Friday, March 29

Tag: Heathers the Musical

Heathers The Musical – Hull New Theatre
Yorkshire & Humber

Heathers The Musical – Hull New Theatre

Thank goodness my years at the Newton Hall Grammar Technical High School, in Hull, weren’t as angst-ridden and dangerous as those “enjoyed” by the pupils of Westerberg High School, in Ohio, US. When the energetic cast of Heathers The Musical took to the Hull New Theatre stage on Tuesday evening, their actions shed light on the likes of bulimia, latent homosexuality, suicide, bullying and murder. Phew! There was never a dull moment, making my schooldays seem dull and boring. I was new to Heathers, but a large chunk of the audience whooped and hollered loudly on many occasions throughout - showing, not only their appreciation, but also their knowledge of the storyline. I admired their enthusiasm, but, sadly, couldn’t join in as (and I’m sure I was in the minority here, judging b...
Heathers the Musical – Blackpool Opera House
North West

Heathers the Musical – Blackpool Opera House

Teenagers wearing blazers, scrunchies and trench coats fill the Blackpool Opera House, and there’s no mistaking which show is hitting the town. Andy Fickman’s West End hit may have only closed at the Other Palace this month, but its national tour production is still slaying audiences all around the country. September 1989, Westurberg High. The jocks bully the nerds, the cool girls all have the same name and Veronica just wants to get by until college. Based on the cult-classic movie, Heathers is the classic high school survival story, but with a killer twist. Jenna Innes (Les Misérables) is gorgeously captivating as protagonist, Veronica. You can’t help but route for her as she stumbles through high school drama, boy troubles, and the added complications of accidental murder. Innes ...
Heathers The Musical – Palace Theatre, Manchester
North West

Heathers The Musical – Palace Theatre, Manchester

Teenage years – the best years of your life? Not for those attending Westerberg High School in Heathers The Musical! This is no saccharine sweet teenage musical; Heathers addresses hard-hitting themes including murder, suicide, date rape and bulimia. Is this a gloom – fest? Certainly not! Heathers is a life lesson, a gloriously darkly comic look at the teenage quest for popularity and acceptance. Opening night at the exquisite Palace Theatre and it is clear to see from the scrunchies and tartan in the audience that Heathers has a devoted following. Based on the eponymous 1988 cult film, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, Heathers The Musical moved Off-Broadway in 2014. After an Off-West End run Heathers transferred to the West End in 2018. In 2019, Heathers The Musical won the...
Heathers The Musical – Bradford Alhambra
Yorkshire & Humber

Heathers The Musical – Bradford Alhambra

Many musicals flirt with darkness before another tune about empowerment and the power of love comes along to take the edge off, but not so Heathers The Musical which offers a relentless diet of serial killing, bullying, eating disorders, homophobia and date rape. It’s based on the deliciously dark eighties movie Heathers which was a welcome antidote to the saccharine John Hughes films who mistook teens for young adults. Here the teens are feral locked in the cliquey hell that is a typically hieratical US high school as the cool gangs, jocks and nerds try to survive into college. Our (anti) hero at Westerburg High School is geeky Veronica Sawyer who accidentally falls in with the bitchy cool gang trio all named Heather, who delight in making everyone’s life a misery to mask their own...
Heathers the Musical – Liverpool Empire
North West

Heathers the Musical – Liverpool Empire

If you have never seen the movie of Heathers, it’s unlikely this musical will be what you are expecting. Heathers is a unique musical, both musically and narratively speaking. Veronica Sawyer finds herself finally as a somebody, joining the popular clique of the three Heathers, before deciding it is time to get her old self back and get away from the Heathers. The plot that ensues is dark, funny, and emotionally charged in equal measure. The music for the show is unique, rooted in pop and modern musical theatre singing. There is so much syncopation in the ensemble singing that it is truly jarring, which is befitting of the constant feeling that something is not quite right. The musical numbers are many, and each is as good as the last, it is impossible to mention them all, but the perf...
Heathers The Musical – The Alexandra, Birmingham
West Midlands

Heathers The Musical – The Alexandra, Birmingham

‘Heathers’ has become widely known as a “teen” show, but anyone expecting the light frothiness of ‘High School Musical’ or ‘Glee’ will be surprised by the show’s much darker tone and razor-sharp bite, with themes of suicide, depression, attempted rape and drug use, not to mention murder.  A scathing black comedy with a rock-infused edgy-pop score, the show brings the 1989 film to the stage and gives an exaggerated look at just how hellish teenaged life can be.  The show became an off-Broadway hit in 2014 before gaining a huge cult following in the UK in 2018 and is currently seeing great word of mouth on its UK tour, playing the Alexandra Birmingham this week. Veronica Sawyer (played by Jenna Innes) can’t wait for college and struggles to fit in to the social hierarchy of Wes...
Heathers the Musical – Regent Theatre, Stoke
North West

Heathers the Musical – Regent Theatre, Stoke

Heathers the musical based on the cult classic film of the same name has hit Stoke-on-Trent. The show which has played packed out audiences in London is now touring the UK. The Regent Theatre is an extremely accommodating theatre for this even handing out iconic scrunchies to those of us lucky enough to review. The audience was packed out with a variety of ages, but a huge margin of the audience went to teens. It was so lovely to watch to see that shows like Heathers are keeping the audience engaged in the theatre. There were murmurs before the show of people excited to see the cult film brought to life. What can I say, brought to life it was. The show was mesmerising you couldn't take your eye off any of the action taking place on the stage. Everywhere you looked the ensemble was b...
Time For a New Semester – Cast Announced For Heathers UK and Ireland Tour
NEWS

Time For a New Semester – Cast Announced For Heathers UK and Ireland Tour

Following its multiple West End runs, and continuing success at its home – The Other Palace, Heathers the Musical will embark on its highly anticipated UK and Ireland tour from 14th February 2023. Heathers the Musical will open in Windsor and visit cities throughout the UK and Ireland, including Liverpool, Nottingham, York, Birmingham, Norwich, Manchester, Dublin, Brighton, Bath, Leicester, Clywd, Cardiff and Glasgow. Full dates and venues can be found at www.heathersthemusical.com Making it beautiful in blue, Jenna Innes (Les Misérables) takes on the role of angst-ridden teen, Veronica Sawyer, and returning to the role of Jason 'J.D' Dean is Jacob Fowler (Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella). The Westerberg tour class of 2023 is completed by Verity Thompson (Cinderella) as Heat...
Heathers the Musical is back on the road
NEWS

Heathers the Musical is back on the road

Following two record-breaking seasons at London's The Other Palace and West End transfer to the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 2018 and having won the WhatsOnStage 2019 award for 'BEST NEW MUSICAL', Heathers the Musical will embark on a highly anticipated UK tour from 2023. Produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, this high octane, black comedy, rock musical based on one of the greatest cult teen films of all-time starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, is back with a bang! The 2023 Class of Westerberg High and the full tour timetable will be announced shortly. Greetings and salutations! Welcome to Westerberg High, where popularity is so very a matter of life and death, and Veronica Sawyer is just another of the nobodies dreaming of a better day. Photo: Pamela Raith ...
Heathers The Musical – The Other Palace
London

Heathers The Musical – The Other Palace

The wickedly funny, energetic and chaotic Heathers is back in the West End and for its second run at The Other Palace Theatre. Produced by Paul Taylor-Mills and Bill Kenwright, Heathers The Musical made its record-breaking box office debut in 2018 for a limited season. Re-opening in 2021, the show kickstarted the post-pandemic theatre recovery period. A high-school classic, Heathers stars Veronica Sawyer (Erin Caldwell), a girl simply trying to fit-in at high school and make it through to graduation. She joins the infamous Heathers, the school’s lead clique who are beautiful but impossibly cruel. When new rebel, Jason Dean/JD (Nathanael Landskroner) joins Westerberg High, Veronica find herself in a toxic whirlwind romance resulting in lies, deceit and much worse... The show begins w...