BE MORE CHILL (Broadway) Reviews

[thealtoslament]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 12:04pm

Tonight's the night-- Be More Chill opens tonight at the Lyceum Theatre! If you've seen professional reviews, post them here.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 5:43pm

If Jesse Green reviews the show, I believe it'll be positive, and we all know how freely the Critics' Picks are handed out over there. For what it's worth, I'm 48, and I really enjoyed it, especially the score. It walks a fine line between clever and juvenile, but I think it's charming, although it did make a bigger impression on me when I saw it Off-Broadway.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 5:50pm

Be More Chill’ hits Broadway in a chill, unconventional way

https://pix11.com/2019/03/07/be-more-chill-is-broadways-latest-hit-that-got-to-the-lyceum-theater-in-such-an-unconventional-way/

Updated On: 3/10/19 at 05:50 PM

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 6:08pm

CT2NYC said: "If Jesse Green reviews the show, I believe it'll be positive"

Unless the NYT significantly breaks with tradition and accepted protocol, Ben Brantley will re-review the show since he reviewed it Off-Broadway. I can't imagine his opinion will change substantially.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 6:18pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "CT2NYC said: "If Jesse Green reviews the show, I believe it'll be positive"

Unless the NYTsignificantlybreaks with tradition and accepted protocol, Ben Brantley will re-review the show since he reviewed it Off-Broadway.I can't imagine his opinion will change substantially."

 

And per Ben's review highlights: 

On the contrary, the decibel level of their responsive shrieks matches, and sometimes overwhelms, that of the heavily amplified music. Eat your hearts out, Harry Styles and Katy Perry and all you other kiddie pop idols. This is the stuff of teen dreams with a vengeance.

Unfortunately, anyone for whom adolescence is a distant and unpleasant memory is unlikely to feel like screaming, not in ecstasy, anyway. Unlike the more nuanced “Dear Evan Hansen” and “Spring Awakening” — never mind “Hamilton” — “Be More Chill” seems like a members-only club for those caught in the hellish here-and-now of the middle teens.

The amplification level means that many of the lyrics are undecipherable to the previously uninitiated. Admittedly, this is sometimes a blessing (“Add some swagger to your gait or/You’ll look like a masturbator.&rdquo

Personally, I was happiest when the plot careened off the rails into sci-fi apocalypse territory, which happens during the school’s politically corrected version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” That was a hoot.

The rest of the show is more of a sustained holler, and being receptive to its charms surely requires a much younger set of ears than mine. It may be helpful to think of this bounding, exhaustingly enthusiastic puppy of a show as the theatrical equivalent of one of those high-pitched dog whistles that only those under 25 can hear.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 6:45pm

Robbie2 said: "SomethingPeculiar said: "CT2NYC said: "If Jesse Green reviews the show, I believe it'll be positive"

Unless the NYTsignificantlybreaks with tradition and accepted protocol, Ben Brantley will re-review the show since he reviewed it Off-Broadway.I can't imagine his opinion will change substantially."



And per Ben's review highlights:

On the contrary, the decibel level of their responsive shrieks matches, and sometimes overwhelms, that of the heavily amplified music. Eat your hearts out,Harry StylesandKaty Perryand all you other kiddie pop idols. This is the stuff of teen dreams with a vengeance.

Unfortunately, anyone for whom adolescence is a distant and unpleasant memory is unlikely to feel like screaming, not in ecstasy, anyway. Unlike the more nuanced“Dear Evan Hansen”and “Spring Awakening” — never mind “Hamilton” — “Be More Chill” seems like a members-only club for those caught in the hellish here-and-now of the middle teens.

The amplification level means that many of the lyrics are undecipherable to the previously uninitiated. Admittedly, this is sometimes a blessing (“Add some swagger to your gait or/You’ll look like a masturbator.&rdquo

Personally, I was happiest when the plot careened off the rails into sci-fi apocalypse territory, which happens during the school’s politically corrected version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” That was a hoot.

The rest of the show is more of a sustained holler, and being receptive to its charms surely requires a much younger set of ears than mine. It may be helpful to think of this bounding, exhaustingly enthusiastic puppy of a show as the theatrical equivalent ofone of those high-pitched dog whistlesthat only those under 25 can hear."

Count me among those that never thought this review read like a flat-out pan. I didn't get the impression that he hated the show, but, rather, that he just didn't "get it." Considering that he assumes no one too far past adolescence (e.g., me) is likely to enjoy the show, it's clear to me that he didn't. He strikes me as the type of person who would call The Room a "terrible movie," and leave it at that.

Updated On: 3/10/19 at 06:45 PM

[jonah3500]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 7:53pm

If NYT does something like they did for King Kong, I will be so upset.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 7:58pm

Oh, god, no.

And the sad thing is, I could see them doing that.  Between the King Kong fiasco and the Head over Heels drama, NYT hasn't been on their game with reviews lately, and this is one of the first new musicals in a while.  If Jesse reviews it, there could be a bit of hope, but I'm legitimately scared for this show.  Unlike King Kong, it doesn't have the well-known story on which to fall back.

[jonah3500]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:06pm

https://dctheatrescene.com/2019/03/10/be-more-chill-on-broadway-review/

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:09pm

DC THEATRE SCENE

Somebody wrote “NYC Loves BMC” in chalk on the sidewalk outside Broadway’s Lyceum Theater, the new home of Be More Chill, the high energy, high decibel pop-rock musical that stars Will Roland as a self-proclaimed high school “loser” who swallows a pill containing a supercomputer and becomes cool.

I tweeted a picture of the scrawled public love note; the tweet was retweeted nearly a hundred times. Be More Chill has some seriously devoted fans, most of whom seem to be 15 years old. It’s a thrill to see such teenaged enthusiasm for live theater.  I wish I could share more fully in their ardor for this show.

https://dctheatrescene.com/2019/03/10/be-more-chill-on-broadway-review/

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:27pm

jonah3500 said: "If NYT does something like they did for King Kong, I will be so upset."

I would be shocked if the NYT ever did a joint-review again, after the b!tchy Kong review (which got some industry blowback) and the unbalanced favoritism towards Oklahoma.

[rg7759]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:31pm

its not unbalanced if its great (it is) and the only other revival this year isn't.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:37pm

Well, it will be interesting to see their review when it comes out later this week.  I could see some favoritism there, too, especially with Kelli's performance.  While she's amazing, everything that I've seen says she's wildly miscast - I'm wondering what NYT will say about her.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:39pm

AM NY 3 1/2 STARS
Whether or not it ultimately proves to be a hit, “Be More Chill,” a sublimely silly, exciting sci-fi teen musical comedy deserves a place in Broadway history as an unlikely comeback story powered by a passionate fan following on social media.
https://www.amny.com/entertainment/be-more-chill-review-1.28335115

 
 

Updated On: 3/10/19 at 08:39 PM

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:47pm

The interesting thing is that even though there are reviews out, Playbill.com hasn't put up anything yet.  Is that normal?

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 8:54pm

MollyJeanneMusic said: "The interesting thing is that even though there are reviews out, Playbill.com hasn't put up anything yet. Is that normal?"

http://www.playbill.com/article/read-the-reviews-for-be-more-chill-on-broadway

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 9:08pm

rg7759 said: "its not unbalanced if its great (it is) and the only other revival this year isn't."

Competition aside, it's a little unbalanced because Oklahoma! got a pre-Broadway love letter from the two chief theatre critics of the NYT, where other shows only got reviewed by one of them. The value of that cannot be understated.

[jonah3500]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 9:22pm

Are we waiting on anything besides Vulture and NYT?

[Cfried]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 9:52pm

New York Times panned it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/10/theater/review-be-more-chill-joe-iconis.html

[ljay889]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 9:55pm

This show sounds absolutely dreadful lol.

[rg7759]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 9:57pm

SomethingPeculiar said: "rg7759 said: "its not unbalanced if its great (it is) and the only other revival this year isn't."

Competition aside, it's a little unbalancedbecause Oklahoma! got a pre-Broadway love letter from the two chief theatre critics of the NYT, where other shows only got reviewed by one of them. The value of that cannot be understated."

Like I said, you can keep your opinion. Oklahoma is that good regardless of competition

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 10:02pm

Brantley was spot on. I fully expect the “Fire Brantley!” tweets to start momentarily.

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 10:04pm

Oh boy that times review is poison.

[WayTooBroadway]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 10:07pm

Let all those who just signed up today descend upon this board to cry us a river of “fire Brantley!”

Stans will be the death of musical theatre.

[CukorLover]

Posted: 3/10/19 at 10:07pm

Thank you, Ben Brantley. That review was unmitigated perfection!

"For one thing, it is — by cold critical standards — the worst of the lot, with a repetitive score, painfully forced rhymes, cartoonish acting and a general approach that mistakes decibel level (literally and metaphorically) for emotional intensity. But this ostensible amateurishness may be exactly what sells “Be More Chill” to its young target audience.

Alone among Broadway musicals, “Be More Chill” feels as if it could have been created by the teenagers it portrays, or perhaps by even younger people imagining what high school will be like. Though its production values have been souped up since I saw it in August, the show’s current incarnation — which features the same cast and is again directed by Stephen Brackett — remains a festival of klutziness that you could imagine being put together in the bedrooms and basements of young YouTubers."