Evaluation: Heathers: The Musical – a powerhouse manufacturing that’s probably the most enjoyable you may have with a poisonous ex – Flat Metropolis Subject Notes

Charlotte Thornton critiques Heathers: The Musical, produced by GMG productions, music, ebook and lyrics by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, directed by Andy Fickman, choreographed by Gary Lloyd, with musical course from Martine Wengrow, on the James Hay Theatre, Friday 15 May 2026.

Heathers is Mean Girls with homicide. High college outcast Veronica Sawyer abandons her greatest buddy for the titular trio of bullies and falls for dangerous boy Jason “JD” Dean, who desires to take bloody revenge on their tormenters. The unique 1988 movie starring Winona Ryder was a field workplace failure, but it surely gained sufficient of a cult following to obtain a musical adaptation which made it Off-Broadway in 2014. The musical has discovered a cult following of its personal, in women too troubled for Legally Blonde and never troubled sufficient for Spring Awakening.

Heathers: The Musical sands off a couple of edges: it straightens out Veronica’s ethical code and offers JD a extra tragic backstory. Heathers: The Musical won’t be as vicious as its supply materials, however it’s nonetheless the darkest, raunchiest, most profane fashionable musical your teenage daughter will most likely love.

Ōtautahi Christchurch is the primary cease on an Australia & New Zealand Tour of the 2014 Off-Broadway model, directed by Andy Fickman, now starring an Australian-Kiwi solid. It’s an electrifying and completely skilled manufacturing from high to backside. The solid are uniformly improbable singers, supported by a band of seven musicians (together with very good musical director Martine Wengrow on keys). The Westerberg High set by David Shields is slick and versatile. The sound design by Dan Samson may be very particular – a spotlight being a faint echo impact added to the microphone channels of ‘ghost’ characters.

The casting of Emma Caporaso as Veronica deserves enthusiastic reward and possibly an award. There’s a contact of Fleabag in her Veronica: layers of dry humour and straightforward attraction slowly peel away to disclose a wierd, frightened lady with dangerous style in boyfriends. Caporaso’s singing is scarily good. She can ship an astounding excessive belt and a fragile serenade with equal success, typically inside the identical tune. The story calls for that Veronica act as a magnet, capturing the eye of each single character. In Caporaso’s fingers that is utterly plausible.

The fundamental solid is supported by an extended record of succesful understudies, one among whom takes on a number one function on opening evening. Mackenzie Htay’s efficiency as JD takes me again to my Tumblr days. He walks with a pronounced hunch, looming over Veronica like Edward Cullen standing over a sleeping Bella Swan in Twilight. While many of the male vocals sit totally inside the crisp, pleasing consolation zone of contemporary tenor singing, Htay provides his vocals an attractive emo boy lilt. In a sea of Jonathan Groffs, Htay is Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. By Act 2, his efficiency edges into cartoonish territory, however one which helps the studying of JD as a toxic, harmful determine as outlined in “I Say No”: “You are a drug, you are a poison pill / I’ve got to kick this habit now or else I never will.”

The unique film imbues a Heavenly Creatures (Heavenly Bleachers?) high quality into its central “love story,” since Veronica is extra complicit. The musical clears up her motivations and warms up her persona, which turns her twisted romance with JD right into a commentary on abusive relationships. How are you able to inform if a “bad boy” is harmful or simply intense? How lengthy till you develop into the goal?

The grotesque plot solely works comedically if there’s some schadenfreude to the bullies’ destiny. These performers promote the hell out of it. Queen bee Heather Chandler is performed by Aotearoa New Zealand-born performer Calista Nelmes. Her vocals are easy and welcoming, then smack you within the face when the time is true – very similar to how Chandler stalks the lunchroom. Nelmes’ belt on “Candy Store” is supported by exquisitely girly harmonies from Heathers Duke (Amélia Rojas, vocal prodigy at solely 20 years previous) and McNamara (Abigail Sharp, absolutely seeing Elle Woods in her future) which surpass the vocals on the unique soundtrack. The viewers favourites, and rightly so, are himbo duo Kurt (Nic Van Lits, golden retriever vitality) and Ram (David Cuny, uncanny Patrick Schwarzenegger lookalike). The jock archetype can simply develop into stale, however these two by no means do. Van Lits and Cuny ship such a variety of hilarious gestures and quips that I discovered myself laughing the second they entered any scene.

Mel O’Brien shines because the candy, put-upon Martha Dunstock. She delivers the solo ballad “Kindergarten Boyfriend” with gentle and shade. Knowledgeable musical manufacturing can typically really feel like a runaway prepare, the story pushing ahead so rapidly you might be unable to catch your breath. This manufacturing avoids that destiny by discovering moments of stillness and silence throughout even probably the most intense numbers. My favorite of those moments is one out of time, through which Ms Fleming (a charismatic Zoe Gertz) pauses “Shine a Light” to tug an viewers member into her confession of disgrace. It proves that there isn’t any one on this stage (or behind it) with a simple job. Every function should be exhausting, but it by no means exhibits. The ensemble is uniformly good. Most of them are understudies for 3 or 4 roles, the considered which makes my head damage greater than JD’s slushy in “Freeze Your Brain”.

And now… a second for the accents. I’m unreasonably choosy about theatre accents. They’re robust, however they’re well worth the effort. This Heathers: The Musical manufacturing is probably the most spectacular accent work I’ve ever heard from a theatrical solid. About midway by way of I began to surprise if I’d misinterpret one thing, as a result of they needed to all be from Los Angeles, proper? Reader, virtually all are from Down Under. I nonetheless can’t imagine it.

This tour is nearly as good as musical productions can get. I like to recommend Heathers: The Musical for all adults and a few youngsters. It will depend on {the teenager}. Don’t fear that it is perhaps a corrupting affect – the script takes nice pains to emphasize its robust anti-murder stance, and the joyful curtain name is proof of a contented sufficient ending. Just take into account that Heathers: The Musical has a physique rely, in each senses of the time period.

Heathers: The Musical runs till Sunday 24 May earlier than touring Wellington and Auckland.