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be more chill Broadway notes

Summary:

This is me writing down everything I remember / liked from the performance of be more chill on Broadway so I don't forget it

(Not all of this fit in my phone Note app so I'm putting it on ao3)

Notes:

IF THERE IS THE SLIGHTEST POSSIBILITY FOR YOU TO SEE BE MORE CHILL ON BROADWAY DON'T READ THIS!!!

I never thought I'd ever get to see it but miracles happen!!

this is like a descriptive bootleg ( no visuals/audio) so reading this will spoil everything in the entire show!!

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never thought it to be possible but I lo v e BMC even more now??

BEFORE SHOW:

on the 4 hour road trip the On Broadway station played BE MORE CHILL!!! it was two player game, but you have to understand. The SiriusXM Broadway station plays the most obscure songs from a musical and most of them are some I've never heard of. this is a b i g deal.

• i saw the 7 o'clock show and got in line, chatted with some girls who weren't SUPER fans (liek meeh 😎😎😎😀😀😁) but they were sweet! I gave them my insta (I truly made A LOT of new friends!! it was so nice)

• I also drew some doodles for the ENTIRE CAST swings and everything DUDE!! I cut them out and put them in an envolope to give to them at stagedoor

• the stage was s o. co. o L  it was a rounded square shape with one other small one inside (they ALL were filled with digital lights) there was an even smaller window where you could partially see the band. when the show they were hidden by sliding backgrounds/wallpapers (which made transitions SUPER SMOOTH WOW)

• the music that was playing was a techno 8-bit -ish song that had some eerie vibes that I was digging YEAH

the outer stage was the band in the tiny window, the logo with the 'I' in "CHILL' lit up in a pill shape

 

*Alex Brightman voice as Beetlejuice voice*

IT’S SHOWTIME

the theremin starts and the lights dim, the logo sign goes up and through all of this happening Jason Tam’s voice echoes all around the theatre and says stuff about ‘turn off your cell phone and recording is illegal so don’t do that’ but also ‘because that’s would ruin this social experimen- I mean show’ or something like that??

I wish I could remember all of it but I only remember him saying ‘human domination’ after that AND THAT WAS FREAKILY COOL cause it goes straight to Jeremy’s theme on the theremin and that song is very eerie and I love it a lot!! also I’m pretty sure the digital screen box surroundings the stage was going all glitchy matrix double awesome

MORE THAN SURVIVE 

now Will Roland in the living, breathing flesh walks on stage and the audience loses their minds (an appropriate reaction) and the screen goes black as the music cuts off... and the scene turns to black.... lights come back on and Will Roland (live and in action) is sitting on a bed in the center of the stage angrily tapping at his laptop (hTHAT’S RIGHT FOLKS! Jeremy has a bed now) in a yellow and blue t shirt, GLASSES!! and boxers, he seems to be waiting for something to load.. dare I say....a porno 👀👀

he says "ccc c'mon ccc c'mon go go" in an exhaled breath impatiently and I liked that

it’s revealed that he was waiting for his porno to load and the audience laughs (EVEN MY MOM!!) I like this audience so far

the characters still hand him his clothes like in 2 River (I think.. my memories fuzzy there)

his computer has a Black Suits, Steven Universe logo, and other geeky stuff SO CUTE

Mr. Heere was gonna drive him to school (which is why Jeremy has the freak out about "should I take the bus or walk instead" but he said he wasn't "feeling ready to go outside right now" honestly...same

• like I said before, the sliding backdrop makes for very smooth transitions and if I’m remembering right

if you didn’t know already, the entire cast doubles over for scenes (THERES a total of 9 people in the cast) so whoever plays Mr. Heere also plays Mr. Reyes (the drama teacher), the bus driver, scary stockboy who is ICONIC I’ll get to him in a min, and a Smartphone Hour girl) every other main character also has a mall alter ego + SQUIP follower AND a Smartphone Hour girl, which I really like! Joe said in an interview he thinks it seems more ‘homemade’ and I agree with that it’s very humbling and cute

it's a minor detail however i like this, on the bus scene Christine chooses a seat but then Chloe and Brooke walk to her really fast and she goes in a seat in the back embarrassed nervously and that shows how she has insecurities and isn't always confident and that was really important for me to see (I kind of idolize her for being herself and I realized that she isn’t always confident around others which is important)

• Brooke has a drink (I didn’t know this but it’s a La Croix! God that’s so iconic and cursed..) and a straw which she plays with the entire show AND I LOVE THAT she walked off bored in a hallway scene with her head turned up and her straw sticking out of her mouth

Jeremy goes through the hallway and it’s very much in Mean Girls Apex Predator style because everyone (except Michael who’s got his hood up with his jams playing) he runs into are in groups and scare him off... sad... Chloe and Brooke come up and he says “GIRLS” then for Jake he says “JOCK” or maybe ‘popular kids’... idk ANYWAYS I like it because it shows how, sorry Jere, pathetic Jeremy is :(

RICH!! same as usual he says

you prob know this already because of the new dialogue added to the Bway cast album but, the gorls are chilling by his locker talking about how she heard Jake had sex with Madeline (WHICH MAKES SENSE NOW!! Jake broke up with Chloe on Halloween, as we learn later, and she’s not over him so she takes her anger out on Brooke and anyone who is involved in Jake’s new date life) and Jeremy tries to go through them but then Chloe laughs annoyed, steers Brooke away saying “That guy is SO weird.” then Brooke says “I literally never noticed him...”

• they cut the slutshaming Madeline bit !!! FEMALE RIGHTS sadly no more "I'm telling the story JENNA" but if that's what has to happen for slutshaming to be gone I'm fine with that!

• I learned first hand that trying to watch every character's expressions, movements and quirks will give you a headache BUT VERY WORTH IT IF YOURE ONLY SEEING IT ONCE IN YOUR LIFETIME

• it's important to note that Brooke and Chloe held hands a lot and were REALLY cute Brooke also played with Chlo's hair but you'll understand why I won't ship pinkberry without a character/ redemption arc in a bit!!

• when Jeremy says "OH it's a sign up for the after-school play!" he sounds genuinely curious but then says ".....iT's a sign up sheet for getting called gay.." I GOT SAD"

• ANYONE WHO WANTS TO SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT WILL ROLAND'S VOCALS GO HOME OR I WILL FIGHT YOU TILL THE DAY I D I E

• "I hang a left and there's! ChR i i is Ti i i iNE"
she falls face first on the floor dropping her chapstick then looks around to see if anyone saw her tripping, gets up, and puts on A BUTT LOAD of it on then wipes it all off SSDTHDIIYPY she then adjusts her wedgie subconsciously not knowing Jeremy is staring at her like she's an angel... that's my aesthetic

• class scene was great because Mr. Reyes was teaching, then went out and everyone goes WILD I'm talking dancing I'm talking jumping on chairs, playing air guitar, whipping hair WILD IT LOOKED SO FUN

Michael is introduced and EVERYONE CLAPS LIKE CRAZY
he does a lot of life dances and his voice is soft and sing-songy babee....

Climax christiiiiiiine moment the wall with the Play sign up sheet slowly comes down on a small panel from the ceiling IT WAS RZEALLY NEAT!!

I might love her more than Jeremy does.
M I G H T idk if that's truly possible.../p>

she drops to the floor, spreading out her legs while laying on her tummy and cranes her head to look up in excitement and utter awe while the panel gets closer to the ground

she gets up then looks around to see if anyone is down the hall and starts doing what can only be described as a mix of flapping her arms like a bird and a VERY POWERFUL karate kick

Jere and Michael are watching her, Jere stares in awe and in love, Michael smugly pointing his arm to her as in "THERE SHE IS MAKE A MOVE" as Jeremy watches her as she circles around them like a bird with her arms outstretched to mimic wings

•EVERYONE lifts her up so she can sign the sheet SHE'S SO SHORT I LOVE HER she dances away they all stand around the board looking at Jeremy encouragingly, Michael is eating an apple and gives an encouraging hard nudge with it in his mouth pushing Jeremy to it.

• I'm sorry but can we talk about the updated HARMONIES FOR A SEC? BECAUSE I WANT TO IT SOUNDS LIKE AN ANGEL CHORUS

• "who cares ...if people think I'm lame! Christine signed... I'll do.. the same! I grab the pen and WRITE MY NAME!!" he sounds so hopeful because since she did it and no one made fun of her/ she's okay with what people think he's slowly building confidence and more courage then he's SMILING
then Rich points to him and says"GAAAAAY" everyone laughs and Michael walks away in the other direction sad for him and looks like he's about to talk to him but decides to leave him alone.. Will's expressions are so good and heartbreaking in this

• the whole time Will made an incredible decision to give Jeremy a stuttery nasal voice but when he sang in his head voice "w h y can't someone just! help me out.." it was almost as if it's a glimpse into the SQUIP later 'helping him out' and his voice becomes more smooth.. poetic cinama....

• anyways Will's head voice or just his voice in general could maul me with a lawn mower and I'd thank him!!

AFTER SCHOOL

• Jeremy second guesses himself before going to play rehearsal with Christine Michael says "you don't have to do this, course I'll mock you forever if you don't!" not mean-ly but jokingly sarcastic (UGH their friendship😢😢😔)

he goes "c c c c'mon, c c c c'mon gOo.." Christine sees him and says "yooooooo"
Michael nods proudly and turns to go back but then Jeremy runs back to the door, Michael stops, rolls his eyes and SHOVES JEREMY back in PLGKGFJRJF

• Christine has her head buried in a book and her legs are outstretched in front of her and it's really really cute, while Jeremy nervously sits down in a chair next to her

• "I get it....you're a virgin!" JEREMY LOOKS LIKE HES ABOUT TO CRAP HIS PANTS then she says "FIRST PLAY REHEARSAL!!"

"you never forget your FIRST! play rehearsal" she looks directly at him and SPREADS HER LEGS OUT

she starts the song then after the first verse pauses and goes back to reading but peeks over to see Jeremy wanting to hear more and is surprised by that then sings again, like she's used to people not wanting to hear her ramble AND THAT IS SO IMPORTANT

she always gets so close to Jeremy's face and then TURNS AWAY TO MAKE A WEIRD NOISE
he always looks like he'll pass out

her green dress was so light and airy!! when she twirled it looked like it was inflating/floating

• I can't even go into specifics of all the stuff I loved that Stephanie Hsu chose to do to give Christine character quirks it truly can't be explained you just had to be there in person? I will say her voice was even more HEAVENLY and beautiful live...I'm still thinking about it....how much I love her... she had amazing comedic timing though!! she had me cackling anytime she said anything ( I love her even more which I didn't even think was POSSIBLE)

• after ILPR there's a pause and she goes back to reading her book and Jeremy tries to make a move THEN TRUMPET AND SLIDING TROMBONE BURST Jake, Rich, Chloe and Brooke show up! OOF

•Brooke and Chloe were singing their 'la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la's (DYWR & DYWH, which SPOILER comes back later 👀👀)

anyways Chloe heads in Christine's direction and she just gets up and stands ( : ( ) then she SHOVES Jeremy off his seat so Jake could sit next to her, Rich pulls up another chair near him and Brooke apparently has never heard of those because she plops on the floor and puts her boots up on the back of Chloe's CUTE (chairs whom? we stan a babee)

• OH WAIT I GOTTA TALK ABOUT EVERYONE'S MAKEUP AND COSTUMES because I LOVE everyone's decisions! Chloe has hot pink eyeshadow, an eyeliner wing, then some glittery-gold layer atop that, blush, HEAVY mascara, and BRIGHT hot pink lipstic (I didn't memorize all that Katelyn made a vid for her Chloe makeup HFFHJFJH) her hair (wig) is like a dirty blonde in the roots then goes into a dusty blonde. It's parted to the side in a pullover, straight and long pretty wispy hair.. I'm in love and she's got long dangly chandelier-looking earrings
Brooke has wavy sandy blonde beach curls, the front left side is twisted into a knot in the back with I THINK peacock feathers, she's got lilac pink eyeshadow, blush, and a cute natural pink tone lipstick, she also has long peacock feather earrings too!!!

Christine has more natural eyeshadow, it's mostly blush and a natural pink lipstick kinda like Brooke!

Jenna has MEGA heavy purple eyeshadow and purple lipstick YES GIRL!!!

ok ANYWAYS *christine voice* back to play rehersal

• Joel Waggoner (Jason Sweettooth's u/s) was on the night I went and I LOvE what he did with all the roles!! His Mr. Reyes was so sassy

ICON!!IC!! when he said "we will now take a five minute break.. so I can eat,- beat - a hot pocket" his comedic timing SO FUNNY AND SO WELL PACED

• Jake goes to talk to Christine they took out the Jake dab and replaced it with him not-so-subtly showing off his muscles AMAZING

• Christine doesn't look inlove but instead confused and is processing everything that happened, her mind is obviously spinning in circles when Jeremy goes to talk to her (he starts to tell her what Michael said about humans not evolving!!) but she cuts him off and says "I'm sorry Jeremy...did you say something.. ?"

MY. HEART.

• MTS reprise ... might've dropped an uwu

SQUIP SONG TIME BABEE !!! Jeremy goes to kill time in the school bathroom

• OK TPG LETS GO

sadly the bean bags don't drop from the sky like in 2river, they're not even there! they use a bed (which I like better but ofc the falling bean bags will always have a place in my heart)

• "Ap

Jeremy said "mAD a L i nE and Chloe in the most aggressive voice ever goes "w h A t"
SNAPPING THE CLOTHING HANGER SHE'S HOLDING IN HA L F
rants about her and Brooke looks at her then gives a face like "oh boy okay" and steps in front of her
• DYWR was so.GOOD Brooke was always holding some sort of beverage and figets with her straw constantly IT WAS SO FUNNY in the beginning of the song she kept shoving her straw in the cup aggressively like they were humping BSHDHDBDFH i was in s t i t ch es

Chlo attempted to show her how to seduce Jeremy and Brooke HIT HIM WITH HER STRAW WHILE HE SHRIEKED Chloe looked at her then looked down in disappointment

at the end of the song Brooke crawled on the floor toward Jeremy and slowly got up to his height then WACKED HIM WITH THE STRAW

• Brooke Lohst has no idea how to flirt and I couldnt love her more for it

• if you didn't know Madeline is French and the SQUIP tells Jeremy to say she dumped him so throughout the show Brooke tries to speak French for hI M!!! BABY!!

 

• Mr. Heere comes in to find Michael and the boy is on his porch smoking a BONG and you could see the smoke NSXJDJDBFB his outfit was a purple and green stripey tiger-print-like shirt, boxer shorts, and the iconi(s)c red and white weed socks ✊😏

he says "something something - here burning incense" and Michael HIDES THE BONG SUPER QUICKLY

he gives his speech about jere and says Michael needs to help him and he goes "look! I already tried to help him"don't you love him?" "...whaaaaaa"

I s tAN the relationship between Mr. Heere and Michael it's not quite a friendship but it's more like a weird uncle and the chill nephew

DIRECTLY after the SQUIP is defeated and goes off-stage there's a black out then, the stage slowly lights up and jeremy wakes up in a hospital bed (the screens are a bleak grey pattern) a curtain pulls back to reveal Rich in a full body cast with his own bed and they talk abt the SQUIP actually being gone

• "oh my god I'm totally b i" audience goes NUTS just as iconic as I could imagine

• suddenly Rich starts talking about Michael calling him "anti-social headphone kid" and says "yeah he's been in a L O T......
is he your boyfriend? just asking, totally bi now." jeremy shakes his head and Rich gasps and says in hushed excitement "is he SINGLE?!"

AND TALK ABOUT COMEDIC TIMING BECAUSE Michael is hidden in the shadows and now WALKS in HEARING HIM and Rich gets flustered and then Michael snaps up his hoodie and nervously fake smiles while shuffling slowly "hi rich.." then "bye rich" AND QUICKLY RETREATS TO JEREMY IT WAS SO CUTE (not gay but like jere is familiarity and safe and he's an introvert so he gets nervous talking to other kids his age LUV HIM)

• when Mr. Heere walks in also NUTS then begins ViMH by saying "now who is this 'Christine girl' and why am I hearing it from hIM" points to Michael and Michael fakes a laugh and goes to the side of him and motions to jeremy and BNKHKHIGJF best duo

• Michael and Mr. Heere move to the back to let Jere step to the front. Michael is at Rich's side when he sings "nah man! you tell her that th'e , eX th iT eS yo.u tH ex U a L LY" as he does that 'walk-up-arm-with-two-fingers-thing' to Michael and he keep brushing him off faking a laugh and he finally gets annoyed and SLAPS Rich's arm and Rich SHRIEKS Michael jumps and puts his hands over his mouth in shock and sorry HE DIDNT ACTUALLY MEAN TO HURT HIM it was actually really CUTE

lights go out as it transitions to the school scene! Chloe and Jake are together arm-in-arm , Brooke and Jenna are next to each other (friendship or love I don't care I LUV THIS)
Brooke goes "I'm still....pretty mad at you but... I've moved on." YES GIRL