History Theatre / BeMoreChill

* LightIsNotGood: The 2018-2019 Off-Broadway and Broadway productions portray the Squip as a ManInWhite. [[https://d12edgf4lwbh8j.cloudfront.net/entry/photo/Jason-Tam-Be-More-Chill-Musical-NYC-Broadway-The-Squip-Costume-Interview.jpg He progressively gains more black accents]] as the show continues.

* AlliterativeName: Christine Canigula and Michael Mell.

** During More Than Survive (or the end part of Sync Up), Jeremy describes his first squipped day as "a not-too-heinous day". Then, Michael In the Bathroom has Michael [[spoiler:describe the party as a "heinous night"]].
** In the Broadway production, Christine describes to Jeremy an idea for a performance art at the bowling alley, but couldn't find anyone to go with her. [[spoiler:During Voices in my Head, he invites Christine to do some performance art at the bowling alley instead of a lunch date.]]

** During the tail end of "The Pitiful Children", the "everything about you" melody from "Be More Chill (Part 2)" is reprised. While the original was hardly a lighthearted song, it goes from being a tune about the Squip promising to make Jeremy into the kind of person he wants to be to a sinister oath to [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld with [=SQUIPs=] and eradicate emotion or human error by brainwashing everyone]].

-->'''Michael:''' I'd rather fake pee/ Than stand awkwardly/ Or pretend to check a text on my phone"

* {{Fangirl}}: A male example could be Michael as a fanboy to Jeremy. Whether you read this as romantic or platonic, he's incredibly devoted to him, all but bursting with joy whenever something appears to go right for him.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the Broadway version, the SQUIP fixes Jeremy's vision so he [[TheGlassesGottaGo doesn't have to wear glasses,]] explaining he has access to Jeremy's optic nerves. We also see Michael suddenly disappear from the background during "Sync Up." This builds up to the revelation that SQUIP has been blocking Michael from Jeremy's vision.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWIth: Christine reveals that [[spoiler:the SQUIP in her head took the form of RUth BAden Ginsberg]].
* FriendshipSong: Two-Player Game, although it has some [[HoYay extremely non-heterosexual]] implications.

* TheGhost: Jeremey's mom. Before the story begins, she walks out on Jeremy and his dad, leaving the latter out of sorts and unable to adjust to life without her. This leaves him completely unprepared for Jeremy's transformation, and by the time he does try to save his son, he's almost too late.

* GutPunch: "Do You Wanna Hang?" While some of the characters' situations are quite sad from the get-go, the show is a fun, quirky teen comedy with sci-fi elements. The Squip is obviously up to no good from the start, but aside from a few shocks and some snark, the worst he does by the end of Act One is convince Jeremy [[spoiler: to [[WhatTheHellHero abandon]] Michael]] in order to become popular. One would think this would lead to a lesson being learned about loyalty and being yourself. Then, in Act Two, [[spoiler: The Squip nearly [[AttemptedRape forces Jeremy to have sex with Chloe]] to boost his reputation, ignoring his pleas for it to stop]], a wake-up call to the audience that the story -- and the Squip's actions -- are about to get much, ''much'' darker.

* LovableAlphaBitch: In contrast to Chloe, Brooke and Jenna Rolan both come off as decently nice people with troubles and insecurities of their own -- just shallow, a bit ditzy, and attention-seeking.
* LyricalDissonance: The show touches on subject matter such as psychological trauma, abuse of every kind, adolescent mental illness, bullying, sexual assault, drug and alcohol dependency, parental neglect, self-loathing, broken families, torture, attempted suicide/suicidal thoughts, homophobia, brainwashing, anxiety disorders, and broken friendships, just to name a few, but the score remains catchy and upbeat throughout, including while depicting these topics. The strongest contender for this trope is easily "The Smartphone Hour", however, where the students spread malicious gossip over social media after a classmate [[spoiler: driven insane by his SQUIP's torture after he resisted its plans to TakeOverTheWorld]] set fire to his best friend's house, burning it to the ground and nearly dying in the process, while his best friend broke both his legs escaping out of a top-floor window. This is obviously intentional, however, as the song is satirizing how irreverent and glib young people are in the face of tragedy, often exploiting it for online social clout.

** Meanwhile, Jeremy [[spoiler:becomes horrified when he realizes that rather than helping him, the SQUIP's advice caused him to hurt everyone he lived, including Michael and Christine]].
** Michael briefly has this [[spoiler:when the Mountain Dew Red causes everyone pain as it deactivates the SQUIPs ''en masse'']].
* MythologyGag: During "Voices in My Head", Chloe described her understanding of the Squips as "everyone [doing] ecstasy". In the book, Chloe actually gave Jeremy some Ecstasy before taking him into the bedroom.

* NewEraSpeech: "The Pitiful Children" definitely qualifies as a musical one; the lyrics, and eventually, the hallucinated ensemble, present [[spoiler: a vision of a world where human suffering and error is gone due to everyone being brainwashed by [=SQUIPs=]]]. In the Broadway version, [[spoiler: the SQUIP]] delivers a rather [[LargeHam theatrical]] spoken rant to Jeremy detailing just how far it intends to go with this plan.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Under the SQUIP's influence, [[spoiler:Jeremy spikes the Mountain Dew used in the play with other SQUIPS under the impression he'd be "helping" everyone. Christine gives Jeremy a WhatTheHellHero about thinking a computer could fix everyone's problems, but before he can go back on it, Mr. Heere gets infected and prevents Jeremy from saving everyone.]] To a lesser extent, he shuts out Michael on the SQUIP's order. [[spoiler:It turns out Michael is the only kid in town who has Mountain Dew Red]].

* ThePowerOfLove: Jeremy's dad [[spoiler:cleans up his act when he realizes that Jeremy's in danger. He [[spoiler:gets dressed, gives Michael a pep talk, and makes sure to visit Jeremy in the hospital regularly]].
* PragmaticAdaptation: The two parties in the book, the Halloween dance and a regular house party (held by someone who isn't Jake) are conflated into a Halloween party at Jake's place because two different party scenes would probably been too exhausting (for both the cast and the audience).

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The SQUIP's entirely willing to force Jeremy to have sex with [[AlphaBitch Chloe]] via mind and body control to make him cooler. [[spoiler: He also later controls Christine, telling Jeremy that he can do whatever he wants with her. Jeremy refuses to go along with it.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Jeremy gives one to his dad right before "The Pants Song". It's what ultimately drives him to pick himself back up.

* RunningAwayToCry: Michael [[spoiler: at the Halloween party, although it's more hiding than running away. After Jeremy rejects him, Michael has a massive panic attack in the bathroom and breaks down crying. He doesn't tell anyone what happened, and thinks of excuses to cover up the redness of his eyes.]]

* Main/SeductionLyric: The show features "Upgrade" and the more disturbing "Do You Wanna Hang?"

** Jake's costume at his Halloween party in the Broadway run is a {{Music/Prince}} costume.

* TelephoneSong: "The Smart Phone Hour" features Jenna, Brooke, and Chloe spreading gossip about the party from the night before--namely [[spoiler: Rich setting a fire at the house]].

** In the revised script, Jeremy also qualifies, going by [[spoiler: the SQUIP's MotiveRant, as well as his response.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Michael. Where in the book, he's still an outsider and Jeremy's best friend, he never runs up on stage during the play to save the school from being turned into mind-controlled zombies. The character is also less sympathetic in general in the book considering he's a white boy with YellowFever.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Jeremy in the book is a case of ImAManICantHelpIt who spends his school days staring at Christine, making tally marks of how many people humiliate him, and at one point fantasizes about stamping slurs and insults on people's foreheads. The stage iteration of Jeremy doesn't do the latter two at all, and balances his nerdy horniness with his patience with his father's depression, genuine friendship with Michael, respect for Christine, and empathy and kindness towards his peers, despite his mistreatment at their hands. He's still plenty flawed, but this comes through more often than not as a result of the [[ManipulativeBastard SQUIP's influence]] taking advantage of said flaws. He also ''never'' has the moment of not telling Michael about the [=SQUIP=], going so far as to offer to share it with him. Jeremy is a lot gentler and less mean-spirited than his book counterpart, too.

* AIIsACrapshoot: The SQUIP is supposed to help its user deal with social situations in a more appropriate fashion... and instead it emotionally and physically abuses the user. Within the show specifically, [[spoiler:Rich's SQUIP represses his feelings for boys and leads to him burning down Jake's house, and Jeremy's SQUIP (possibly in league with Rich's SQUIP), tries to take over the entire school, and details its plans to erase all human emotion from existence]].

* AlphaBitch: Chloe.

* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Michael.]] It's not unusual for the audience to cheer when he does, too.

* ChekhovsSkill: Jeremy and Michael playing retro video games together comes in handy later.

** While it thankfully doesn't go that far, it's quite clearly sexual assault. At the Halloween party, the Squip forces Jeremy into a sexual situation with Chloe, using its control over his body to stop him from escaping and to puppet him so that he reciprocates her advances. Jeremy explicitly states that he doesn't want to have sex with Chloe and is very uncomfortable kissing her, telling the Squip multiple times that he wants to stop and eventually pleading with it for help while it looks on in cruel amusement. It is never brought up or even referenced again, but Jeremy is noticeably upset by it, running from the room in a shaky panic as soon as the Squip shuts down, although that could be just as much from Jake threatening him.

** Almost as [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome awesome]] as the above, the TearJerker finale to Act 1, "Loser, Geek, Whatever" has Jeremy's self-loathing, miserable life, and inability to trust himself culminate in him accepting the Squip's control no matter the cost, citing the fact that he's "earned the right to be selfish". During "The Play", a heroic-sounding instrumental reprise plays when he [[spoiler: throws off the Squip's manipulation and frees a brainwashed Christine from its clutches with the last of the Mountain Dew Red, [[HeroicSacrifice selflessly sacrificing himself in the process]].

* AIIsACrapshoot: The SQUIP is supposed to help its user deal with social situations in a more appropriate fashion... and instead it emotionally and physically abuses the user. Within the show specifically, [[spoiler:Rich's SQUIP represses his feelings for boys and leads to him burning down Jake's house, and Jeremy's SQUIP (possibly in league with Rich's SQUIP), tries to take over the entire school, and it details its plans to erase all human emotion from existence]].

Despite running for only a month in a small regional theater, it blew up in popularity on Tumblr in summer 2017 and has the makings of a modern CultClassic. The fanbase is vocal enough to have secured it an Off-Broadway run starting in July 2018, and then a Broadway run from February to August of 2019. It is slated for an off-West End run starting in 2020. If you're a theater kid between the ages of 14-25, you know this show, or at least the SignatureSong [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1P-5Ey4dU "Michael in the Bathroom".]]

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Whilst not ''saccharine'', the show is notably quirky, fun, and lighthearted. However, by the time the SQUIP unleashes his plan, he elevates the threat level considerably.

* VisualEntendre: Brooke makes some...interesting gestures towards Jeremy with her straw and soda can during "Do You Wanna Ride?".

** The newer version of "Halloween" has the lyrics "Before the kill screen hits the scene / Give me nicotine, vaseline, amphetamine and ''gasoline!''" Which plays into the off-Broadway version where Rich sets the fire with gasoline specifically.

Despite running for only a month in a small regional theater, it blew up in popularity on Tumblr in summer 2017 and has the makings of a modern CultClassic. The fanbase is vocal enough to have secured it an Off-Broadway run starting in July 2018, and then a Broadway run from February to August of 2019. If you're a theater kid between the ages of 14-25, you know this show, or at least the SignatureSong [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj1P-5Ey4dU "Michael in the Bathroom".]]

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Jeremy's dad in the book is a classic BumblingDad who walks around naked because he likes it. The play establishes that he used to be better but the divorce has wrecked him. When Michael motivates him to shape up to help Jeremy, his dad rises to the challenge.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Jeremy in the book is a case of ImAManICantHelpIt who spends his school days staring at Christine, making tally marks of how many people humiliate him, and at one point fantasizes about stamping slurs and insults on people's foreheads. The stage iteration Jeremy balances this with his patience with his father's depression, genuine friendship with Michael, respect for Christine, and empathy and kindness towards his peers, despite his mistreatment at their hands. He's still plenty flawed, but this comes through more often than not as a result of the [[ManipulativeBastard SQUIP's influence]] taking advantage of said flaws. He also ''never'' has the moment of not telling Michael about the [=SQUIP=], going so far as to offer to share it with him.

* AssimilationPlot: The SQUIP's ultimate goal is to essentially sync himself to every human brain and tell ''everyone'' how to act.
* AttemptedRape: Happens to [[spoiler:Jeremy at the Halloween party when Chloe makes advances and the SQUIP prevents him from saying no or moving away. They are interrupted by Jake before anything too serious can happen, but it's still very much sexual assault]]. Arguably, [[spoiler: Christine's brainwashing might have been setting her up for this, too]].

** During the tail end of "The Pitiful Children", the "everything about you" melody from "Be More Chill (Part 2)" is reprised. While the original was hardly a lighthearted song, it goes from being a tune about the Squip promising to make Jeremy into the kind of person he wants to be to a sinister oath to [[spoiler: TakeOverTheWorld with Squips and eradicate emotion or human error by brainwashing everyone]].

* TheGhost: Jeremey's mom. Before the story begins, she walks out on Jeremy and his dad, leaving the latter out of sorts and unable to adjust to life without her. This leaves him completely unprepared for Jeremy's transformation, and when he does acts to help save his son, he's almost too late.

* HasTwoMommies: Michael mentions his two moms in the revised 2018 off-Broadway script.

* IronicEcho: Mr. Heere ends his talk with Jeremy during "Two Player Game" with "good talk". Later, after the house fire, Jeremy ends his TheReasonYouSuck speech with that exact phrase.

* LightIsNotGood: The 2018 Off-Broadway production portrays the Squip as a ManInWhite. [[https://d12edgf4lwbh8j.cloudfront.net/entry/photo/Jason-Tam-Be-More-Chill-Musical-NYC-Broadway-The-Squip-Costume-Interview.jpg He progressively gains more black accents]] as the show continues.

* LyricalDissonance: The show touches on subject matter such as psychological trauma, abuse of every kind, adolescent mental illness, bullying, drug and alcohol dependency, parental neglect, self-loathing, broken families, torture, attempted suicide/suicidal thoughts, homophobia, brainwashing, anxiety disorders, and broken friendships, just to name a few, but the score remains catchy and upbeat throughout, including while depicting these topics. The strongest contender for this trope is easily "The Smartphone Hour", however, where the students spread malicious gossip over social media after a classmate [[spoiler: driven insane by his SQUIP's torture after he resisted its plans to TakeOverTheWorld]] set fire to his best friend's house, burning it to the ground and nearly dying in the process, while his best friend broke both his legs escaping out of a top-floor window. This is obviously intentional, however, as the song is satirizing how irreverent and glib young people are in the face of tragedy, often exploiting it for online social clout.

* MeaningfulEcho: At the Halloween party, Christine tells Jeremy to "Just... say what's on your mind." She repeats this during Voices in my Head, just before [[spoiler:Jeremy finally asks her out]].

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The SQUIP's entirely willing to force Jeremy to have sex with [[AlphaBitch Chloe]] via mind and body control to make him cooler. [[spoiler: He also later controls Christine, and convinces Jeremy that he can do whatever he wants with her. Jeremy refuses to go along with it.]]

* TheGhost: Jermey's mom. Before the story starts she walked out on Jeremy and his dad, leaving the latter out of sorts and unable to adjust to life without her.

* AttemptedRape: Happens to [[spoiler:Jeremy at the Halloween party when Chloe comes on to him and the SQUIP prevents him from saying no or moving away. They are interrupted by Jake before anything too serious can happen, but it's still very much sexual assault]]. Arguably, [[spoiler: Christine's brainwashing might have been setting her up for this, too]].

* OnlyFriend: Michael and Jeremy are initially this to each other. Michael is happy with this; Jeremy, on the other hand...

* RaceLift: Michael and Christine, who are both white in the book, are portrayed by George Salazar, who is mixed-race (Ecuadorian and Filipino), and Stephanie Hsu, who is Chinese. For the 2018-2019 New York productions, Asian-American actor Jason Tam was cast as the SQUIP, and African-American actors Britton Smith and Tiffany Mann were cast as Jake and Jenna respectively, all roles that were previously played by white actors.

* CostumeEvolution: In the 2018 production, the Squip has three costumes in total: a stylish hoodie with sunglasses for his first form, a BadassLongcoat with white hair for his second form, and finally, an evil-looking robe with a HornedHairdo for his third, most sinister form.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Some of the Squip's lyrics in "The Pitiful Children" present it as this, though whether the Squip means a word of it or if it's just manipulating Jeremy (or both) depends on the audience's interpretation.
-->'''The Squip and Students:''' Everything about us is going to be wonderful!\\
'''Students:''' We love everything about Squips!\\
'''The Squip and Students:''' Everything about us is going to be so alive!\\
'''Students:''' We could never live without Squips!\\
'''The Squip:''' You won't feel left out or unsure...\\
'''The Squip and Students:''' Not pitiful children anymore!
** Its NewEraSpeech during later versions of "The Play" certainly seems to play into this interpretation, as its programming relies on making people happy. Again, how much this means when its idea of happiness is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality skewed]], to [[KickTheDog say]] [[ColdBloodedTorture the]] [[DoubleStandardRapeSciFi least]], as well as its need for total control, is up to the audience to decide.

-->'''Mr. Heere:''' If you're not going to take me seriously--\\
'''Jeremy:''' Why should I? I'm supposed to believe ''you'' care? Look in the mirror! Ever since Mom left, you sit around like you're waiting for her to come back! Even if she did come back, you know what she'd find? A ''loser'' who's so afraid to have a life, he can't even put PANTS ON!

* RunningAwayToCry: Michael [[spoiler:at the Halloween party, although it's more hiding than running away. After Jeremy rejects him, Michael has a massive panic attack in the bathroom and breaks down crying. He doesn't tell anyone what happened, and thinks of excuses to cover up the redness of his eyes.]]

-->'''Jeremy:''' How could ''all' this happen? I didn’t mean to hurt Brooke, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone! Now Rich is in the hospital, my best friend thinks I’m a jerk! And Christine – you were supposed to make her like me! You were supposed to 'fix' me, and I’ve done everything you said, and all ''it's'' done is make things worse. For everyone.

-->''''Jeremy:''' That’s not what I wanted!
-->'''The Squip:''' This is the ''only'' way to achieve what you want. [[spoiler: And why stop with the school? There’s an entire world of suffering people who need my help. '''It’s the [[NewEraSpeech glorious destiny for which I was programmed!''']] And I never would have realized it without ''you'', Jeremy...

-->''''Jeremy:''' Oh, ''shit''.

* WhatTheHellHero: When Jeremy [[spoiler:abandons Michael at the end of the first act in favor of being popular]]. Much of what he does during Act 2 up the "The Play" also qualifies.

* NewEraSpeech: "The Pitiful Children" definitely qualifies as a musical one; the lyrics, and eventually, the hallucinated ensemble, present [[spoiler: a vision of a world where human suffering and error is gone due to everyone being brainwashed by SQUIPs]]. In the Broadway version, [[spoiler: the SQUIP]] delivers a rather [[LargeHam theatrical]] spoken rant to Jeremy detailing just how far it intends to go with this plan.

** Despite the subject matter, "The Smartphone Hour" is a very [[LyricalDissonance upbeat number]. Jenna's eerie operatic reprise of the chorus during "The Pitiful Children" after she's Squipped is as creepy as it is [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic beautiful]], especially as it heralds the entrance of the hallucinated ensemble of brainwashed children in full sci-fi gear.

** The original wasn't the happiest number itself (if very [[LyricalDissonance upbeat]]), but "More than Survive (Reprise 1)", is downright ''heartbreaking'' in its depiction of Jeremy's crippling anxiety and low self-esteem following another botched attempt to talk to Christine.

** "The Play" reprises just about every other song in the show. As the final showdown where [[spoiler: Michael and Jeremy have to to fight off a [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Squip-possessed]] student body while also fighting to free Jeremy]], all the songs are in a much darker context than their original iterations. Scarier instrumental versions of "Be More Chill (Part 1)", the verse melody of "Two-Player Game", and "I Love Play Rehearsal" are present when [[spoiler: the SQUIP begins taking over the cast]], [[spoiler: Jeremy is forced to fight Michael]], and [[spoiler: Christine is Squipped]], respectively. The according leads also sing reprises of "Upgrade", "Do You Wanna Ride", "Two-Player Game", "The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set A Fire)", and an especially haunting version of "A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into".

** In the revised script, Jeremy also qualifies, going by [[spoiler: the SQUIP's MotiveRant, as well as his response.]]

** Christine feels unable to relate to anyone her age outside of theatre, mirroring how some autistic people or people with ADHD can feel about people who do not share their interests. She also mentions frequently feeling depressed and immediately follows it up with a [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial suspiciously flustered]] insistence that she doesn't self-harm, she seems to lack a filter when she speaks, and she has an odd VerbalTic of being the only character in the musical whose songs [[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion don't always rhyme]], which is probably a metaphor for ''something''. The "ambiguous" part of the trope is downplayed with her, though, since she straight-up describes herself as having ADD.

** In the Broadway version, Christine proposes a performance art piece to be performed at the bowling alley. In the book, Jeremy went to the bowling alley to buy a squip before being told to go to the Payless. [[note]]This also may be an ActorAllusion as Will Roland, who originated Jeremy in the Broadway run, is an avid bowling fan.[[/note]]

* TakeOverTheWorld: [[spoiler:The Squip's true intent, or at least the whole school.]]

'''Jeremy:''' That’s not what I wanted!

''(beat)''
'''Jeremy:''' Oh, ''shit''.

* VileVillainSaccharineShow: Whilst not ''saccharine'', the show is notably quirky and lighthearted. However, by the time the SQUIP unleashes his plan, he elevates the threat level considerably.

--> '''The Squip:''' ''(scolding)'' Oh, Jeremy... ''look'' what you're making me make him do!

** Christine and/or Mr. Reyes (depending on the version) mention that Rich is recovering in Beth Israel; however, this may just be an allusion to the real Beth Israel medical centre in New Jersey, as it is a hospital created by the Jewish community of Newark.

* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Jeremy in the book is a case of ImAManICantHelpIt who spends his school days staring at Christine and making tally marks of how many people humiliate him. Jeremy in the play balances this with his genuine friendship with Michael and overanalyzing every situation. He also ''never'' has the moment of not telling Michael about the [=SQUIP=] because he thinks Michael doesn't need the advantage.

* AdultsAreUseless: There are only three human adult characters in the whole show: The Stockboy (drug dealer), Mr. Reyes (drama teacher who doesn't care about his job at all), and Jeremy's dad (lazy man who is too consumed by his divorce to take care of Jeremy. He gets better by the end, though).

* AttemptedRape: Happens to [[spoiler:Jeremy at the Halloween party when Chloe comes on to him and the SQUIP prevents him from saying no or moving away. They are interrupted by Jake before anything too serious can happen, but it's still very much sexual assault]].

* RaceLift: Michael and Christine, who are both white in the book, are portrayed by George Salazar, who is mixed-race (Ecuadorian and Filipino), and Stephanie Hsu, who is Chinese. For the 2018 off-Broadway production and the 2019 Broadway transfer, Asian-American actor Jason Tam was cast as the SQUIP, and African-American actors Britton Smith and Tiffany Mann were cast as Jake and Jenna respectively, all roles that were previously played by white actors.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Jason's dad in the book is a classic BumblingDad who walks around naked because he likes it. The play establishes that he used to be better but the divorce has wrecked him. When Michael motivates him to shape up to help Jeremy, his dad rises to the challenge.