Heathers The Musical
“A coming of age story full of teenage angst, but it really is BIG FUN"
It’s safe to say that Heathers The Musical has cemented itself into musical theatre history like no other show, with a stream of fans arriving at venues dressed as the infamous Heathers and protagonist Veronica Sawyer. This show is full of humour, but also deals with some pretty hard-hitting subjects such as suicide, date rape and bullying.
The action starts at Westerberg High School, and we meet Veronica Sawyer (Jenna Innes) as she starts another diary entry centring around her time at school. Innes was every inch the perfect Veronica, with an outstanding voice especially during ‘I Say No’, which made me audibly gasp by the end! The passion and storytelling she is able to achieve during her performance makes for a fantastic evening. The lighting changes, the mood changes and we are introduced to the Heathers. Heather Chandler (Verity Thompson), Heather Duke (Elise Zavou) and Heather Macnamara (Billie Bowman) are thrust into ‘god-like’ status with their peers and Veronica wants nothing more to be like them.
The arrival of the Heathers is always a real moment especially with the inventive lighting by Ben Cracknell, with each Heather having a spotlight matching their outfit. Thompson as ‘mythic bitch’ Heather Chandler is delicious in her evil streak and her portrayal of this role was strong and confident. Vocally outstanding during ‘Candy Store’, you definitely love to hate her. Zavou and Bowman completed the trio with slightly softer sides, but again there were some stand out vocal performances by both.
We are introduced to Jason ‘J.D.’ Dean played superbly by Jacob Fowler. I have seen Heathers a few times now and have to say that Fowler was a complete vision in his characterisation of the psychopathic, unhinged teen. Every movement was calculated, with the odd twitch of his head adding to the unease of his persona. Again, vocally Fowler shone during many moments, especially ‘Freeze Your Brain’ and duet ‘Seventeen’ performed with Innes. The chemistry between the pair was believable, a lustful meeting, to a complete change of emotion between the two really permeated from the stage.
As mentioned, this show deals with many hard-hitting subjects, so the humorous moments are welcome. High School jocks Kurt Kelly (Liam Dean) and Ram Sweeney (Morgan Jackson) are the perfect tonic for the more comedic moments. Without a brain cell between them, they portray an air of seniority within the school hall but fall way short. Dean and Jackson worked so well together and had a great connection.
We also meet Martha Dunnstock (Kingsley Morton), best friend of Veronica, who is somewhat cast aside once the Heathers take Veronica under their wing. Morton plays Martha with a complete innocence and is a loveable character, just trying to make her way through school being the underdog. Morton was able to provide a very strong vocal during ‘Kindergarten Boyfriend’, a real goosebump moment.
If you’ve ever seen any of the productions of Heathers, you will know the story, but in short Veronica and J. D. fall in love and anyone that upsets Veronica falls foul to J. D.’s murderous ways. Veronica finally wakes up realising the sort of person he is and takes matters into her own hands with an explosive ending….quite literally!
With a seemingly permanent place in London, at The Other Palace and with many successful UK Tours, Heathers remains to be a firm favourite with audiences across the country. With a fantastic array of songs written by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe the show continues to go from strength to strength and the current UK touring cast are all superb.
Heathers The Musical is a coming of age story full of teenage angst, but it really is BIG FUN!
This show was reviewed on the 25th July. Heathers The Musical runs at the Festival Theatre, Malvern until the 29th July 2023. Tickets available here: Heathers The Musical - Malvern Theatres (malvern-theatres.co.uk)
Full tour details can be found here: Heathers the Musical - UK Tour
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Photo credit: Pamela Raith
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