As Will Roland plays to sold-out audiences at Off-Broadway鈥檚 Signature Center, he needs to bring his A game to answer to the shrieking fans of Be More Chill. To boost his energy, Roland (Dear Evan Hansen) relies on a carefully curated playlist that he shares with us for this week鈥檚 半岛体育 Mixtape.
Read: HOW BE MORE CHILL鈥橲 UNPRECEDENTED INTERNET FANDOM LED IT TO A HIT NEW YORK RUN
Roland plays Jeremy Heere, the awkward teen who swallows a super-computer to elevate his social status and 鈥渂e more chill鈥� at the center of the musical with a book by Joe Tracz and a score by Joe Iconis.
鈥淭his is a playlist that combines my personal pump-up jams, music that inspires my performance as Jeremy, and music that gets me in the feel of Be More Chill in general,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t kicks off with 鈥楽kid Row鈥� [from Little Shop of Horrors] because if Jeremy isn't a millennial Seymour, then what is he?
鈥淭hen we've got 鈥楯ump,鈥� which feels, to me, like the primary sonic influence for [Be More Chill鈥檚] 鈥楲oser Geek Whatever,鈥欌� Roland continues. 鈥淪kee-Lo, Grace McLean, and some Joe Iconis tunes give us classic themes of secret and unrequited love,鈥� which works well to adopt the mindset of Jeremy鈥檚 crush on Christine Canigula.
Then there are melodies Roland simply likes to listen to and sing. 鈥淚 love the lyrical voice of all of Jonathan Coulton's work, but I especially love 鈥楾he Future Soon,鈥� which has always been the opener of my cabaret act, LoserSongs. We also get some classic hip-hop from The Sugarhill Gang, which I imagine is a band that Michael introduced to Jeremy. Nobody writes flawed protagonists like Kanye West, so we'd be remiss to not have something from 808s & Heartbreak on here.
鈥淚t wraps up with some rising action provided by Weezer, David Bowie, and A-Ha, mixed in with more Jonathan Coulton, Little Shop, and 鈥楥omfort and Joy,鈥� from Bat Boy, which is truly one of the greatest Act I finales ever written. The playlist closes out with 鈥楥ome Sail Away,鈥� which will always be my favorite epic 鈥�80s rock anthem odyssey.鈥�
Together, the soundtrack fuels Roland鈥檚 performance eight shows a week. So make like a SQUIP and get into Jeremy鈥檚 head with this week鈥檚 半岛体育 Mixtape.
Remember to for all your ear-candy needs and celebrity soundtracks:
WILL ROLAND鈥橲 PRE-SHOW PLAYLIST:
