Be More Chill will play its final performance at the Lyceum Theatre on Sunday, August 11, following 30 previews and 177 performances.
Following Thursday night's performance, the show’s Tony Award-nominated composer Joe Iconis took the stage to announce the news which can be seen in the video above.
Be More Chill debuted at the Two River Theater on May 30, 2015. That fall, Ghostlight Records released the Be More Chill (Original Cast Recording); by 2017, it had become clear that fans young and old from across the globe were connecting deeply with the show through Joe Iconis’s now Tony Award-nominated score.
Joe Iconis said, “Be More Chill has never followed a conventional path. It’s a musical that has subverted expectations and caused a ruckus every step of the way. I’m beyond proud that our little underdog musical played for the better part of a year in New York City, and that half of that year was spent on Broadway. Having a show I care about play Broadway has been a dream of mine since I was a child. Do I wish we could’ve beaten the odds and played 45thstreet for five years? Yes. Am I aware that by making it to Broadway in the first place, we already beat the odds? Oh hell yes. In the last year I have been told by countless young people that our musical was their first experience in a theater. Our little musical not based on a brand, featuring original showtunes and a cast who reflect the world we live in has introduced so many young people to the theater and for that I am so beyond grateful. The support we’ve received from titans of the industry, from traditional theatergoers, and from people who never knew they liked musicals before hearing “Michael in the Bathroom” has been the most remarkable thing. Be More Chillgetting to Broadway was the culmination of thirteen years of very hard work and I feel such immense gratitude to everyone who has supported my stuff, both onstage and off, from the beginning.”
How do you feel about the news of Be More Chill's closing?