113. Heathers The Musical; movie review

 

HEATHERS THE MUSICAL

Cert 15

135 mins

BBFC advice: Contains strong sex references, suicide theme, sexual threat

"Sheer, joyful exuberance", claims the poster and, for once, there is no exaggeration.

Andy Fickman's Heathers The Musical is rightly beloved by the fans who heightened the buzz at London's Old Palace Theatre where it was recorded for a one-off cinema presentation.

The stage adaptation is much less grisly than the film on which it is based but there is still a keen anti-bullying message.

But the key to its success are the earworm songs of Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy.

This production stars the terrific Ailsa Davidson as Veronica Sawyer, a 17-year-old student who is struggling to navigate her way through high school.

Her nemeses are the Heathers (Maddison Firth, Vivian Panka and Teleri Hughes) who take charge through fear and bullying.

Thus, Veronica decides the best policy is to try to join the mean kids even though it is against her kind nature and may cost her best friend, the unfashionable Martha Dunnstock (Mhairi Angus)

However, it is soon clear that this plan is going to have steep obstacles and, even though they seem to accept her, Veronica is just being used by the Heathers.

Enter J.D (Simon Gordon), a new cool kid who shows that revenge could be the answer.

Davidson is a great lead - the audience is brought on her side by her narrative, appealing personality and, of course, her superb singing.

Firth was my second favourite cast member - giving a devilish performance as the chief Heather.

The choreography, on a relatively small stage, is timed to perfection, the songs are vibrant and there are some funny moments.

Meanwhile, the audience add the cherry on top. I don't know if they were invited but many are in fancy dress and are singing along.

It all makes for a really fun couple of hours.

Reasons to watch: Vibrant musical

Reasons to avoid: A tad twee at times

Laughs: Chuckles rather than laughs

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 8/10

Did you know? Heathers was originally performed as a musicakl in 2010 with a Broadway cast featuring Annaleigh Ashford, Jeremy Jordan, and James Snyder

The final word. Andy Fickman: "We loved the movie, so we didn’t want to short change the movie. Our challenge was we wanted to end slightly different, with some hope and redemption." Movie Web

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