Maria Baranova
A new musical which became a word-of-mouth hit in the US is set to open in London after a successful Broadway run.
Be More Chill, which has been praised for attracting a new teen audience to the theatre, will open at The Other Palace in February, the BBC can reveal.
The pop-rock, sci-fi musical tells the story of an anxious teenager who takes a pill in order to become more popular.
The soundtrack has played a large part in making the show a sleeper hit - racking up 300 million streams.
"Ever since its sellout off-Broadway run, the show has become a hit with the best kind of social-media word of mouth powering its progress to Broadway," wrote Tim Teeman in The Daily Beast.
"It has brought, so observers have noted, a younger audience to the theatre. It has caused great excitement and created extreme fandom."
Be More Chill originally premiered in 2015 at the Two River Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. It had a limited run there and little was made of the cast soundtrack which was quietly released on streaming services.