Be More Chill - SYNOPSIS

2015 A New Musical (with composer/lyricist Joe Iconis)
Be More Chill the Musical - SYNOPSIS


Act One

There are no perks to being a wallflower for Jeremy Heere, a New Jersey high school loser just trying to make it through the day as he dodges bullies and popular kids ("More Than Survive"). His best friend Michael convinces him to sign up for the school play to be close to his crush, artsy Christine ("I Love Play Rehearsal"), but Jeremy lacks the confidence to talk to her. After rehearsal, the school bully Rich reveals the secret of his own popularity: he has a Squip, a tiny ingestible supercomputer that lives in his brain and tells him how to be cool. For the right price, Jeremy can have one too ("The Squip Song"). Later, Jeremy and Michael play video games as they debate the reality of this information ("Two-Player Game"). At the Menlo Park Mall, they buy a Squip in the backroom of a Payless shoe store. Jeremy swallows it with Mountain Dew, which activates it, and the Squip appears in his mind ("The Squip Enters") to instruct him on how to interact with his peers ("Be More Chill (Part One)"). It works, and Brooke, a popular girl, offers Jeremy a ride home ("Do You Wanna Ride?"), but he refuses in order to stay with Michael. The Squip informs Jeremy that he has to follow all of the Squip's commands in order to become popular ("Be More Chill (Part Two)"). The next day in school, Jeremy’s status has already improved ("More Than Survive (Reprise)"). To his delight, Christine seems to have noticed the change in him too ("A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into"), but she’s already dating super-stud Jake. The Squip tells Jeremy that to get Christine, he has to upgrade his popularity by dating Brooke and ignoring Michael. Despite sinister omens, Jeremy takes the upgrade ("Upgrade").

Act Two

A few weeks later, the cool kids are at the biggest bash of the fall: Jake’s Halloween party ("Halloween"). Jeremy, under the guidance of the Squip, has risen in social status and the most popular girl in school, Chloe, tries to seduce him ("Do You Wanna Hang?"). Caught in the act by Brooke and Jake, who is Chloe’s ex, Jeremy hides in a bathroom where he finds Michael, who has discovered some disturbing information about the Squips. Convinced he’s just jealous, Jeremy rejects the warning and calls Michael a loser. Alone, Michael mourns the loss of his best friend ("Michael in the Bathroom"). The next day, school gossip Jenna Rolan spreads the news that, at the end of the party, Rich set a fire and burned down Jake's house ("The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire)"). Suspicious, Jeremy confronts his Squip, who assures him that Rich’s behavior wasn’t due to his Squip but in spite of it. He convinces Jeremy that his peers would be happier with Squips of their own ("The Pitiful Children"). The night of the play, Jeremy fights with his Dad, a sad sack who has given up on wearing pants since his wife left. Unable to reach his son, Dad enlists Michael’s help ("The Pants Song"). Backstage, Jeremy offers Christine a Squip, but her refusal makes him re-think the Squip’s plan. As the Squip takes over the play, Jeremy fights back, as Michael arrives with the one thing that can deactivate it: Mountain Dew Red. The Squipped students attack, spilling all but the last drop. Jeremy is about to drink it when Christine arrives, newly Squipped, to say she loves him. Horrified, Jeremy gives her the bottle. She drinks it ... and emits a sonic scream that short-circuits all the Squips ("The Play"). Jeremy wakes in the hospital next to Rich, who now has a lisp and has reverted back to his nerdy, bisexual self without his Squip. Jeremy, also Squip-less and in pain, is convinced Christine will never like him. With advice from his Dad, who is now wearing pants, Michael, Rich, and the cool kids, Jeremy realizes that there will always be voices in his head telling them to do things, but he just has to listen to his own. He asks Christine out, and she says yes ("Voices in My Head").


Read more: Be More Chill the Musical Songs with Lyrics
Synopsis to Be More Chill the Musical


Be More Chill the Musical Lyrics

SYNOPSIS
More Than Survive
I Love Play Rehearsal
The Squip Song
Two-Player Game
The Squip Enters
Be More Chill, Pt. 1
Do You Wanna Ride?
Be More Chill, Pt. 2
More Than Survive (Reprise)
A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into
Upgrade
Halloween
Do You Wanna Hang?
Michael In the Bathroom
The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire)
The Pitiful Children
The Pants Song
The Play
Voices in My Head