40 Fun Facts About Be More Chill

In Be More Chill, which soft drink must Jeremy swallow with his SQUIP pill to switch the computer on?

Mountain Dew activates the SQUIP, and the drink's discontinued red version shuts it down. That detail is how Jeremy finally frees his classmates during the school play.

In the novel Be More Chill, the SQUIP first speaks inside Jeremy's head in which movie star's voice?

Keanu Reeves is the SQUIP's default voice. Jeremy asks for Brad Pitt instead, only to be told that Sony couldn't get the rights.

Be More Chill's drama teacher rewrites which Shakespeare comedy as a post-apocalyptic zombie play?

A Midsummer Night's Dream becomes A Midsummer Nightmare (About Zombies) in Mr. Reyes's hands. Jeremy only signs up because his crush Christine has joined the cast.

In Be More Chill, what does SQUIP, the name of the pill Jeremy swallows, stand for?

Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor is the full name. Rich sells Jeremy on it in song as a gray, oblong pill that implants in the brain and tells its user what to do.

In her first Be More Chill solo, which activity does Christine say she loves so much she cries with happiness?

Play rehearsal is where Christine feels safest, because there she has directions and a script and always knows what comes next. She admits she gets depressed as soon as it ends.

In 'Michael in the Bathroom' from Be More Chill, a drunk girl outside the door sings along to whom?

Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance with Somebody drifts through the door, and it stings: Michael realises he has nobody left to make fun of drunk girls with.

In Be More Chill's 'Two-Player Game', where does Michael promise Jeremy that guys like them are cool?

In college, Michael insists, their taste for out-of-print games and retro skates will finally be appreciated. Jeremy's answer is that they are not there yet.

Which songwriter earned a Tony nomination for writing the music and lyrics of Be More Chill?

Joe Iconis wrote the score, and the show is a family affair: he is married to Lauren Marcus, who played popular girl Brooke from the 2015 premiere through Broadway.

Will Roland, Jeremy in Be More Chill on Broadway, first played Jared Kleinman in which hit musical?

Dear Evan Hansen brought Will Roland a Grammy. Years earlier, at Be More Chill's first reading in 2013, he had read the part of Michael, not Jeremy.

Which Be More Chill star, the original Christine, later earned an Oscar nomination as Jobu Tupaki?

Stephanie Hsu played Christine from the 2015 premiere through Broadway, then broke out in Everything Everywhere All at Once. She also created Karen the Computer in the SpongeBob musical.

In 'The SQUIP Song' from Be More Chill, Rich says the gray, oblong pill comes from which country?

Japan is its origin, Rich claims, pitching the pill as tech so secret it can't even be looked up on the internet. In the novel he got his from a dealer at a bowling alley.

In Be More Chill's 'More Than Survive', Jeremy says he'll never be Robert De Niro and settles for which actor?

Joe Pesci is the supporting player Jeremy settles for, since he would rather keep his head down than play the hero. Pesci made his name playing volatile characters alongside Robert De Niro in Raging Bull, Goodfellas and Casino.

In Be More Chill's party song 'Halloween', what do the guests sing that everybody at the party is holding?

A red Solo cup is in every hand at the unsupervised party that opens Act Two. The host's parents are away because, as he sings earlier, they laundered money and are now on the run.

In Be More Chill, what does Jeremy's recently separated father refuse to wear around the house?

Pants are the running joke about a dad who has given up. To win Michael's help in saving Jeremy, Mr. Heere finally agrees to put a pair on and be a better father.

In Be More Chill's 'A Guy That I'd Kinda Be Into', which classmate does Christine name as her crush?

Jake is the twist in the song's very last word. Jeremy spends the whole number convinced that he is the guy she is describing.

The novel Be More Chill is set in which US state, where the musical also had its world premiere?

New Jersey is home turf for the story: the novel unfolds in the town of Metuchen, and the musical was first staged at Two River Theater in Red Bank, which had commissioned it.

After Be More Chill closed in 2015, what found a huge online following and brought the show back?

Its cast album kept spreading among young listeners until it reached the top ten of Billboard's cast album chart in 2017, two years after closing night. An Off-Broadway run, then Broadway, followed.

Which author of It's Kind of a Funny Story wrote the 2004 novel that Be More Chill is based on?

Ned Vizzini published it as his first novel at 23. He died in December 2013, a year and a half before the musical's first production opened.

Which actor originated Michael Mell in Be More Chill and won a Lucille Lortel Award for the role?

George Salazar played Michael from the 2015 premiere through Broadway. As a boy he wanted to be a surgeon, and only switched to theater in his last two years of high school.

In Be More Chill, Jeremy and Michael go to the mall to buy the SQUIP from a dealer at which store?

Payless is where the dealer works in both the novel and the musical. On stage, one actor plays that scary stockboy, Jeremy's dad and the drama teacher.

In Be More Chill, the SQUIP sends Jeremy into a mall store to buy a shirt featuring which rapper?

Eminem is the SQUIP's pick. Jeremy grabs a girl's shirt instead, and the cover story the SQUIP feeds him is what first gets two popular girls talking to him.

In Be More Chill, the SQUIP mocks Jeremy's overacting at the mall by calling him which Shakespeare hero?

Hamlet is the jab, delivered in the very line that gives the show its title. The SQUIP snaps it after Jeremy hams up a story about an ex who cheated on him.

In Be More Chill's 'More Than Survive', Jeremy teases Michael for listening yet again to which musician?

Bob Marley is Michael's soundtrack as he strolls in praising the groove. He makes Jeremy wait until the track ends before asking what is wrong.

In Be More Chill's 'More Than Survive', Michael boasts that a girl at which store poured him a big serving?

7-Eleven supplied the slushie Michael pairs with a sushi lunch, and he shortens the chain's name to a rhyming nickname. The oversized serving puts him in a boastful mood.

In Be More Chill's 'Do You Wanna Ride?', Brooke offers a lift home with one catch: a stop for what?

Frozen yogurt is the catch, and Brooke even names the chain: Pinkberry. The car she is offering the ride in belongs to her mother.

In Be More Chill's 'Michael in the Bathroom', Michael imagines being mocked for riding in which car?

A PT Cruiser is the detail Michael pictures strangers sneering at as they write him off. Chrysler sold the retro-styled compact for the 2001 to 2010 model years.

In 'Two-Player Game' from Be More Chill, Michael sings of having a tattoo of which arcade character?

Pac-Man is inked on Michael, one of the retro tastes he says nobody at school appreciates. The 1980 maze game was originally titled Puck Man.

In Be More Chill's 'The Smartphone Hour', the whole school hears that Rich did what at the party's end?

Rich started a fire that burned the house down and put him in the hospital. The rumor mill then inflates the story verse by verse, until gossip has him fleeing to India and even dying.

In the musical Be More Chill, what makes Jeremy's SQUIP malfunction at the Halloween party?

Alcohol makes the SQUIP malfunction, so it drops out once Chloe gets Jeremy drinking. When he later threatens to get drunk again, the SQUIP answers that it will simply be back when he is sober.

In Be More Chill's finale 'Voices in My Head', Jeremy declares that the loudest voice is whose?

His own voice wins out, though Jeremy accepts the others will never go quiet. The SQUIP proves it by insisting once more that he can't get rid of it that easily.

Be More Chill's score lost the 2019 Tony Award for Best Original Score to which musical?

Hadestown won eight Tonys that night, including Best Musical. Be More Chill was up for the score prize alone, and its song Michael in the Bathroom reached the telecast only as a parody sung by the host.

In Be More Chill, what does the SQUIP call its trick of hiding Michael from Jeremy's field of vision?

Optic nerve blocking erased Michael from Jeremy's sight for a whole day. Offered the chance to leave it off, Jeremy chooses to turn it back on and walk away from his best friend.

In Be More Chill's 'Two-Player Game', Jeremy and Michael are stuck on Level Nine of which video game?

Apocalypse of the Damned returns in the climax: Jeremy shouts its name and level to Michael as a signal to fight through their SQUIP-controlled classmates as a team.

Christine's first solo in Be More Chill names Juliet and which Tennessee Williams heroine as past roles?

Blanche DuBois, the fading Southern belle of A Streetcar Named Desire, is an unlikely part for a high schooler. Christine proudly counts it among her finest performances.

Which song was added to Be More Chill for its 2018 Off-Broadway run and later released as a single?

Loser Geek Whatever gave Jeremy a solo to close the first act, sung as he decides to obey his SQUIP and leave Michael behind. Broadway later added one more new number, Sync Up.

In the novel Be More Chill, the SQUIP goes haywire at a party and starts speaking which language?

Spanish pours out of the SQUIP once Jeremy takes ecstasy at the party. With it scrambled, he manages a genuine talk with Christine while hiding in a bathroom.

In the novel Be More Chill, Jeremy funds his SQUIP by selling some of his aunt's what on eBay?

Beanie Babies from Aunt Linda's collection help pay for the pill. Jeremy gets at them on a visit to clean out her roof gutter.

Which theatre, New York's oldest continuously operating one, housed Be More Chill on Broadway?

The Lyceum first opened its doors in 1903. Be More Chill broke the house's seven-performance box-office record there in 2019, yet the run still closed after 177 performances.

Which Be More Chill gossip opens 'The Smartphone Hour' by phoning Chloe with news from the party?

Jenna Rolan gets a groan from Chloe the moment her name shows on the phone. The story is too good to ignore, though, and soon the whole school is texting and tweeting it.

In Be More Chill, Michael turns up to rescue Jeremy during the school play, appearing from where?

The audience is where Michael was sitting when he realised the acting was far too good for a school play. He strolls in proudly announcing his own arrival.