The original Broadway producers of “Be More Chill,” the Broadway musical known for its fervent young fan base and colossal social-media following, are bringing their show to Chicago in the spring for a long engagement.
The show, which features the hugely popular numbers “Michael in the Bathroom” and “More Than Survive” will open at the Apollo Theater on Chicago’s North Side on April 26, with previews beginning April 17. Tickets go on sale Friday. The sci-fi, teen-friendly plot involves a kid who swallows a kind of supercomputer superpill, hoping it will make him more popular. The 2019 musical was adapted from a young adult novel penned by Ned Vizzini.
Well known to most high-school students, “Michael in the Bathroom,” a powerful ballad of teen angst and survivorship, has been streamed more than 31 million times and has more than 8 million views on YouTube; the producers say that songs from the show, a score that includes the title number, have been streamed more than 318 million times.
In an interview in New York, the Broadway producer Jerry Goehring said that the creative team of writer Joe Tracz, composer Joe Iconis and director Stephen Brackett will extensively rework and restage the show, which was a big hit off-Broadway. “Be More Chill” ran for 6 months on Broadway but, to the annoyance of its vocal fans, failed to fully win over most critics, and did not recoup its investment. It closed on Broadway in August.
Goehring said he had heeded the reviews and now was hoping to make the title a far more intimate and truthful musical experience, attracting teens and adults alike. The experiment will begin in London in early 2020 and then move to Chicago, which will be the only North American city where “Be More Chill” can be seen at this level, at least in the near future.
The show, Goehring said, will make every effort to find its actors in Chicago. Broadway in Chicago is not presenting the show, a rarity for recent Broadway productions; Goehring and his investors are going it alone with “Be More Chill.”
Initially, seats will be on sale at the Apollo, 2540 N. Lincoln Ave., through Aug. 23 and the end of the high-school summer vacation period, but Goehring said he had acquired a long-term lease on the Apollo, where “Million Dollar Quartet” ran for years.
Tickets ($35-$125) on sale 10 a.m. Dec. 13 at the Apollo box office, by phone at 773-935-6100 and online at www.ticketmaster.com.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
