Stage Left Theater’s ‘Be More Chill’ is by weirdos, for weirdos

If you could go back, would you re-do your high school years?

Maybe you were the jock or head cheerleader. Another go-round of what so many claim to be the best four years of your life wouldn’t be so bad, would it? But if you weren’t a member of the “in” crowd, if you were shy or just a little weird, then it’s not likely a time you want to revisit.

But what if you could re-do high school with the help of something that could boost your confidence and, therefore, your popularity. Would you do it? Is all that glitters really gold?

In Stage Left Theater’s “Be More Chill,” nerdy high school junior Jeremy Heere (Jean Williams), who lives with his father (David Olson, who also plays Mr. Reyes and a stockboy), wonders if someone can help him become more popular after one of the cool kids, Rich Goranski (Felix Lewis), bullies him.

Jeremy’s best friend Michael Mell (Tate Repp) tries to cheer Jeremy up by telling him that it’s OK to be a loser.

Later, Jeremy’s crush Christine Canigula (Jaz Vega) signs up for the school play, which inspires Jeremy to do the same. During the first rehearsal, a student named Jake Dillinger (Tori Diana) flirts with Christine, making Jeremy jealous.

He’s later bullied in the bathroom by Rich, who tells Jeremy he became popular after taking a SQUIP, or a Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor, which contains a computer that implanted into his brain and tells him what to do.

Though reluctant, Jeremy eventually checks out the SQUIP, and he and Michael visit a SQUIP dealer at a Payless ShoeSource in the mall. Jeremy has a bad reaction to the SQUIP (Koa Nemo) after its activation, but the SQUIP quickly gets to work, criticizing Jeremy’s appearance and personality.

Jeremy runs into popular girls Chloe Valentine (Jenna Majeskey) and Brooke Lohst (Emma Dennis), though he declines their offer of a ride home, against the SQUIP’s wishes. The SQUIP later tells Jeremy if he wants to be popular, he has to listen to every order it gives.

As he gets used to the confidence and changes in social standing, Jeremy must decide if he’s really made the right choice.

“Be More Chill” also stars Hel Larreau as Jenna Rolan. The musical is directed by Holland Jones, assistant directed by Stephen Lloyd and music directed by Cedric Bidwell Williams.

James Moss Landsiedel is the technical director, Dana Sammond is the choreographer and Preston Loomer is the stage manager.

“Be More Chill” features music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and a book by Joe Tracz. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Ned Vizzini. The musical runs through March 1.

After leading a sold-out run of “Ride the Cycle” at Stage Left, the theater’s creative team asked Jones if they wanted to direct “Be More Chill.” They were immediately on board.

“I like unpolished stuff,” they said. “I like anthems for the weirdos. … I was the weirdo in high school, so I got really excited to do it, and everything’s coming out the way that I wanted.”

Jones, Williams and Nemo all fell in love with “Be More Chill” after hearing a song from the Off-Broadway cast album while in high school.

For Jones, it was “The SQUIP Song” at a time when everyone else was head over heels for “Hamilton.” Williams caught the “Be More Chill” bug after hearing “The Pitiful Children,” and added the show to the list of their top musicals alongside “Ride the Cyclone” and “Heathers.”

Nemo too fell in love with the Off-Broadway recording, especially connecting with songs the character Michael sings.

“I was a weird, awkward high school dork,” Nemo said. “I was like, ‘This is cool to be weird. I like my weird, little musical.’ ”

The musical, which premiered in 2015, features a pop-rock soundtrack alongside sci-fi-inspired sound effects. The script leaves it up to each production team to determine what sound effect should accompany a LASIK eye surgery, for example.

“Be More Chill” marks not only Nemo’s first villainous role but also the “biggest and most daunting role” she’s had. A self-proclaimed weird kid in high school and a weird person now, Nemo learned to be “cool incarnate” while playing the SQUIP.

“I’m this ideal Jeremy has in their mind of what cool is, and it’s really fun to take up space and be that side of myself, that ‘I’m weird, but I’m also cool,’ ” she said. “It’s tapping into different things that I guess I don’t put on the forefront often.”

Williams, who originally planned on stage managing the show until their friends convinced them to audition, had the opposite experience. While in high school, Williams was confident in their own coolness and didn’t care what anyone else thought, so bringing Jeremy’s anxiety to the stage was a challenge.

“To play a character that deeply cares and worries and has active anxiety about what other people think is harder, because then I have to care about what other people think, and I have to find a way that puts that in my body and holds it there, because I have a very static pose when I’m normally me,” Williams said. “Finding the right moments to hold the right type of anxiety and then other times where I have to look confident and remember to hold that confidence is a lot.”

As a director, Jones doesn’t like telling actors what to do when it comes to emotional moments, though they’ve found the cast clicked from the start and were able to develop backstories for their characters that drive those emotional moments.

“We’re all weirdos,” said Jones, adding that a lot of the cast bends gender, “and I think either all of us were really confident or we were possibly bullied or made to feel that we’re weird and pointed out that we’re weird a lot.”

“Be More Chill” blends your average high school experience with more futuristic elements, like the SQUIP. In the musical’s script, the setting is said to be “Now,” giving Jones and the creative team freedom in deciding the look of the show.

Costume-wise, Jones chose to go with a nostalgic ‘90s feel. Set-wise, things are fairly standard, with lockers, a section that spins out as the Payless at one point in the show, a bathroom in another. There is space for Jeremy’s bed and the house party he throws in the second act.

Though, yes, SQUIP technology doesn’t exist, there is an always relevant feel to “Be More Chill,” at least as long as high-schoolers have moments of self-doubt or dreams for a different place in society.

And each high-schooler in this show, Williams said, is going through something.

“This show is not a watch-one-time show,” they said. “You’re going to watch it first and probably pay attention to the main people, but people should come back and pay attention to a different character every time, because everybody tells a very unique story, and you can follow along to everybody’s character arc through the entire show.”

“Be More Chill” is a show for weirdos, by weirdos, a sentiment that comes out while the trio talks about the “powerhouse” cast and crew.

“It’s the people that always deserve, in my opinion, the leads and never got them,” Williams said. “This show is meant for the weirdos, the dorks, the not conventionally whatever you want to call it. And then we all got cast. I’m like … ‘This is going to be awesome,’ because everybody has a real, authentic piece of themselves to bring to this.”