Be More Chill (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (821)
See it if you enjoy musicals about the travails of high school and insecure youths interactions.
Don't see it if you don't like retro 90s references or teenager hysterics.
See it if You want to see a young adult musical with a sci fi twist
Don't see it if You want a realistic plot, you don't like shows aimed for teens, you hate sci fi
See it if you enjoy incredible performances and a fun night out at the theater. Weird futuristic subject matter, fun characters, catchy tunes!
Don't see it if you don't like stories about high school or Dear Evan Hansen.
See it if You want to know what it felt to see Rent for the first time.
Don't see it if You like shit like carousel
See it if So much fun! A combo of ‘ Dear Evan Hansen’& ‘ Little Shop of Horrors’- you can go with or without a teenager !!
Don't see it if You do not like musicals
See it if It's really funny, creative, and has some teenage-style meaning to it. I really enjoyed it.
Don't see it if It's got a bit of a teenage feel to it
See it if you're 4 everything a musical on young people & our cyber world is, all rolled up into a fun story of relationship adapting w/real language.
Don't see it if you do not like the way young people speak today, do not like loud music or do not care for another story of young people finding their way.
See it if It's a great show, with great music, and an extremely talented cast.
Don't see it if If you feel musical about high school students are lame
Critic Reviews (50)
"If all of its overplayed, overwrought freneticism could have been avoided, we’d actually have an interesting Broadway show…‘Be More Chill’ has a very Millennial male filter on teen life; the girls in the show seem always to be seen through the eyes of the guys...The show is at its best when either Roland’s Jeremy or Salazar’s Michael are alone on stage singing terrific Iconis songs...Those are the well-performed moments when you start to feel something for these kids."
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"The show itself doesn’t live up to that social-media-sensation hype...It’s fine that the show’s arc is predictable...The problem is that those stakes still never feel high enough...The real star here is Salazar, whose breakout tune ‘Michael in the Bathroom’ easily becomes the show’s highlight...Iconis’ pop-rock songs are catchy and the show channels the angst and insecurities many young people experience, particularly in this social-media-driven age. I just wish there was more."
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"The heightened intensity is part of the originality. But the relentlessness is wearying and the hyperbolic style is at odds with the protagonist’s predictable emotional arc...Iconis writes in an indie-rock style that succeeds chiefly in conveying the inner turmoil shaking the characters. The clobbering effect is potent yet monotonous...With a 2½-hour rackety running time, the musical’s dimensions are out of whack."
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"A sublimely silly, exciting sci-fi teen musical comedy...A pop-rock score by Joe Iconis that is both addictively catchy and a master class in post-Sondheim dramatic integration...It brings fresh air and youthful vitality...The show’s weakest link is Joe Tracz’s book, which occasionally sputters and resorts to pandering...But on the whole, the production is both a supercharged piece of popular entertainment and a sincerely-felt portrait of vulnerable teens...The diverse, big-voiced cast is superb."
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"Everything about the show feels new, exciting, and alive...'Be More Chill' is that rarest of wonders: a successful sci-fi musical. Its combination of humor, social commentary, catchy music, and spectacular staging is everything a Broadway musical should be...Teenagers may have been the first to discover 'Be More Chill,' but this is a musical that any adult can appreciate...The best kind of science-fiction in that it draws a direct line from the way we actually live to the fantastic world it imagines."
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"Hard-rocking, super-charged, and very well written...A musical comedy with realistic, relatable characters singing well-placed songs...‘Be More Chill’ is good musical theatre disguised as a pop phenomenon...Tracz's book solidly moves the story along, with Brackett's staging nailing comic moments without sacrificing sincerity...But it's Iconis' score that really lights up the evening; mature in craft while conveying the musical and verbal vernacular of the show's young characters."
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"The creative team behind 'Be More Chill' understands and is respectful of its target audience of teens and young adults better than pretty much any other show around...It is hyperkinetic, with songs by Iconis that rely on a highly amplified, steady pounding beat and simple straightforward lyrics...Everything works becomes all of the elements work so smoothly together: the performances, Stephen Brackett's direction, Joe Tracz's book, Chase Brock's mostly frenetic choreography."
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"Iconis’ tunes, which have earned him a major online following, are character-driven and catchy...But a lot of Iconis’ songs, and Vizzini’s story, gets lost in the chaos at the Lyceum. Director Stephen Brackett isn’t much for subtlety or soft moments. Roland, ideally cast in so many ways, is pushing too hard—vocally and otherwise...What I liked—actually, loved—about ‘Be More Chill’ more than anything is its potential...The songs would sound just as good without all the amplification. Perhaps even better."
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