Nottingham Theatre Royal – until Saturday 2 September 2023
Reviewed by Amy V Gathercole
4****
Jukebox musicals have been a popular trend on stage for the last few years, and it seems that now it’s time for producers to start turning cult films into stage faves. It’s worked well for Matilda, Mean Girls and The Adams Family recently, so why not 80s cult favourite Heathers?
The film gave us Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer – a girl who just wants to survive high school. In this performance, she was played by the very talented and memorable Eleanor Walsh (who is usually in the ensemble), and here she got a chance to shine, and shine she did with perfect comic-timing and auditorium-filling vocals, especially in her Veronica’s ‘Dead Girl Walking‘ anthem.
Musical theatre has been using the setting of American High Schools and their issues and tolerances (or lack of) for decades with the likes of Grease, Hairspray and Fame. Like its predecessors, Heathers has an overall theme of acceptance in high school, who has it, how you gain it and why you need it.
Heathers is the latest show to take us back to the place of teenage angst, bringing the nostalgia, fashions and energy of the 80s alive once more. Its unique methods of dealing with adolescent quarrels and woes are a tad more extreme and feature some wonderful and very witty dark comedy.
Veronica narrates her woes and teen angst through a ‘Dear Diary’ format, sharing her and her classmates’ inner and most dark secrets during the show, blending them in with a lot of laughs and surprises throughout, but also making several nods to the film as the show forges its own new identity
The Heathers of the title are Heather Chandler (a scene-stealing Verity Thompson), Heather McNamara (Billie Bowman) and Heather Duke (Elise Zavou). They are the mean girls of Westerberg High. They command attention and respect, as they relish making their classmates’ lives difficult and full of despair, in whatever cruel and manipulative way they come up with that day.
Heathers has a twisted love story at its heart; as the intelligent but confused young heroine Veronica climbs the social ladder, she also falls for a narcissistic and troubled newcomer to the school, JD (Jacob Fowler).
She’s certainly got a taste for the bad boy, and they’re a great fit…at first, wanting to teach the bullies a lesson, but the oh-so-critical issue is that he’s got murderous tendencies! So, there are a few disagreements as the pair navigate love, tragedy and complicated childhood traumas
This performance was my first time seeing the infectious Heathers the Musical (and it won’t be my last). It’s fresh, fun and fantastically dark.
The choreography is terrific throughout, with energetic dance routines full of complex steps, through to more dramatic and heartfelt scenes, where clever and effective uses of lighting and tableaus are used to slow down the movement and pace of the story and the action on the stage.
The lyrics are smart and humorous, with many tongue-in-cheek innuendos and shocking laughs (listen carefully and then put the Spotify playlist on when you get home) woven in.
JD on this tour is played by Jacob Fowler – who played his 299th performance in the role in hi hometown of Nottingham tonight, and he conveyed the dark and brooding psycho to perfection with a very impressive vocal range throughout.
Full of bright colours, language and talent. Heathers the Musical is a shock to the system that is sassy, severe and sexy. It won Best New Musical in 2019 (awarded by What’sOnStage), and it’s easy to see why. Add it to your ‘to see list’ ASAP.
Please be aware that due to adult and potentially triggering themes, this show is recommended for an audience ages 14+.