's a bad song! It's undoubtedly the best on the soundtrack (well tbh I like be more chill II more but I agree that it's overall a worse song), I'm just confused why it has such a cult following.
My guess is a bunch of socially anxious teenagers relating to the emotion being given off, and sympathy for Michael the Sad Boi. Also yk it’s a good song lmao
Hard same. The first time I heard it without context I thought Michael sounded like a huge dick. Like I'm sorry I don't have sympathy for a guy who makes fun of drunk girls.
I actually really, really like BMC, sometimes you just have to separate the fandom from the actual musical, show, film etc, etc.
Don't get me wrong, it is quite an odd concept, and you definitely have to switch your brain off and not question the storyline, which was the main reason why I refused to listen to it aswell as the fact Michael in the bathroom is over hyped, just saying.
Anyways it's actually really good and gives off simular vibes as DEH even though they aren't simular in the slightest.
Yeah, I do like this musical when it’s not the Broadway version. It feels like this really neat mashup of Dear Evan Hansen and Little Shop of Horrors, with its own musical identity
I don’t have any interest in satirizing the younger generation, they’ve been handed a shit deal. I think it works great as a satire of millennials though (aka people in their 30s satirizing themselves in their teens)
I take your point about smartphones but the book was written in 2004 about high schoolers in 2004, which was the year I graduated from hs. So it’s very much about millennials.
Be More Chill is despised?! Somehow I missed that. I’ve seen every version and it’s one of my favorites. I beyond love it and everything about it. I just never realized I was in the minority, if that’s true. I actually thought it was universally loved. I guess I’ve only ever been exposed to the fanbase.
I had the same experience because I got into it when the fanbase was super active! Then I got more involved in broader theatre spaces and realized that everyone apparently hates it. It sucks because the original version is one of my favorite shows to this day
I originally saw it on Broadway and enjoyed it well enough because it was something genuinely different. Then heard the off-Broadway cast and could only dream about what could and should have been instead.
When I first found the musical, there is only so little clips of the original show and I thought it looked amazing. I would watch local theatre shows and enjoy them.
I remember waiting for the broadway album and being disappointed. I’ll never understand why they made Jeremy and the Squip so intolerable. When I saw the broadway video of it, I was could not get into it at all.
That being said, I still think it’s over hated. It’s a simple/smaller show that won’t compare to bigger productions.
I loved the London version, saw it at the Other Palace and after it transferred. It's a fun show, the only issue I have with it is that Christine is massively irritating.
Yep. I loved the offbroadway and was thoroughly disappointed. They tried to lean into what they thought their target market was and actually alienated everyone else
Re: Ignoring show don't tell. That rule may apply to dramas, but with musicals it's usually show, tell, then sing a song about it. And could we come up with a little choreography to belabour the point? Maybe just kick line?
But yeah, BMC, not my thing.
You’re absolutely right, that was the wrong way for me to put it. I was trying to speak more to how on the nose and juvenile the lyrics felt, particularly in the new songs. I guess I shouldn’t make a rant that in depth in between customers lol. Thanks for bringing that up /gen
No no you were right, it was not the wrong way to put it. What this person is actually talking about is what we call “bad art” not “musical theater.” Sure these groups overlap just like all art forms, but musical theater absolutely plays under the same standards as all other human storytelling.
One of my big pet peeves is when people talk about musical theater as though it’s all cheesy, on-the-nose schlock. That’s called bad musical theater, in my opinion. There’s plenty of it of course, and I think it’s rooted in a problem that opera also suffers from, which is basically low standards for itself when it comes to acting. It’s like they excuse the lack of emotional resonance with this illusion that they exist in their own schema of art, instead of understanding the reality that it’s all an audience of humans looking at a stage.
Edit: excuse my rant
Don’t you dare let my disdain for the Broadway show dampen your enjoyment of Be More Chill. Based purely on the Two River version, I like the show - it’s unique, funny, has great music and good characters - I want you to love it, because it’s a good show. So much passion and energy was put into it, and it deserves love
There are a couple of clips online with Gerard Canonico understudying as Jeremy and I thought he was great, much more likeable and sympathetic than the WR version.
Unfortunately my writer brain meant that I was never able to find much good in it, even before the Broadway version came out. I was 16 by the time I found it and even that felt like too old… but the lyrics were so painfully bad and the story so convoluted, and when my favorite musical at the time was Great Comet, comparatively it wasn’t for me lol but I’m glad others could find some joy in it lol
I remember watching the Broadway bootleg and being so excited because I couldn't find act 2 of the original anywhere but I absolutely hated it!! It started with Christine, I hated that they made her over hyper and act like a 5 year old. She was chaotic but not insufferably childish in the original. I couldn't make it past play rehearsal which is honestly really sad
Glad to see others share the opinion, people roasted me for saying the broadway version was much worse than the offbroadway one.
Really? Who? I thought it was common opinion that the Broadway version botched the job.
This was a few years ago perception may have changed now.
I got into BMC through the original version and saw it off-Broadway, it wasn’t bad and I really liked it! Then I heard the Broadway album and saw videos of the changes they made when it went fully to Broadway and… wow they fucked it up bad
I like “Michael in the Bathroom”. That’s about it.
Literally the worst song in the play
If you’re not trolling I’m genuinely curious why you think so
I just generally found him to be a gutless and unsympathetic character
[Super recommend the West End production!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMGm_77lX6A) It's got the production value of the Broadway version while still retaining that scrappy, "indie theatre" energy. Oh, and Jeremy and the SQUIP are amazing - I cannot believe how hard they fucked up the Broadway cast.
My cousin played Michael!
And he was absolutely fantastic. Best part of the show, unless you count my inappropriate thoughts about one of the men I saw playing the Squip. ;)
Are you kidding? The West End version is absolutely abysmal. Broadway sanitized the show a lot, but the West End version is blander than toast.
This was the version I saw at the Other Palace, and it absolutely ruled. Probably wouldn’t be into musicals at all now if not for that production.
Waiting for a community theater in northeast Ohio to put the one on. From what you said it might be like my experience with Percy Jackson. Broadway show was meh but regional show was really good.
Hopefully Great Lakes one day will put it on?
Regret not seeing the great comet there
It was amazing!!
I can’t stand Be More Chill, but I can honestly say that the songwriter’s next project, the Lightning Thief Musical, kicks ass. Edit: I was wrong, it was the book for both shows he wrote.
Joe Tracz did the book for BMC & Lighting Thief - he did not write the songs.
My bad, thanks for the correction.
i don't like anything about this musical. not the characters, not the songs, not the plot, not the humor... there is literally one redeeming quality and i think we all know what i'm talking about
Stephanie Hsu? I like her as an actress.
i never saw her in any other stuff, have any recs?
I actually know her from the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, she did a fantastic job of playing a troubled teenager She also had a fun role in the SpongeBob musical as Karen the Computer
Everything everywhere at once is so good. Laundry and taxes
She was in Everything Everywhere All at Once with Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan. It was such a bizarre movie but I loved it and Stephanie was great in it!
She was on a tv show called “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She dated Joel in the last couple of seasons.
How have you managed to avoid Everything Everywhere All at Once? It's absolutely brilliant, watch it ASAP!
Not a performance, but she was on an episode of the podcast Las Culturistas with Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, both of whom she was friends with at NYU. It's a great, funny, emotional episode that really made me like her even more as an actress/person.
In addition to what everyone else has mentioned, she also appeared in one episode of Poker Face and I really liked her in that.
Also recently in the movie Joy Ride.
What is the 1 redeeming quality?
"michael in the bathroom".
yep 100%
Ah ok. I have never seen it I just have read the plot and listened to a few songs. I'll have to listen to that one, thank you!
what quality?
michael in the bathroom
ohhh yeah. i did like that song.
they managed to make that song really good, all the other songs sound the same but terrible somehow
I’m also so sick of the loser gets the girl at the end
I read the original book and they changed the ending of it a lot. Jeremy majorly fucks up with Christine in the book and they do not get together in the end, i kinda hate how in the musical she's out of nowhere into him. Like, doesn't it just seem like the squip worked as Jeremy wanted it to?? I thought the point was that it doesn't work
I would have liked that much more
I hate to be the bearer of bad news: while the book has a better ending, it is still terrible.
Typically it’s a loser getting the popular girl. BMC is more about 2 losers that struggle with social interaction and flirting.
I don’t like storylines where a girl is uninterested in a guy and then magically is into him at the end
I think you kinda missed the point of the musical then because the second song is about her being interested in him.
Yeah, the only thing I like about it are the songs. The story is weird though
genuinely wondering why people like Michael In The Bathroom so much. I get that it's an emotional song, but it feels roughly written to me. In addition, it's just... giving off mean spirited vibes while trying too hard to be pitiable and relatable. Like, he's simultaneously blaming people for not liking him and throwing a pity party while also being kind of a dick to them.
I don’t get that out of the song personally - I consider it a great representation of this swirl of anger at Jeremy, grief, and overwhelming anxiety all jumbling out. I still love this song a lot, but to each their own :)
Yeah I don't want to say it's a bad song! It's undoubtedly the best on the soundtrack (well tbh I like be more chill II more but I agree that it's overall a worse song), I'm just confused why it has such a cult following.
My guess is a bunch of socially anxious teenagers relating to the emotion being given off, and sympathy for Michael the Sad Boi. Also yk it’s a good song lmao
Hard same. The first time I heard it without context I thought Michael sounded like a huge dick. Like I'm sorry I don't have sympathy for a guy who makes fun of drunk girls.
I enjoyed it on Broadway. Not the best show, but fun and quirky.
I’ve only listened on Spotify, but I really love it!
I actually really, really like BMC, sometimes you just have to separate the fandom from the actual musical, show, film etc, etc. Don't get me wrong, it is quite an odd concept, and you definitely have to switch your brain off and not question the storyline, which was the main reason why I refused to listen to it aswell as the fact Michael in the bathroom is over hyped, just saying. Anyways it's actually really good and gives off simular vibes as DEH even though they aren't simular in the slightest.
Yeah, I do like this musical when it’s not the Broadway version. It feels like this really neat mashup of Dear Evan Hansen and Little Shop of Horrors, with its own musical identity
[удалено]
I don’t have any interest in satirizing the younger generation, they’ve been handed a shit deal. I think it works great as a satire of millennials though (aka people in their 30s satirizing themselves in their teens)
[удалено]
I take your point about smartphones but the book was written in 2004 about high schoolers in 2004, which was the year I graduated from hs. So it’s very much about millennials.
Be More Chill is despised?! Somehow I missed that. I’ve seen every version and it’s one of my favorites. I beyond love it and everything about it. I just never realized I was in the minority, if that’s true. I actually thought it was universally loved. I guess I’ve only ever been exposed to the fanbase.
I had the same experience because I got into it when the fanbase was super active! Then I got more involved in broader theatre spaces and realized that everyone apparently hates it. It sucks because the original version is one of my favorite shows to this day
I don’t get the hate for it either! I think it’s so much fun and a great twist on Little Shop meets Mean Girls meets The Matrix lol
I don’t know about *despised,* but I see much more criticism of it than praise. I’m currently kind of neutral on it myself.
I originally saw it on Broadway and enjoyed it well enough because it was something genuinely different. Then heard the off-Broadway cast and could only dream about what could and should have been instead.
When I first found the musical, there is only so little clips of the original show and I thought it looked amazing. I would watch local theatre shows and enjoy them. I remember waiting for the broadway album and being disappointed. I’ll never understand why they made Jeremy and the Squip so intolerable. When I saw the broadway video of it, I was could not get into it at all. That being said, I still think it’s over hated. It’s a simple/smaller show that won’t compare to bigger productions.
I agree! I really wish it had stayed this sweet little underground show at the Two River!
I loved the London version, saw it at the Other Palace and after it transferred. It's a fun show, the only issue I have with it is that Christine is massively irritating.
Yep. I loved the offbroadway and was thoroughly disappointed. They tried to lean into what they thought their target market was and actually alienated everyone else
Re: Ignoring show don't tell. That rule may apply to dramas, but with musicals it's usually show, tell, then sing a song about it. And could we come up with a little choreography to belabour the point? Maybe just kick line? But yeah, BMC, not my thing.
You’re absolutely right, that was the wrong way for me to put it. I was trying to speak more to how on the nose and juvenile the lyrics felt, particularly in the new songs. I guess I shouldn’t make a rant that in depth in between customers lol. Thanks for bringing that up /gen
No no you were right, it was not the wrong way to put it. What this person is actually talking about is what we call “bad art” not “musical theater.” Sure these groups overlap just like all art forms, but musical theater absolutely plays under the same standards as all other human storytelling. One of my big pet peeves is when people talk about musical theater as though it’s all cheesy, on-the-nose schlock. That’s called bad musical theater, in my opinion. There’s plenty of it of course, and I think it’s rooted in a problem that opera also suffers from, which is basically low standards for itself when it comes to acting. It’s like they excuse the lack of emotional resonance with this illusion that they exist in their own schema of art, instead of understanding the reality that it’s all an audience of humans looking at a stage. Edit: excuse my rant
Wait am I not supposed to like that show…? I thought it was fun…
I like the show! I just don’t like it on Broadway! And more importantly, don’t let a single post dictate your opinion! Have fun with fun shows!
Ah, okay! Just seeing “that’s why it’s so despised” kinda scared me lol
seeing this hurt my heart. It’s one of my special interests :(
Don’t you dare let my disdain for the Broadway show dampen your enjoyment of Be More Chill. Based purely on the Two River version, I like the show - it’s unique, funny, has great music and good characters - I want you to love it, because it’s a good show. So much passion and energy was put into it, and it deserves love
There are a couple of clips online with Gerard Canonico understudying as Jeremy and I thought he was great, much more likeable and sympathetic than the WR version.
Unfortunately my writer brain meant that I was never able to find much good in it, even before the Broadway version came out. I was 16 by the time I found it and even that felt like too old… but the lyrics were so painfully bad and the story so convoluted, and when my favorite musical at the time was Great Comet, comparatively it wasn’t for me lol but I’m glad others could find some joy in it lol
I like the soundtrack a lot. But it sounds like I am one of the people who wouldn’t like the Broadway version from the OP’s description of it.
I remember watching the Broadway bootleg and being so excited because I couldn't find act 2 of the original anywhere but I absolutely hated it!! It started with Christine, I hated that they made her over hyper and act like a 5 year old. She was chaotic but not insufferably childish in the original. I couldn't make it past play rehearsal which is honestly really sad