PODCAST:

Live Arts presents its Teen Summer Musical “Be More Chill,” opening July 9th and running until the 26th.

TRANSCRIPT:

Stella Shoemaker:
You are listening to WTJU Charlottesville. For Arts This Week we spoke with Daniel Kunkel.

Daniel Kunkel:
My name is Daniel Kunkel. I am the director of the Live Arts Teen Summer Musical Be More Chill. I also work at Live Arts as the Education Director and currently as our interim artistic director.

Stella Shoemaker:
Perfect. Thank you, Daniel, for joining me today.

Daniel Kunkel:
Thank you for having me.

Stella Shoemaker:
So, first, can you tell us more about Be More Chill?

Daniel Kunkel:
Be More Chill is a very relevant show to our current day and age, and it is about a group of high schoolers in New Jersey. One of them, in particular, Jeremy, comes into contact with this thing called the Squip, and the Squip is a pill that you take, a super computer, and the Squip will help you accomplish your goal. And for Jeremy, his particular goal is to be cooler, and he is corrected by the Squip to be more chill. The way we’re kind of framing it is like 13 and plus, there’s some adult language, there is some content that is very high school and older oriented. I like to say. It is a very funny show, which was kind of my favorite part, while not shying away from talking about the influences of technology, a little bit of social media, and then obviously for us, when we were talking about doing this, we were like, well, we could do a show about AI that feels pretty relevant, and kind of a cool opportunity for both us and, more importantly, for the cast to talk about this, and how is it impacting their lives, as most of them are in high school or early college, and are having to figure out how to grow and learn with all these outside influences.

Stella Shoemaker:
Next, I want to ask Daniel, you recently completed your master’s in social work. Where do you see the overlap as a theater maker and educator?

Daniel Kunkel:
Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere. A lot of kids and adults who are drawn to the arts, most people have had something happen in their life that is tough, and the vast majority of people come to this because they want to be able to tell a story, not necessarily their story always, but because they want to tell some sort of story. It is how they make sense of the world. It is how most of us make sense of the world, is by telling stories. With this show in particular, I would say it’s been a goal of myself, of Abby Smith, our music director, and Liberty DeLeon, our choreographer, of we wanted this to be a place of joy and exploration, while being able to talk about, like, the scariness of the world right now. This cast, in particular, man, has really reminded me how exciting it is to watch people just love doing this, and that joy just keeps coming through on stage. And when people see this show, they’re gonna see a group of people who really trust and really have grown to respect each other.

Stella Shoemaker:
Lastly, what do you hope audiences will take with them after seeing the show?

Daniel Kunkel:
On a surface level, he’ll be leaving the show recognizing how talented young people can be when they are given proper support. These are some of the hardest working, the some of the dancing they do alone, to say nothing of the fact that they’re dancing while doing five part harmonies, while having to remember another hour of a show, right? To say nothing of that. So, I hope, first of all, like surface level, I hope you believe feeling that. Second of all, with this show in particular, again thinking differently about younger people, and the fact that they are able to talk about these topics in really complicated, nuanced ways. I hope people leave thinking about the world they’re going out into, and I think that’s the really nice end point that we reach with this story, is this like recognition of like I have all these different influences in my life, some of them my friends, my parents, social media, the internet, and it’s really important to remember that the most important voice in my life is my own. I have to make this choice at the end of the day. If people can leave thinking about that, particularly older folks thinking about younger people they know, and that, like, that’s how they feel too. And also, wow, they’re great. Holy cow, these guys know what they’re doing. I hope people will come and see it. I hope they will love what so many members of this community have put together.

Stella Shoemaker:
Live Arts is on the downtown mall, right across from the Water Street parking deck. Be Moore Chill opens tomorrow, July 9, and closes after three weeks on July 26. Information about tickets, parking, and Live Arts’ 434 initiative is at livearts.org. Arts This Week is supported by the UVA Arts Council and Piedmont Virginia Community College PVCC Arts presents a rich array of dance, music, theater, and visual arts programming. Learn more at pvcc.edu. For WTJU, I’m Stella Shoemaker.