The BIG Chill

Spotlight

"Mean Girls meetsThe Matrix" is how a cast member from the initial run of Be More Chill described the musical in 2015. Today, lead actor Will Roland likes to call it "Little Shop of Horrors meets Ready Player One. " Based on a novel by Ned Vizzini, the musical, which opens on Broadway in March, follows a socially awkward teenager (Roland) who takes a pill that implants a super-computer life coach (played by Jason Tam) in his brain.

Given the tech-infused plot— with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis, and a book by Joe Tracz—the show's path to Broadway seems appropriate. After a two-month New Jersey debut four years ago, the show's prospects looked dim. But, in a modern-day twist, the cast album gained a fervent online following. The viral buzz propelled the show to Off Broadway last summer, for a sold-out run before its first performance, with fans in costume making pilgrimages from across the country. And there's already a movie in the works.

To say this is out of the ordinary for the musical-theater world is an understatement. "I, with all my heart, never thought that we would get to Broadway," Iconis says.

"The fact that we did, in the way that we did, has given me faith that anything is possible."

JOSH DUBOFF