San Luis Obispo High School will soon be seeing the appearance of musical “Be More Chill” on campus, with showtimes for the play starting December 12 and going through December 15.

  The entire cast is very excited about the musical, with it being the first major play of the year, but the concept of the musical itself makes the play an exceptionally promising show.

  “‘Be More Chill’ is about a boy who goes to very extreme lengths to become cool and ends up with his actions having extreme repercussions,” said senior Lane Stephens who is playing Michael Mell, one of the main characters.

  “It’s basically about a teenager who takes a pill to make him cool. He takes the pill and he is able to talk to this supercomputer guy in his head called the Squip, and that guy helps guide him through high school and helps him make the right decisions to ‘more than survive.’ But as he begins to listen to the Squip, he finds that being ‘cool’ is a lot harder than he had anticipated,” said sophomore Evan Clausen who is cast as the main character, Jeremy.

  The plot is one that a large margin of high school students can relate to while still taking twists and turns to make it a sufficiently enthralling show. Even more compelling than this, however, is the musical’s relatively new appearance to the professional stage.

  “I think a pretty cool thing is that we’re doing the musical before it comes out on Broadway. People actually get to experience the musical at our school before others get to see it,” said director senior Ella Livingston.

  Cast members and those involved with the musical are very excited about the uniqueness of the new play, with the rehearsals beginning this week.

  “It’s a sci-fi musical, which is a relatively new genre to musicals. It doesn’t have traditional musical-type music; the background sound is video game music almost. It’s new and fun and the story is so unique. You’re not going to find another musical like it,” said Stephens.
“I think this show will be cool because it’s a lot more modern than a lot of the shows we’ve done before, and I’m interested to see how that plays out on stage. I’m excited to try playing a lead, since this will be my first time having a role this big. I’ve played mostly supporting roles so far, but never a character this important to the plot,” said Clausen.

  “Be More Chill” takes such an unconventional approach both in its depiction of the high school experience and in its diversion from the characteristics of traditional musical songs, it will certainly be a worthwhile viewing experience.