美国国家公共电台 NPR Broadway Is About To 'Be More Chill'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

When the teen musical "Be More Chill¹" opened in New Jersey² a few years ago, it got a ho-hum critical response. But then something surprising happened. The cast recording³ and some YouTube videos went viral. Next came fan art, fan fiction and fan song covers on social media. By the time the show opened off-Broadway last month, it had sold out entirely⁴. As Jeff Lunden reports, this sleeper⁵ hit is now headed to Broadway.

JEFF LUNDEN, BYLINE⁶: The premise⁷ of "Be More Chill" is simple. What if you were a high-school student who was unpopular, and you could take a pill, which is actually a tiny computer called a Squip, to make you popular, be more chill?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "THE SQUIP SONG")

GERARD CANONICO: (As Rich Goranski, singing) It's from Japan. It's a gray, oblong pill. Quantum nano-technology...

LUNDEN: It's a cautionary tale. But, really, what teenager hasn't wished for something like that?

CARLY HEITNER: It is a high-school story that I think - obviously, being 19, it's super-easy to relate to everything in the show.

LUNDEN: Carly Heitner of Long Island just started her sophomore⁸ year in college. But she discovered "Be More Chill" when she was in high school and now follows and posts about the show on social media.

HEITNER: There's a little bit of anxiety, like, in everybody in the show. And, like, it's so common today to have those feelings. This is just so relatable. It really is.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MORE THAN SURVIVE")

WILL CONNOLLY: (As Jeremy Heere, singing) Because I don't want to be special. No, no. I just want to survive.

LUNDEN: That teenagers find "Be More Chill" relatable is what convinced Gerald Goehring to produce it - that and the astonishing stats of how many streams the cast album has received.

GERALD GOEHRING: Now we're well over 160 million streams. How do you plan this? How do you market to this? You don't.

LUNDEN: In fact, Goehring says the off-Broadway run sold out without a penny of traditional advertising⁹, just a social media presence. To try and capture the "Be More Chill" phenomenon, I went to see the show with superfan Carly Heitner. She chatted with other fans in the lobby¹⁰ before the show.

HEITNER: So obviously, the show is huge on social media. Have you been a part of that?

JULIA KESACK: Yeah. I've tweeted about it. I'm definitely going to post about it on Instagram after I see it.

HEITNER: Who's your favorite character in the show?

DYLAN SKLAR: Probably Michael - I'm wearing the shirt Michael wears during the Halloween scene when he sings "Michael In The Bathroom."

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "MICHAEL IN THE BATHROOM")

GEORGE SALAZAR: (As Michael Mell, singing) I am hanging in the bathroom at the biggest party of the fall. I could stay right here or disappear and nobody'd even notice at all.

CARLY ANNE PURCELL: It's just one of my favorite numbers in the show. Like, I've seen a few bootlegs of the original production online. And I can heavily relate to Michael being someone who isn't all that social and gets uncomfortable at parties, like, in group events.

LUNDEN: That's Julia Kesack from Philadelphia, Dylan Sklar from Long Island and Carly Anne Purcell from New Jersey. Joe Iconis wrote the score for "Be More Chill." He says he's overwhelmed¹¹ by the fan culture.

JOE ICONIS: I've gotten so many gifts, all of which I keep. Like, one of the coolest things to me is the idea of people making art based on my art. So, like, every, like, picture that people make or story that they write or - I mean, I've gotten multiple bobbleheads.

LUNDEN: A big part of the fan experience happens after the show. Many of them stand in a long line by the stage door to get autographs and selfies with cast members and give them fan art. Thirteen-year-old Carly Anne Purcell was trembling as she spoke¹² to Carly Heitner.

PURCELL: I'm sorry. I'm freaking out.

HEITNER: No, it's a totally normal reaction. It's an amazing show.

PURCELL: Yeah. The lighting¹³ and the sound is actually really - like more than any other Broadway show I've seen. I've seen "Hamilton." And still, the sound and the lighting and all the effects did not compare to that. It just couldn't.

KATLYN CARLSON: I mean, this was me for "Rent" back in the day.

LUNDEN: Actress Katlyn Carlson has been with the show since it premiered in New Jersey three years ago.

CARLSON: It's incredibly special and fortunate and rare to be part of something that means so much to so many people. It's kind of mind-blowing.

LUNDEN: And, of course, Carly Heitner got photos and autographs from all the cast members she met and posted them on Twitter.

HEITNER: It's not just the show. The show is amazing. But it's the social media outpour. It's the cast members connecting with the fans and reaching out to them and actually caring about them. And I think that's what makes the community of "Be More Chill" what it is and why it's such a special show.

LUNDEN: "Be More Chill" will be moving to Broadway this winter. And its enthusiastic, young community is sure to follow. For NPR News, I'm Jeff Lunden in New York.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BE MORE CHILL")

CONNOLLY: (As Jeremy Heere) Be more chill - I mean, chill. Be more chill.

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (As characters, singing) Be more chill.

1 chill   

vt.使变冷，使冷却，使沮丧；n.寒冷，风寒

参考例句：

• With the chill factor,it's nearly minus forty here.加上风寒指数，气温接近零下40度。
• The bad news cast a chill over the whole family.这坏消息使全家人感到沮丧。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

8 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

9 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

10 lobby   

n.前厅，（剧院的）门廊

参考例句：

• As he walked through the lobby,he skirted a group of ladies.他穿过门厅时，绕过了一群女士。
• The delegates entered the assembly hall by way of the lobby.代表们通过大厅进入会场。

11 overwhelmed   

[ overwhelm ]的过去式

参考例句：

• She was overwhelmed by feelings of guilt. 她感到愧疚难当。
• If (one was) overwhelmed by passion, it could lead to serious blunders. 当感情完全淹没理智时，就可能铸成大错。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。