A version of this review of “Be More Chill” was first published for the Off Broadway version of the production in August 2018.
How can 150 million streams of a cast album be wrong? After a short run in New Jersey three years ago, the new musical “Be More Chill” has achieved widespread fame on the internet, stoked by a few concert performances at the Manhattan cabaret 54 Below.
A fully staged production now arrives on Broadway after an Off Broadway premiere last summer where young audiences squealed in delight at the introduction of every character, as if he or she were Queen Elsa or SpongeBob.