Heathers: the Musical Review

I came to Heathers with not much insight into the musical other than a very vague idea of some of the plot and having worked on “Seventeen” with students. As a show, it is a delicious contradiction: a comedy full of drama, a fluff piece ripe with social commentary, teenage angst turned profound meaning, all in one. The most interesting contradiction of all, for me, is the music itself. In most other contexts, I would have found it a tad repetitive and overly “bouncy” but, when coupled with the wickedly witty writing, it becomes self-awareness incarnate, a great use and subversion of tropes. And can I just say how refreshing it is to watch a musical that isn’t PG? From sung orgasms to the funniest striptease ever to all the swearing, it felt liberating!

The cast was solid across the board, though the acting wasn’t always topnotch. From a vocal perspective, it was clear that a choice had been made in terms of sound with everyone singing in the most nasal of mixes, often to the detriment of vocal quality. It was particularly obvious when any of the singers had to go higher (and this is not a musical written for altos!): the voices were pinched and one-dimensional, sounding more like a pitched screech than a sung note. One of those moments I would have loved the chance to work with them all and help create more space in their delivery! Another evident if slight issue with the singing was that Heathers asks for big voices and almost none of the cast had them; alas, rather than trying to deliver big performances in alternative ways, this led to a fair amount of straight, uninteresting notes and even some vocal strain. But enough about vocal technique!

The three standout performances were undoubtedly Veronica, JD, and Heather Chandler. The latter, played by Jodie Steele, was a solid singer and actor though not exceptional, but had that star quality, a stage presence that fills up the whole theatre with just a look. Made it impossible to take my eyes off her. Jordan Luke Cage’s J.D. may have had some tuning wobbles here and there, but he had the best voice of the night. And boy, was his performance riveting! You could read the pain and madness in his eyes, and his rendition of “Meant to Be Yours” was a showstopper. But the star of the night was Christina Bennington. She was charming and relatable and real, and kind of a huge badass. She displayed a lot of vocal versatility and really took the audience along on the character’s journey. And I’m oh so very glad they decided to re-add “I Say No” because it was such a powerful moment, one even more meaningful to today’s audiences.

All in all, while Heathers won’t be making my favourite musicals list anytime soon, I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. 

Conclusion: Absolutely!

Heathers - the Musical opened at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in June 2021.