When doing a play, make sure the alternates are available or at least in the building in case something happens to a lead actor. Bonnie's alternate is MIA the one night she refuses to perform, and it's a disaster. This is why most amateur theater productions (along with some Broadway shows, like Hadestown) have the alternates as part of the ensemble - it's harder for them to not be there if they already have a part.
When making a major change in a close relationship, do it at the right time. West's breakup with Bonnie nearly ruins the play's last night, which is a huge inconvenience for everyone else involved. Meanwhile, Callie plans to have a good time at the school dance when Jesse asks her, but he ditches her to have a long talk with West about their sexualities.
Adorkable: Every child/preadolescent character, minus Bonnie.
Callie. She is a huge ball of sunshine and determination, and is awkward in the cutest way around boys she likes. Also she has a very obvious crush on both Jesse and Greg, which makes her just endearing.
Jesse. He's a nerdy male Shrinking Violet with a love of theatre and engineering, so it's kinda obvious that he'd be this trope.
Justin. He's like Callie, only far more of a Keet and an actual performer.
Matt. He's a sweet nerd who's trying way too hard to sound manly, and has a huge crush on Callie.
Liz. Callie's best friend and biggest supporter; loves sewing and wears braces and (at one point) pigtails.
Applicability: College librarian Eli Berland compares Matt's desire to appear manly in front of Callie and Jesse's struggle on his role in the play to hegemonic masculinity. Matt is more obvious, as he claims that he's too old for cute things now and telling Callie to focus less on the actors. Jesse is more subtle, as he angsts over whether or not he should sing and perform. Both, however, realize that this form of masculinity is harmful and reject it: Matt stops trying to achieve masculine authority over Callie and Jesse dresses as a woman without shame and sings on stage.
Awesome Art: Without a doubt, this is the most vibrantly colored Raina Telgemeier book yet, thanks to Gurihiru doing the color art for it. The heavy, colored shadows highlight characters and bring even greater emotion into the work, and there's even the little detail of Callie's eyebrows being yellowish-brown, as that's her natural hair color, while her hair is colored purple and pink.
Cry for the Devil: The scene where Bonnie locks herself in the janitor's closet to cry when West breaks up with her before their final performance is quite sad. The crew is sympathetic towards her while pointing out that she needs to get through Act Two because The Show Must Go On and her alternate is MIA, with Liz gently coaxing her. Even Callie feels no joy at all that Bonnie is miserable, even if she brought the breakup on herself. The sympathy vanishes, however, when Bonnie misses her cue and Jesse ends up subbing in for her as Maybelle. After the show is done, the tech crew and teachers (minus Callie and Jesse) yell at Bonnie for being selfish.
Bonnie is a bit of a bitch, but it can be pretty sad to watch her cry after being dumped and having the entire theatre troupe - including a teacher - yell at her for being too upset to perform act two. Keep in mind, she was upset that her boyfriend broke up with her right before her part in a play, and she ran off crying in the janitors' closet.
Matt can be pompous and isn't always the best friend he can be to Callie... but he legitimately likes Callie and all his friends, and is in the shadow of his cooler, more athletic older brother, who he also views as competition for Callie's attention. Callie forgives him when she finds out that Greg kissed her to spite Matt, and tells him there are no hard feelings because Greg and Bonnie like to cause drama.
Just Here for Godzilla: Many readers are only interested in the gay characters, even though they make up a fraction of the actual novel.
Les Yay: Liz is surprisingly affectionate with Callie, cuddling with her more than once. She even whoops at the opportunity to go to her house, despite generally being fairly quiet compared to the other theatre kids.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Mr. Mendocino, Justin's and Jesse's father, only shows up for one scene and never appears again, despite being part of the reason that Justin and Jesse are uncomfortable about coming out to people outside of their close circle of friends.
While there are many POC and a few openly LGBT characters, at least one reviewer has lamented that the story is from the perspective of a straight, white cisgender middle-class girl (though they do praise Callie for being a three-dimensional, well-written character).
Justin worries that his father would be angry if he came out as gay. Yet, after the bookstore scene, we never see Mr. Mendocino again. Wouldn't it have been great to see his reaction to Jesse kissing West on stage - especially since Jesse also dressed in drag and sang a girl's role?
The characters never question that the play they are putting on (which appears to be a riff on Gone with the Wind) technically romanticizes Reconstruction-era South. Considering Telgemeier's attempts to create an inclusive cast and story, this would've been a great discussion of racism, even if some of it would go over the heads of the target audience.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Bonnie. While Bonnie can be rude and a bit full of herself, she's still dealing with a lot. She's angry with Greg for constantly breaking up with her and hanging out with Callie (who flat-out kisses him at one point), and when she tries to date another boy, he breaks up with her (granted, it's because she asked Jesse to cheat for her, but still) right before she has to be in the play. She very understandably runs off crying at the end of the scene, but when we see her next, the rest of the theater crew is yelling at her - and that's the last we see of her.
Matt is more obvious, as he claims that he's too old for cute things now and telling Callie to focus less on the actors. Jesse is more subtle, as he angsts over whether or not he should sing and perform. Both, however, realize that this form of masculinity is harmful and reject it: Matt stops trying to achieve masculine authority over Callie and Jesse dresses as a woman without shame and sings on stage.