Leeds Grand Theatre -until 14 August 2021
Reviewed by Sal E Marino
5*****
On entering The Grand Theatre, Leeds there was an uplifting energetic beat coming from the tunes blasting out from behind the set and a very excited audience! Maybe the eager crowd knew what was in store but having only watched the 1988 film Heathers as a teenager, I really had no idea how it would translate on stage. What unfolded was something that can only be described as high-energy and on full-blast continuously! The very talented young cast never stopped giving us pitch-perfect phenomenal performances with tight, slick well choreographed moves throughout. From start to finish each performer really was top-rate! For anyone who’s not seen or heard of Heathers, I’d describe it as an updated Grease – more risque and yes, I dare say it, better! It’s darker and delves deeper into that high-school world where with one careless whisper your reputation can be ruined overnight and so explores the themes of teenage angst to the extreme!
At the centre of the controls at Westerberg High of ‘who’s cool and who’s not’, is the monstrous beast (but most beautiful to look at) Heather Chandler (Maddison Firth). From the swish of her hair to the sashay of her walk Firth plays Heather Chandler like a true iconic, first-class bitch to perfection – you can’t take your eyes off her! You really should hate her due to the hideous values she exercises but by the end, as she appears as a ghostly apparition with the funniest quips, you can’t help but warm to her and see she’s just another mixed up teen too. Dressed in her distinctive red outfit, Heather Chandler is accompanied by her side-kicks the other two Heathers – Heather Duke (Merryl Ansah) in green and in yellow, Heather McNamara (Lizzy Parker). Bullied and put down by Chandler they follow her every command as their biggest fear is to be one of the geeks or a nobody that sits alone at lunch.
Challenging Heather and the girl everyone wants to be is brave Veronica (Rebecca Wicks) who after being initiated into the Heather gang and enjoys some kudos for doing so, drifts away to team up with the mysterious, moody outsider J.D. – Jason Dean (Simon Gordon). Together, but unknowingly to Veronica, they kill Heather Chandler, Ram (Rory Phelan) and Kurt (Liam Doyle). Ram and Kurt are a couple of high-school jocks who disrespect girls and who J.D. and Veronica set up to teach them a lesson. J.D. actually loads the guns with real bullets and makes their deaths look like a gay suicide pact. Eventually, Veronica realises that J.D. is unhinged to the point of blowing up the school and that their deep, dark love isn’t romantic afterall and that he is psychologically damaged. In the end, the school is saved and all comes well as diversity and being uncool is celebrated – ‘everyone is beautiful!’
Brilliantly directed by Andy Fickman and superbly choreographed by Gary Lloyd with fantastic musical direction from Phil Cornwell, Heathers really is a non-stop carousel of effervescent and vibrant performances. The voices of the cast were some of the best I’ve ever heard and I make no apologies for using the cliche ‘spine tingling’ because they really were! Unbeknown to me, some of the songs and dance routines are popular on Tik-Tok as my thirteen year old daughter informed me after – needless to say she loved every second of the show! If you enjoyed Grease (and most of us do) then you’ll love Heathers and the current generation of young people certainly already do. Heathers is a perfect evening of camp, kooky, laughter, songs you can sing-along to and in a ‘corn nut’ shell – fun!