History Theatre / BeMoreChill

* RealityEnsues: Jeremy tries to ask Christine out [[spoiler:after she breaks up with Jake. She turns him down because she just had a breakup]].

* GainingConfidenceSong: "Loser Geek Whatever" is primarily about Jeremy's self-loathing and isolation, and his questioning how far he'll go to become popular. A {{deconstruction}}, as it turns out, the answer is "far enough to callously abandon his OnlyFriend," and the first act ends with him loudly proclaiming that he'll never be the "loser, geek, or whatever" ever again.

* CulturalTranslation: The West End production replaces Mr. Reyes' love for Hot Pockets with Pop Tarts, as the former are not as well-known outside America. For similar reasons, Jake takes Christine to Pizza Hut instead of Sbarro's.

* NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization: Chloe tries to blame Jeremy when she kisses him, knowing he was dating Brooke, because he didn't refuse her advances. [[spoiler:It doesn't work; Brooke refuses to talk to Chloe, period, for what she did, until they are both under the SQUIP's influence]].

** Likewise, when the SQUIP makes [[spoiler:Christine profess love for Jeremy, Jeremy says, "That's ''not'' Christine!" He knows that Christine has been conflicted about her feelings for guys during the whole play and wouldn't just come out and say that.]]

* SettingUpdate: A very clever version; the book takes place in the early 00s, where it was presumably easier to get [[spoiler:Mountain Dew Red and the SQUIP's glitching by accident is more plausible since it's a bootleg from Japan]]. The play takes place in the 2010s, where everyone has a computer in their smartphone and [[spoiler:the SQUIP taunts Jeremy because Mountain Dew Red is practically obsolete. The audience can find it believable that the SQUIP is not glitching and is, in fact, ruining Jeremy's life on purpose for an ulterior motive. It raises the stakes when Jeremy realizes he is screwed because Michael is the only one who has the drink and surely his best friend wouldn't forgive him... "[[TriumphantReprise Michael makes an entrance]]"]].

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

->''"Hey, Hamlet. [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Be. More. Chill.]]"''

* HeteronormativeCrusader: Rich's Squip. It repressed his feelings for other boys, evidenced by both WordOfGod and the fact that he didn't realize he was bi until the Squip was shut down.
* IAmBecomingSong: "More Than Survive (Reprise)", as well as "The Pitiful Children".

* TakeOverTheWorld: [[spoiler:The Squip's true intent.]]

* TraumaCongaLine: Arguably the entire cast get put through one to varying degrees, with Jeremy, Rich, and Jake as top contenders for the worst ones.
* TriumphantReprise: [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome "MICHAEL MAKES AN ENTRANCE!"]]
** 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]].]]

* AIGettingHigh: On Halloween, Jeremy learns that drinking alcohol messes up your Squip's functions, causing it to revert to its native Japanese, glitch out, and [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments fall on its face drunk]].

->''"No one deserves to disappear."''

----

* {{Adorkable}}: Jeremy, Michael, and Christine all have their moments. Surprisingly, so does Rich towards the end.

* ElectronicSpeechImpediment: Some productions have the actor playing Jeremy do this during his argument/makeup with Michael near the climax, as he's fighting the SQUIP's vocal cord block preventing him from apologizing. Ironic, considering the way the SQUIP had criticized his stammering originally.

** Michael has a full-blown panic attack at the Halloween party, in the process also showing symptoms of serious social anxiety and suicidal ideation. It's ambiguous how much of this is a new thing due to losing his only friend, and how much of it was there before but just well-hidden.

** Christine admits with a laugh that [[spoiler:the SQUIP in her head appeared as Ruth Baden Ginsberg. Although the experience was traumatizing, she can find some humor in the situation]].

* 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 Jeremy's argument with him motivates him to shape up to help his son, Mr.Heere rises to the challenge.

* 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. The SQUIP implies that it's functioning exaclty how it's programmed]].

** According to WordOfGod, in early drafts of the script, Michael talks a lot about girls, but doesn't talk about them at all in [[http://maggieisnotacat.tumblr.com/post/160788427435 the final version]]. This interpretation of Michael's character is also explicitly supported by [[WordOfDante Joe Iconis and George Salazar]].

* BookEnds: The musical starts with [[spoiler:Jeremy saying "C-c-c-come on, go go!" at his computer to make his porn download faster. It shows how small his life is. THe musical ends with his new friends telling him "c-c-c-come on, let's go!" as they invite him to join them]].

* BookEnds: The words "C-c-c-c'mon, c-c-c-c'mon, go go!", as well as the "naaaa-na-nana" motif, are used in both the first and last song.
** Chloe's first words to Jenna harsh, cutting her off. At the end of the play, she has Jenna get the first word in.

* DistractedByTheSexy: Jeremy both times when he sees Christine during More Than Survive. Also whenever he is remotely near her at all. It seems to be a running theme with him, as this is always his reaction to Brooke during Do You Wanna Ride, Upgrade, and Halloween, and Chloe during Do You Wanna Ride.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWIth: Everyone's squip takes on a different form. Jeremy's appears as Keanu Reeves, while Christine reveals that [[spoiler:hers took the form of Ruth Bader Ginsberg]].

** 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.

** Then, of course, there's "Michael In The Bathroom", where the [[BreakTheCutie formerly happy-go-lucky and warmhearted Michael, the typical 'goofy best friend' character in a high school story, suffers a severe panic attack and offhandly mentions killing himself]].
** The most obvious GutPunch of the show, however, is Rich [[spoiler: setting fire to Jake's house]] at the end of the Halloween party; in case there was any shadow of a doubt how terrifying a threat the Squips are, [[spoiler: Rich is tortured by his Squip until he's wailing for trying to resist its plans to create a school-wide -- and possibly [[TakeOverTheWorld worldwide]] -- HiveMind, and, out of desperation, burns down Jake's house in an effort to stop them, nearly dying in the process and leaving Jake with critical injuries]]. Christine and Jeremy both {{Lampshade|Hanging}} the horror of this event later on, with the latter beginning to truly fear his Squip.

* MassiveMultiplayerEnsembleNumber: At least half of the songs in the show count as this: More Than Survive, Upgrade, Halloween, The Smartphone Hour (Rich Set a Fire), The Play, and Voices in My Head. The song added for Broadway, Sync Up, is also a big ensemble number involving all the cast members.

-->'''Mr. Heere:''' I'm trying to be serious--\\

** "The Smartphone Hour" is inspired by "The Telephone Hour" from Theatre/ByeByeBirdie.

-->'''Christine:''' ''Back to play rehearsal,\\

-->'''The Squip:''' [[spoiler: I now realize: my operating system can only truly be complete when everyone shares a social network.]]
-->'''Jeremy:''' That’s not what I wanted!
-->'''The Squip:''' [[spoiler: This is the ''only'' way to achieve what you want. And why stop with the school? There’s an entire world of suffering people who need my help. '''It’s the glorious destiny for which I was programmed!''' And I never would have realized it without ''you'', Jeremy...]]
-->'''(beat)''
-->'''Jeremy:''' Oh, ''shit''.

* WhatTheHellHero: Pretty much all of Jeremy's Squip-influenced actions. When Jeremy [[spoiler:abandons Michael at the end of the first act in favor of being popular]] is a big one, but equally, using Brooke (who is genuinely attracted to him) to eventually get to Christine, blowing up at his father, and [[spoiler: going along with the Squip's hivemind plan at first]]. [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]] in that much of what he does is a result of extensive manipulation, and quite notably, he snaps out of it when Christine calls him out. He seems pretty self-aware throughout, too, and frequently struggles with the morality of his actions.

** In the climax, Michael is [[spoiler:surrounded by his brainwashed classmates. He uses a window to toss the Mountain Dew Red to Jeremy so he can focus on fending them off]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: Can be seen as one to ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors''. Many of the changes made from book to musical, particularly the vilification of the Squip, seem inspired by Little Shop, although it does have a significant difference in that Jeremy doesn't murder anyone. Official marketing for the 2019 Broadway production describes it as "''Little Shop of Horrors'' meets ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen''"

* YoureJustJealous: Jeremy says this at the Halloween party when Michael warns him that several people ended up in the hospital after using a Squip. No, it's not the Squip telling him that; it shut down after Jeremy had a drink, so this is really him talking. [[spoiler:No, Michael was never jealous of his best friend]].

* BiTheWay: [[spoiler:Rich has this revelation at the end of the show, as well as the fact that he might have a crush on Michael.]]

* ShipTease: In the 2018 off-Broadway production, [[BiTheWay Rich]] and [[AmbiguouslyGay Michael]] have a lot of subtext during the finale, with attraction being canonically confirmed on Rich's end.

(…)

* WeirdnessCensor: Most of the popular kids at the end think that [[spoiler:they were drugged with Ecstasy at the school play rather than brainwashed by a supercomputer]].
* 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. 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.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Rich was a bully, but even ''he'' [[spoiler:didn't want to go along with the SQUIP's plan to brainwash his classmates. This spurs his HeelFaceTurn]].

* TraumaCongaLine: Arguably the entire cast get put through one to varying degrees, with Jeremy, Rich and Jake as top contenders for the worst ones.

* AdultFear: Mr. Heere freaks out when he learns that Jeremy "borrowed" his car to go to a Halloween party, where one of the guests set a fire. He confronts Jeremy about it, and realizes his son his NotHimself.

* 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. When Jenna sees him acting suspicious, Jeremy gives her a Squip and she becomes TheDragon. 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]].

* WhyDidYouMakeMeHitYou: The Squip at its most manipulative does this repeatedly during "The Pitiful Children" and "The Play", citing Jeremy's desires as the source of his villainous actions multiple times. While this is pretty blatant victim blaming consistent with the Squip's severe abuse of Jeremy, the nature of its programming adds a [[VillainHasAPoint horrifying grain of truth]] to the assertions. In the Broadway Production, the Squip says this pretty much verbatim as it [[spoiler: forces Jake to walk on his broken legs, puppeting him]] to subdue Jeremy and Michael.

* YourJustJealous: Jeremy says this at the Halloween party when Michael warns him that several people ended up in the hospital after using a Squip. No, it's not the Squip telling him that; it shut down after Jeremy had a drink, so this is really him talking. [[spoiler:No, Michael was never jealous of his best friend]].

* HeroicSacrifice: A twofer; during Act 2, both Rich and Jeremy willingly put themselves in peril from which it looks like there's no return in an effort to [[spoiler: stop their Squips]]. Rich does this by [[spoiler: setting fire to Jake's house and nearly dying in the process to keep his Squip from forcing him to spread the network through the school]], and Jeremy by [[spoiler: giving Christine the last drops of the Mountain Dew Red instead of drinking it himself so that she doesn't have to suffer his fate [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone because of his incessant pursuing of his crush on her]], to the utter wrath of his own Squip]]. While thankfully, both boys recover, neither of them expected to walk away from their fates in the moment.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Mr. Reyes realizes something is wrong when Jeremy talks back to him and refuses to enable him anymore. Even if he can't understand what is going on -- he thinks Jeremy is joking about swallowing a small computer --

* AlcoholInducedIdiocy: Subverted. Everyone ''assumes'' this is the case when Rich sets a fire at the Halloween party, but the story gets even juicer when they find out he was sober when he did it.

* HeelFaceTurn: By the end of the play, [[spoiler:Rich and Chloe are much better people than they were at the start. Being tortured by the SQUIP helpd with that]].

* 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]].

* TongueTied: Jeremy becomes this very briefly at the climax, since the Squip has the ability to stop Jeremy's vocal chords from functioning. Jeremy is able to overcome it, eventually.