The ultimate teenage angst musical returns to Leicester as part of its 2023 UK and Ireland tour.
Based on the 1988 cult hit starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, the darkly comic musical is produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills. With direction from Andy Fickman and electrifying choreography by Gary Lloyd, this fresh cast brings the energy to balance the morbid subject matter.
Written by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, the score is banger after banger with tight and punchy writing that stays engaging.
Jenna Innes plays Veronica Sawyer who would do anything to be popular and gets cosy with the Heathers to survive highschool. A star in the making, Jenna is a fantastic lead, bringing incredible vocals -especially in the notoriously tricky Dead Girl Walking, drunken movements and sloppy kisses not impeding Jenna’s killer vocals- and a healthy dose of sarcasm and comedic timing to her narration.
She falls for loner JD (Jacob Fowler), and quickly gets in the deep end when she discovers the lengths he’ll go to. The pair are so in sync their duets proclaiming their “love is god” raise goosebumps.
Verity Thompson carries Heather Chandler’s most iconic lines with aplomb – “don’t forget your kneepads bitch” – and gets considerably more charismatic in death, perhaps when there’s less pressure to be a mythic bitch and more opportunity to bask in everyone’s admiration. Even when silent and ghostly, Thompson grabs everyone’s attention with full force.
You can see the pop culture influences on the other character choices – Eliza Bowden who stood in as Heather McNamara is giving Karen from Mean Girls with Bambi eyes and not a thought behind them, at least until her Lifeboat solo displays a fragility that would shake even the hardhearted of audiences.
Jacob Fowler’s JD is less anarchist or “Baudelaire badass” and more Sheldon Cooper oblivious. His overly deadpan “I didn’t throw it” in response to “I didn’t catch your name” comes across as literal misunderstanding rather than sass. All that is set aside when he starts to sing, the audience awaiting the next note with bated breath as he takes a sip of his slurpee.
You can certainly see where JD gets his psychopathic tendencies from with a phenomenally intimidating performance by Conor McFarlane as his demolitions expert father – a far cry from the other roles he takes in the show, especially his crowd-rousing rendition of Dead Gay Son with Jay Bryce. Alex Woodward and Morgan Jackson also offer some comedic relief as wannabe alpha macho men, Kurt Kelly and Ram Sweeney, while Kingsley Morton collects sympathy as bullied Martha Dunnstock.
The sharp writing, Andy Fickman’s direction and Gary Lloyd’s choreography take serious topics into a “Big Fun” performance, while retaining the original edge.
Heathers is at The Curve until Saturday 19th August, don’t miss out on tickets and book here https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/heathers-the-musical/
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Katie Reviews 