‘BE MORE CHILL’: The cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

BE MORE CHILL
Music & lyrics by Joe Iconis
Book by Joe Tracz
Based on the novel by Ned Vizzini
Directed by Stephen Brackett
Lyceum Theatre
149 West 45th Street
866-302-0995
http://bemorechillmusical.com/

By Scott Harrah

The backstory of Be More Chill is perhaps more interesting than the musical itself. When the show originated at a small New Jersey theater in 2015, it reportedly became a digital phenomenon when its pop score went viral online on various social media platforms. After an Off-Broadway run last summer at the Signature Theater, the show has for some inexplicable reason opened on Broadway, targeted at the under-30 set (the younger siblings of millennials sometimes called Generation Z). Everything about this production is derivative of earlier musicals and movies that mastered the topic of tension between high school nerds and popular kids so much better (from Dear Evan Hansen to Mean Girls and Heathers).

Science fiction is the uninspired twist that sets Be More Chill apart from other teen angst musicals. Socially awkward teens Jeremy (Will Roland) and Michael (George Salazar) will do anything to shake off their geeky reputations. High school junior Jeremy is hot for Christine (Stephanie Hsu) and is eager to find new ways to impress her. Jeremy doesn’t have a great life at home, either. He lives with his divorced father (Jason Sweettooth Williams), a man who works from home and never wears pants.

Bully Rich (Gerard Canonico) introduces Jeremy to a computer-in-a-pill known as a SQUIP (an acronym for “super quantum unit intel processor”). Whenever one takes the pill, a computer implants itself in one’s brain and instructs the user in what to say and do in order to be cool. After meeting a “dealer” at a nearby Payless ShoeSource (don’t ask), Jeremy is persuaded to take the SQUIP. When he swallows the pill, the SQUIP manifests itself as a character modeled after Keanu Reeves (Jason Tam), clad in a sci-fi costume resembling a sad Vivienne Westwood knockoff. The SQUIP harshly critiques Jeremy’s personality, wardrobe and behavior and cooks up ways he can finally become popular among his classmates.

The narrative often seems like an excuse to pad out the story with numerous shrill technopop songs, from “More Than Survive” and “Do You Wanna Ride?” to “Halloween,” “Michael in the Bathroom” and “The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire)”. “The Smartphone Hour” is supposedly a tribute to “The Telephone Hour” from Bye Bye Birdie but fails miserably as a modern ode to that classic. Chase Brock’s choreography is unremarkable. One of the sillier subplots is the school play Christine and the other kids are working on, a zombie-apocalypse rendition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, written by the high school drama teacher Mr. Reyes (Mr. Sweettooth Williams again, playing one of several roles). The show’s sense of humor primarily mocks 1990s pop culture with references to Crystal Pepsi and “Red” Mountain Dew, Eminem and video games.

The performances from the cast are mostly forgettable except for Tiffany Mann, the gossipy teen with a powerful voice. Ms. Mann does her best to add some dimension to her role, but the rest of cast cannot rise above the paper-thin material and stereotyped characters. Unlike other teen musicals, there is ultimately nothing redeeming whatsoever about the characters here, so it’s impossible to root for any of these kids. Just like Mr. Reyes’ dreadful play within the play, Be More Chill is an unsatisfying evening of theater and reeks of amateur writing. Despite the colorful, clever sets by Beowulff Borritt and all the energy emanating at the Lyceum, watching the show is akin to being on a bad acid trip—awkward, painful, jarring and unsatisfying.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published March 13, 2019
Reviewed at March 12, 2019 performance.

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Will Roland & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Tiffany Mann & the cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: The cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: (left to right) Katlyn Carlson, Tiffany Mann & Lauren Marcus. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Jason Tam & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Stephanie Hsu & cast. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: (left to right) Jason Tam, Will Roland & Lauren Marcus. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Stephanie Hsu & Will Roland. Photo: Maria Baranova

‘BE MORE CHILL’: Will Roland & George Alazar. Photo: Maria Baranova

The post ‘Be More Chill’ a pill of a show appeared first on StageZine.

JERRY SPRINGER—THE OPERA
Music & lyrics by Richard Thomas
Book & additional lyrics by Stewart Lee & Richard Thomas
Choreography by Chris Bailey
Directed by John Rando
The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center
The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre
480 West 42nd Street, (212) 279-4200
www.thenewgroup.org

By Scott Harrah

Jerry Springer—The Opera was originally produced in Britain back in 2003 and received an Olivier for Best Musical. Other than a two-day concert staging at Carnegie Hall a decade ago, this profane, sung-through parody of the infamous tabloid TV talk has been absent from the New York stage until now. It’s certainly been worth the wait because this off-Broadway production is original and marvelously entertaining.

Some of the subject matter—from tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen to strippers, a transgender tramp and a man with a diaper fetish—was probably shocking 15 years ago, but not in modern-day America, with the wackiness of Washington and our reality TV star president giving us a daily dose of surrealistic news that is more bizarre than anything on Jerry Springer’s show.

Theater veterans Terrence Mann as Jerry Springer, and Will Swenson as his Warm-Up Man, play the leads with comic precision. Act I is basically a musical version of over-the-top staples from Springer’s show: a man, Dwight (Luke Grooms) cheating on his fiancé, Peaches (Florrie Bagel) with her best friend, Zandra (Beth Kirkpatrick) and a midriff-bearing transsexual, Tremont (Sean Patrick Doyle). There’s also a redneck, Chucky (Nathaniel Hackmann) and his wife Shawntel (Tiffany Mann), a woman with dreams of becoming a pole dancer. Plus, a man in a diaper and his girlfriend, a character called Baby Jane (Jill Paice), and more.

F-bombs abound in the numerous hilarious songs written and composed by Richard Thomas, from “Talk to the Hand” and “Mama Gimme Smack” to “Put Your F***in’ Clothes On.” Act I breezes by with scatological glory, but just like watching an episode of Springer’s show, the shock value eventually wears thin by Acts II and III. These later acts of the musical are set in Purgatory and Hell, with Mr. Swenson doubling as Satan himself. Of course, there are characters poking fun at Jesus and the Virgin Mary with blasphemous zeal. After the seamless first act, the show unravels a bit and makes little sense, but it’s all so much fun that one doesn’t mind. Just enjoy the insane ride.

Why did it take so long for Jerry Springer—The Opera to arrive on this side of the Atlantic? Who knows. The British invented the tabloid press and nurtured the concept of reality TV long before us, so perhaps one could say the U.K. has a bigger appetite and appreciation for “schlock” than America.

Theater purists and the easily offended may argue that Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee’s creation simply wasn’t good enough for a mainstream U.S. production, but it must be noted they wrote this foul-mouthed “opera” eight years before the derisive, impudent Book of Mormon became a phenomenon. For this fact alone, the show was ahead of its proverbial time.

There are numerous standouts, especially Terrence Mann as Jerry Springer and Will Swenson as Warm-Up Man/Satan. The cast is uniformly superb, with strong and melodic voices. In particular, Tiffany Mann as Shawntel is in especially fine voice doing her show-stopper “I Just Wanna Dance.” Tony winner John Rando directs all the insanity with amazing precision, and that’s no easy task in a small venue with a 17-member cast in a production as ambitious as this, with performances that are consistently and beautifully outrageous in all the right places.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published February 25, 2018
Reviewed at February 24, 2018 performance.

‘JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA’: Will Swenson & Terrence Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER: THE OPERA’: Tiffany Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: (left to right) Terrence Mann & Jill Paice & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE MUSICAL’: Terrence Mann (far left) & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: Nathaniel Hackmann, Tiffany Mann & (top right) Billy Hepfinger. Photo: Monique Carboni

‘JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: (left to right) Florrie Bagel, Luke Grooms & Terrence Mann. Photo: Monique Carboni

“JERRY SPRINGER-THE OPERA’: Jill Paice (center) & cast. Photo: Monique Carboni

The post ‘Jerry Springer—The Opera’: Lowbrow meets high art appeared first on StageZine.