#and (hear me out) mike faist as andy

[doctorjennifermelfi]

i think zac efron would bring the same compelling dissipated older brother who missed his shot vibe that he brought to the iron claw as kevin von erich to his portrayal of platt barbour. if they were to make a goldfinch movie

[staystrange]

On Sunday, December 2, 2018 at 7:00 PM, I had the honor of being at the final performance (for now) of Two-Player Game at Feinstein’s/54 Below!! I had the most magical and wonderful time hearing songs that mean so much to me performed live by people whom I look up to so much. Here are some of the many photos I took throughout the night, and if you’d like to hear some of my favorite moments and memories, check under the cut : )

• My dinner reservation was at 5:00 PM, so I got to 54 Below right before it opened. Honestly, since it was my first time there, I was just in happy shock the entire time, and there were still two hours to go before the show. • Talia Suskauer was sitting in the booth not far behind my table. • Will Roland was the special guest at the performance I went to. He walked in right at 7:00 with Jen Tepper and his fiancée, Steph Wessels, and sat in the booth in the back right in the center. Mike Faist also sat with them, which is a nice coincidence because I was at his final performance as Connor Murphy in Dear Evan Hansen back in May!! • Katlyn Carlson was also there, but I think she sat on the other side of the room from where I was. • SETLIST: Broadway, Here I Come! Two-Player Game I Love Play Rehearsal Tiny Short Little Song The Answer The Vagabond Song of the Brown Buffalo Loser Geek Whatever (performed by Will Roland) Michael in the Bathroom The Goodbye Song Kaboom • I was an emotional mess during the majority of the songs. I teared up right from the beginning of Broadway, Here I Come! and I’m pretty sure George looked right at me when he sang “don’t you cry, don’t you cry,” though I could have been imagining it. • There was a running joke throughout the show about Bernadette Peters being George’s understudy for Two-Player Game. It got even better towards the end because someone in the audience said she used to live a floor below Bernadette Peters. • Despite (most likely) everyone in the room knowing exactly what Be More Chill is, Joe still fully explained what it was before starting Two-Player Game. • During Two-Player Game, Will Roland was doing the choreography from his seat and it was honestly the best thing I have ever witnessed. • When George sang “is it really true, I’m your faworite person” while sitting on the piano bench next to Joe, he did a bunch of vocal runs after “person” and played a few notes on the piano. There was a long pause before Joe told him to never touch his piano again and George just ran away apologizing. • Before I Love Play Rehearsal, Joe and George asked the audience what we thought they were like in high school. At one point, something someone said led to George dramatically walking out the doors with Joe playing a perfectly dramatic accompaniment on piano. • During the “I also have a touch of ADD” part of I Love Play Rehearsal, George took someone’s phone from the audience and admired their phone case. • Instead of mentioning his performance as Rum Tum Tugger in Cats during I Love Play Rehearsal like on the album, George said that his first role was a piece of Pumba’s poop in The Lion King. If any of you guys saw his Instagram story the next day, this is the explanation behind that. • When George made the fake fart noise during I Love Play Rehearsal, he was like, “Ew, Joe! People are eating!” • Since I knew that Tiny Short Little Song was the next song, it was hilarious to hear Joe and George exaggerate about how it was such a big deal for George to perform it. • I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t play Andy’s Song since it’s one of my favorites on the album and I was looking forward to seeing the kazoo part live, but it was worth it to get to hear The Answer. That song means the world to me, and I definitely teared up during it. When I bought my tickets, I’d hoped that maybe they’d perform it because it was the last show for a while, but I never thought they actually would. I will forever be grateful for this performance. • I had a fantastic view of George playing the drums during The Vagabond, and it was so awesome to watch. He’s incredible, and that song is even more epic live. • Let me just say that there is no experience quite like shouting “food, booze, drugs, guns, and radical politics” along with an entire room of people, including a bunch of people you look up to. • I didn’t even notice when Will Roland walked right past me to get to the stage for his performance because I was so focused on George and Joe, but he did. • Will was wearing the Apocalypse of the Damned shirt that someone made for him during the Be More Chill Off-Broadway run. Also, he and George were both wearing Be More Chill pill-shaped pins on their jackets. • When Will was onstage, he joked that he’d never performed on the 54 Below stage before and wanted to see what it was like. He also jokingly hit one of the cymbals on the drumset. • This was Will’s fifth Two-Player Game performance. • As they were introducing Will’s performance, Will suggested he sing a song from Be More Chill, but “one that I actually know, not like Britton’s solo in Upgrade, I don’t know that one” (it was hilarious). • The best part was when Will was like “should we make it” (pause) “a thREE-PLAYER GAME?” with George and Joe joining in. • When I was speculating about what song Will would sing, I was hoping it would be Flesh and Bone (my favorite Joe Iconis song and one that he’s performed in the past), but I figured it would probably be Loser Geek Whatever since the studio version had just been released a few days earlier. My other thought was Amphibian, but I knew that was a long shot. • George played the drums during Loser Geek Whatever. It was fantastic. • Will walked right past me again when he walked off the stage, and I noticed this time, but Joe started playing Michael in the Bathroom as Will was walking by and I could not decide what the heck to focus on because so much was happening at once. I literally gasped even though I knew what song was next. • I don’t remember if the lyrics to Michael in the Bathroom changed for Off-Broadway, but George sang “there’s nothing else clearer” instead of “the present is clear” for this performance. • Michael in the Bathroom never gets old. • During the bridge part (”knock, knock, knock, knock”) I could definitely hear Will saying the spoken parts along with Joe and George. • After Michael in the Bathroom, Joe mentioned the cast members that will make their Broadway debuts with Be More Chill (Lauren Marcus, Katlyn Carlson, and Jason Sweettooth Williams), and he jokingly included Will Roland, even though we all know that this isn’t his first Broadway show. • The Goodbye Song was beautiful. • They said that The Goodbye Song was the last song, and for a second I thought they were cutting Kaboom. They weren’t. It was their encore. • Kaboom means the world to me, so getting to hear it live was so special. • Talia Suskauer harmonized a bit toward the end of Kaboom. • I asked Jen Tepper to sign my Two-Player Game liner notes and she was so excited when she saw them!! I thanked her for all of her work on Be More Chill and 54 Below and everything she does, and she was so sweet. She even referenced the Bernadette Peters joke and complimented my glasses!! • I’ve met George a couple times before (at the Be More Chill stagedoor and at the BCEFA Flea Market), but this was my first time meeting Joe. I asked them if they were okay with hugs, and they both said yes, so I hugged them both and they thanked me for coming to the show, which was so kind of them because really it was me who wanted to thank them. George had already signed my Two-Player Game CD liner notes at the Flea Market (long before I knew I was going to this show) so I asked Joe to sign them. I also told him that he’s one of my biggest writing inspirations and that it was an honor to see him live and he was so sweet and asked me about what kind of stuff I write, which really meant a lot to me. He also complimented my glasses!! • Overall, I had the most magical time and I could not stop smiling the entire night!! If you ever get the opportunity to go to a Two-Player Game show in the future, don’t pass it up. It’s so worth it, and I will forever be grateful that I got to go : ) • Photos: outside before the show, my view before the show started, Two-Player Game, Tiny Short Little Song, The Answer, Will and George in between songs, Loser Geek Whatever, Joe and George hugging in between songs, Kaboom, and me with George and Joe.