Be More Chill Off-Broadway Official Thread- Page 9

[BroadwayNoob]

Posted: 8/11/18 at 11:45pm

I'm really hoping they put this somewhere Off-Broadway where it could stick around for a little bit. I would like to see this show, but I obviously missed out on tickets. I am surprised they only extended it a week though, I thought they would at least do like 3

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 8/12/18 at 3:18am

BroadwayNoob said: "I'm really hoping they put this somewhere Off-Broadway where it could stick around for a little bit. I wouldlike to see this show, but I obviously missed out on tickets. I am surprised they only extended it a week though, I thought they would at least do like 3"

as has been mentioned before there is a production coming in behind it and they cant, even the extra week was a surprise

[bk]

Posted: 8/12/18 at 4:53am

dearalanaaaa said: "I'm crossing my fingers for a New World Stages extension, a la Heather's. If it gets to Broadway I expect fan powered revivals to become a thing of the future. Hoping maybe to cancellation or win the lottery to get to see the show now that it's frozen! Did much change from the first to this one?"

You mean like the fan powered move for title of show?  That worked out real well for everyone.

 

[EJ24642]

Posted: 8/13/18 at 3:41pm

BroadwayNoob said: "I'm really hoping they put this somewhere Off-Broadway where it could stick around for a little bit. I wouldlike to see this show, but I obviously missed out on tickets. I am surprised they only extended it a week though, I thought they would at least do like 3"

I think they may end up somewhere like New World Stages, but I don't really see it ending up on Broadway. Sure the fans can sell out a run in a 200 or so seat theater, but it'd be harder when the smallest available Broadway houses are over 900 seats. It would be perfect at New World Stages. 

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 8/13/18 at 10:00pm

"So, Jenn, have you been lurking here? Or is this post simply ~coincidence~ 

https://www.facebook.com/808236/posts/10107802707019389/ 

P.S: This is a joke but seriously I've heard of producers coming to the broards so it wouldn't be a stretch"

Tepper was a regular poster here years ago. It would not surprise me if she checked in every so often, or had an intern do it for her. 

"You mean like the fan powered move for title of show?  That worked out real well for everyone."

Actually, it did work fairly well. They made it to Broadway despite the odds against them. As a result, it was marketed as a Broadway show and it is still played at regional theaters and colleges around the world. A huge success? Of course not, but neither was it a total failure.

Updated On: 8/13/18 at 10:00 PM

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 8/14/18 at 10:25pm

Saw this tonight from row A of the orchestra in a seat I bought the second they went on sale (hey there aren’t many broadway musicals to look forward to this year).

Somewhat regretting my ticket purchase after hearing rumblings of the much younger crowd, to slightly slouching in my seat before curtain this evening trying to blend in, I was pleasantly proven wrong of any doubts I had.

The cast is phenomenal. Will Roland can carry a show. The songs are catchy as hell and the show is much more polished than expected.

I did not know the story going into this and had only heard a few songs. The story was better than expected. I loved the squip. It brought me joy, and isn’t that what theater should be.

The audience was very excited but respectful. In the quiet moments of the show you could hear a pin drop. I’d never seen an audience so quick to their feet for a standing ovation- and the cast really deserved it. They worked their asses off.

It worked well in this small house, but is transfer-ready. It should stay small but there’s definitely some magic here.

[dearalanaaaa]

Posted: 8/17/18 at 2:36am

Apparently, they performed Smartphone Hour and one other song at Broadway in Bryant Park today! How was it?

[greenifyme2]

Posted: 8/17/18 at 8:37am

dearalanaaaa said: "Apparently, they performed Smartphone Hour and one other song at Broadway in Bryant Park today! How was it?"

They live-streamed it too. They did all of the choreography for The Smartphone Hour which was impressive given the heat (and that every other time I’ve gone to BW in BP in past years, actors only sang).

[Sarah329]

Posted: 8/17/18 at 11:24am

Both songs were great! They changed one of the lines in Smartphone Hour (I don’t remember the original line but they made it “This tea is too hot to type”) and the choreography was really good. It was reaaaally hot though. At the stagedoor area, Gerard, Katlyn, and Tiffany all signed and took pictures with everyone who was there! The others waved before rushing out, which I was fine with since they had rehearsals that afternoon and again, it was very hot out.

[CT2NYC]

Posted: 8/22/18 at 10:51pm

12 $75 seats in row P are available on the Ticket Central website for this Friday's show.

Updated On: 8/22/18 at 10:51 PM

[Elegance101]

Posted: 8/22/18 at 11:37pm

Sarah329 said: "Both songs were great! They changed one of the lines in Smartphone Hour (I don’t remember the original line but they made it “This tea is too hot to type&rdquo and the choreography was really good. It was reaaaally hot though. At the stagedoor area, Gerard, Katlyn, and Tiffany all signed and took pictures with everyone who was there! The others waved before rushing out, which I was fine with since they had rehearsals that afternoon and again, it was very hot out."

They just changed the curse words. I know it went from "this sh*t is ripe" to "this tea is ripe," which I actually liked. I normally hate changes (although I understand why they do them for an event like this), but that was funny to me.

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/22/18 at 11:46pm

I found the audience of primarily young people to be perfectly well behaved, and intensely focused on what was happening on stage. The "woo-woo" people of an older demographic are far more annoying to have to sit with in a theatre.

As for the show, I feel like I'm seeing the same show every time I see a musical dealing with the tribulations of high school. They all seem to be cast in the same mold until it's hard to tell one from another. 

I would also like to see one of these musicals in which the teachers are not caricatured buffoons.

The music struck me as unremarkable, but Michael's song was touching. Indeed, one of the problems of the show is that Michael comes off as nicer and far more sympathetic than Jeremy.

The staging is smooth and the performers skilled. But they seem much too old to be high school students, and that throws the show off. There are so many talented performers of the appropriate age, as we saw in the musical 13. Why not just cast those?

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 12:45am

Have you seen Mean Girls? I don't buy any of those kids as being high school. 

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 12:58am

^

Yes, and I agree.

[dearalanaaaa]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 1:14am

^^ And if you guys think Mean Girls and Be More Chill are bad with casting people who look like high schoolers, the Broadway cast Dear Evan Hansen barely passes as 22 to me. 

[frankiec]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 10:14am

I've now ended up with one extra ticket for Be More Chill for tonight--Thursday, 8/23--at 7:30 p.m. $93 with fees, which is what I paid. I can change the name on the ticket with TickerCentral or I can meet you at the theater. DM me.

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 10:23am

RippedMan said: "Have you seen Mean Girls? I don't buy any of those kids as being high school."

 

I disagree a little. There are a couple people in that cast who do look pretty young. Especially some of the girls. The Be More Chill cast as a whole does look kinda old. Nothing wrong with that, but that’s something I noticed pretty quickly from the show. 

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 10:30am

After Eight said: "As for the show, I feel like I'm seeing the same show every time I see a musical dealing with the tribulations of high school. They all seem to be cast in the same mold until it's hard to tell one from another.

I would also like to see one of these musicals in which the teachers are not caricatured buffoons.

The music struck me as unremarkable,but Michael's song was touching. Indeed, one of the problems of the show isthat Michael comes off as nicer and far more sympathetic than Jeremy."

After Eight, this is one of those rare occasions where I will agree with you wholeheartedly! It's not that the high school experience can't be compelling, it's that seeing variations of the same story over and over again is hard to get invested in, especially when the music is mediocre.

[yesraccoons]

Posted: 8/23/18 at 11:28am

As for the cast not looking like teenagers they never do. I couldn’t really see any of them passing for high schoolers but that’s never really the intention of casting. They could cast upcoming talented out of college kids who look like high schoolers but they don’t.

[Gink]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 2:07am

I saw the show tonight--it was a lot of fun and I thought the book had been a bit improved since I saw a college production of it. It's still a little messy imo, but the leads and ensemble were amazing and really sold it.   

Just curious--Michael wears a 'Creeps' shirt at the Halloween party--we were trying to figure out what the reference was. Does anyone know if it's a reference to something or just a random shirt?

[bk]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 4:31am

ghostlight2 said: ""So, Jenn, have you been lurking here? Or is this post simply ~coincidence~

https://www.facebook.com/808236/posts/10107802707019389/

P.S: This is a joke but seriously I've heard of producers coming to the broards so it wouldn't be a stretch"

Tepper was a regular poster here years ago. It would not surprise me if she checked in every so often, or had an intern do it for her.

"You mean like the fan powered move for title of show? That worked out real well for everyone."

Actually, it did work fairly well. They made it to Broadway despite the odds against them. As a result, it was marketed as a Broadway show and it is still played at regional theaters and colleges around the world. A huge success? Of course not, but neither was it a totalfailure."

Tell that to the investors that lost every penny of their investment.  It was, in fact, a total failure in its move to Broadway.  What happened after is not really relevant in the case of this show, because it really isn't produced all that much.

[persephone88]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 6:54am

Agree with After8 about the age of the BMC cast. When the whole cast entered for the opening number, I mistook a few of the students as being teachers. Maybe it was that it's a small theatre and we were pretty close to the front, but a few of the cast looked way too old for HS, moreso than say the cast of Dear Evan Hansen where both Connor and Zoe looked young, and Evan and Jared played young very well. Actually, when the cast came out post show, I thought George Salazar looked much younger IRL than he did onstage!

That being said, the audience when we saw it this weekend was likely 70% teens, some parents and a few older groups of folks. The kids were very well behaved and enthusiastic. Honestly, I've seen worse theatre behavior from adults at non-teen-oriented shows! The cast was energetic and the band waving to the audience just prior to the start was adorable. 

I think this show will see much more of a money-making life on the college circuit (and possibly the high school circuit with a few cuts). It is very appealing to young people, and could also tour well regionally, I think. It doesn't have the emotional staying power for Bway of a DEH but it is entertaining for what it is. Will Roland has obviously been working on his voice - he has some tough notes and sings them well. And the audience loves George Salazar - his character is the one the audience roots for. 

This is definitely marketed for a teen audience and it does the job well - I think it's going to have a good run on local stages once it closes off Broadway. 

[binau]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 6:55am

Title of show was an abysmal failure on Broadway. Did it really have the same kind of following and hype off-Broadway as this show does? Be more chill seems to have reached a wider audience than just the core MT fans.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/27/18 at 8:12am

TOS DID have a huge following - but can we compare it to this?   I'm not sure, Be More Chill came from such a a different place, and we use the internet so differently now.