Heathers: The Musical
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Cititour.com Review
No matter if you graduated high school last year or 35 years ago (ok, that’s me), you probably remember what it’s like not to be one of the “cool” kids and the idiocy of the well-meaning, if incompetent adults who were in charge of your socialization. That common experience is one reason so many people identified with the 1988 film “Heathers.” Now, that satiric black comedy has been turned into a highly enjoyable, often hilarious, and decidedly campy musical that not only provides plenty of laughs, but will bring back all those unpleasant memories of those not-so-wonderful teenaged years.
That the show (now at New World Stages) works so well is less surprising once you realize its creators are Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy, who are responsible (individually) for two other similar stage-to-screen transfers: “Legally Blonde” and “Reefer Madness.” Here, the pair manage to smartly capture the adolescent archetypes first seen in Daniel Waters’ screenplay: smart-if-unpopular Veronica Sawyer (Barrett Wilbert Weed), sensitive, dreamy, and rather psychopathic loner J.D. Dean (Ryan McCartan), picked-on fat girl Martha Dunnstock (Katie Ladner), dumb jocks Kurt Kelly (Evan Todd) and Ram Sweeney (Jon Eidson), and the trio of mean girls known collectively as the Heathers (Jessica Keenan Wynn, Elle McLemore, and Alice Lee), who rule their Sherwood, Ohio high school with an iron fist and a red scrunchie.
The plot basically follows the film’s trajectory, in which Veronica joins and then rejects the Heathers and new-kid-in-town J.D takes rather extreme measures to win Veronica’s heart and make a searing social statement. But the story has been cleverly augmented by an often-catchy, occasionally beautiful score, which includes such standout songs as “Seventeen,” “Kindergarten Boyfriend” (superbly sung by Ladner), and the hilarious “My Dead Gay Son” (led by Tony winner Anthony Crivello and Daniel Cooney). A couple of the numbers, notably “Blue” (which refers to the color of two parts of the jocks’ anatomy) could easily be excised along with some dialogue – which would bring the show’s running time down about 20 minutes.
Admittedly, Andy Fickman, best known as a film director and producer, stages the piece with a bit too much simplicity on Timothy R. Mackabee’s very minimal unit set, but Emmy Award-winning choreographer Marguerite Derricks provides enough sprightly choreography to liven up the proceedings, especially in winning numbers like “Big Fun” and “Shine a Light”
Weed, who impressed in the recent Off-Broadway revival of “Bare,” once again makes her mark as a star-on-the-rise, giving Veronica the perfect mix of vulnerability and strength. McCartan, a Disney Channel star, isn’t quite as brooding as his film predecessor, Christian Slater, but he fills the bill well enough. Todd and Eidson deserve major kudos not just for their willingness to play dumb, but for spending most of the show clad only in tiny briefs. And I adored all three of the actresses playing the Heathers, even if McLemore still reminds me of an imitation Kristin Chenoweth (just as she did in Broadway’s “Bring It On.”)
In the end, we may all have to ask ourselves “Heathers”’ central question: “What’s Your Damage?” But if this much fun is the price for a little self-reflection, it’s a fair trade-off.
By Brian Scott Lipton
Visit the Site
http://heathersthemusical.com
Cast
Barrett Wilbert Weed, Ryan McCartan, Elle McLemore, Jessica Keenan Wynn, Alice Lee
Open/Close Dates
Opening 3/31/2014
Closing 8/4/2014
Preview Open/ Preview Close Dates
Preview Opening 3/15/2014
Closing Open-ended
Box Office
212-239-6200
Theatre Info
New World Stages
340 West 50th Street
New York, NY 10019
Map
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