Be More Chill: Broadway to West End

You've seen Page to Screen, you've seen Screen to Screen, now it's time for Stage to Stage! Specifically, Be More Chill, the musical sensation nobody is talking about.

Be More Chill: Broadway to West End

My standard bathroom selfie

So, if you remember my series on New York, you'll remember that I went to see Be More Chill on Broadway, and I loved it. While in London to get tattooed, I decided to take a detour out of Victoria Station, and decided to head to The Other Palace theatre to see if I could bag a cheeky last minute ticket for their production of Be More Chill. It happened to be literally the second preview when I went, and I manage to grab an excellent seat for the low low price of £35 (I don't even want to think about how much I paid for my adequate Broadway seat). I really wanted to see it in the West End, but had resigned myself to saying that I saw it on Broadway and nothing could live up to that. I was very wrong about that. I LOVED this production. For starters I wanted to see it as there's nothing quite like comparing two excellent productions of the same show (see my experience with Falsettos). There's only three shows now that I've seen more than once (Everybody's Talking about Jamie, Waitress, and now Be More Chill), but this is the only musical I've seen two entirely separate productions of live. 

I have a lot of thoughts about this version, some comparisons, and a lot of praise. First off, I want to give kudos for the amazing use of space.

My view of the stage at The Other Palace

The Other Palace has a very small stage and a tiny auditorium compared to all the West End theatres we know and love, and the production used very little set and props; just simple necessities like a desk and a bench and beanbag chairs. Of course the Broadway version had as much set as they needed, like bleachers for example, in the Upgrade sequence. For this scene, requiring such large scenery, there was a projection of a high school football field and bleachers, while the actors sat on the floor instead of the benches. This is the way they got around all of the large set problems, and I have to say, it worked incredibly well. Not only did it mean there wasn't loads of heavy set being moved around the small stage, but also it added a little something to the show, with the presence of technology so integral to the performance. And, of course, they had the bathtub, because what would Michael in the Bathroom be without it?? 

I also want to talk about the similarities, specifically the costumes and choreography. It seemed like a genuine mini version of the Broadway show, with the actors dressed more or less identically and the doing the exact same movements. I guess that's normal, and having never seen the original Two River production, I'd assume these aspects were also the same. It did feel extremely close to the version I saw, just, like I said, smaller physically. Obviously Joe Iconis was involved in this production so he must have overseen these elements personally. 

The acting and singing were, naturally, more or less perfect. Obviously nothing can compare to George Salazar, and admittedly I've never heard anyone else perform Michael in the Bathroom, but by god Blake Patrick Anderson could sing.

Me and Anderson

Speaking to him after the show I mentioned George Salazar's iconic performance, and he agreed that he had huge shoes to fill, and I honestly think he did an excellent job. While he was very clearly mimicking Salazar in his performance, it worked, and since it was only the second preview I totally understand that this is where his characterisation was starting, and by the end of the run he might have made it more his role - since, as stated, Salazar is the only person to have played the role in the past. I really really enjoyed the cast as a whole; Scott Folan, who played Jeremy, was fantastic and very convincing, and when Will Roland sees the show I'm sure he'll love the portrayal (he also said Roland followed him on Twitter which, in my opinion, is a fantastic thing to happen to him)!

Me and Folan

If you read my New York post, you'll remember how blown away I was by Stephanie Hsu and her performance as Christine, and Miracle Chance, who played the role in this production was just as enthusiastic and also has a fantastic voice.

Me and Chance

I cannot compliment this cast enough. 

I do want to talk about some of the major differences between the productions, and while there were few, they were noticable. For example, the character of Madeline was completely omitted: none of her story was included in this version, whether it was to simplify the show a bit or just because Madeline was a minor character that they didn't feel was needed. It still worked, but I was a little bit thrown off the change of line in Be More Chill (Part 1) that didn't mention her. The only other major lyrical difference I noticed was about Christine's Squip. In the Broadway production, she said her Squip appeared to her as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, whereas our Christine's Squip was Greta Thunberg. This received a huge laugh, as I think it was more accessible to a British audience, as well as being a bit more relevant in the current climate. I thought this was a nice touch and a surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed.

There were numerous details in this production that were either new or that I was sat too far away to notice on Broadway, the first one of which I noticed was Rich's tattoos. The resident bad boy, Rich's arms have many random tattoos on them, and in this small theatre I managed to see exactly what they were, and boy were they funny: the number 69, the Joker, the Left Shark (who remembers that classic meme):

For those that don't remember

and, last but not least, Pickle Rick. When the audience noticed Pickle Rick, there were waves of laughter going around and it was hysterical. The other small detail I didn't notice before was Michael's socks. As a stoner, his socks were green with marijuana leaves on them. It's small details like this that I love about intimate theatre experiences like this one: these specifics may have been present on Broadway, but I was sat too far away from the stage to appreciate them.

The other detail I loved was the Squip's costume - as he gained power, his costume became more and more elaborate, and it was a little thing that made a lot of difference to the show as a whole. Plus it was really funny, and Stewart Clarke did an amazing job in the role. He was very convicing and really played to his strengths with the physical comedy of the costume. 

The show was overall amazing, and there were clearly a lot of people in the audience who were obviously not familiar with the material, as there were rippled laughs at particular lyrics of which I am used to the comedy.

Finally, I want to say a massive congratulations to all the cast and crew of the show, for putting on such an incredible production with so little space and time, and, as one of the few people who have seen both the Broadway and West End versions, I have to say that this production was spectacular and definitely lives up to the original. The run ends on May 3rd, so go and see it while you still can!

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