Review by Ron Fassler . . .
When the film Heathers opened nationwide in March of 1989, George H. W. Bush had recently begun what would be his single term as President, Madonna’s “Like a Prayer” premiered on a worldwide Pepsi commercial, and Donald Trump bought the Eastern Airlines shuttle . . . which he bankrupted by September 1990. A black comedy about murderous teenagers, Heathers subverted popular 80s films with high school settings like John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club and Pretty in Pink. And though it was not a box office hit, Heathers later became a cult classic that currently enjoys a 95% approval rating at RottenTomatoes.com. Its adaptation into a stage musical, Heathers: The Musical, written by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, opened in 2014 at Theater One at New World Stages, in a production directed by Andy Fickman. Now, eleven years later, Fickman once again is in charge of a colorful and wickedly funny new version that’s playing at the very same theater. If the wildly enthusiastic opening night audience is any indication, it may be there for a long while to come (its selling tickets through January of 2026). There’s a lot of cosplay going on with people coming dressed as their favorite characters, indications of a wide following.
Having never seen the film (I know, what?) and having never heard songs from the musical (what can I say?), Heathers is new to me. New, but also old because it’s a period piece and many of the tropes are somewhat dated by today’s standards. We’ve seen a lot of dark and twisted comedies just like this over the years, in particular Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, which treads on a great deal of the same territory and has been done as a movie, a Broadway musical, and a film musical (in a bit of irony, Daniel Waters, who wrote the original Heathers film is the brother of Mark Waters, who directed the film of Mean Girls). That said, there’s always room for nostalgia and this musical piles on the 80s references with gleeful abandon.
The outrageous plot, mainly taking place at the fictional Westerberg High School in the real-life Sherwood, Ohio, is ruled by Heather Duke (Olivia Hardy), Heather McNamara (Elizabeth Teeter), and queen bee Heather Chandler (McKenzie Kurtz). Popularity is all and fear of not achieving it is what obsesses Veronica Sawyer (Lorna Courtney) to seek their favor. A smart but unpopular girl entering her senior year, she worms her way into the “Heathers” only to be thrown off balance when an oddball transfer student arrives named J.D. (Casey Likes). The pair are immediately attracted to each other and to say the least, he’s a poor influence. J.D. puts Veronica in a compromised place when he orchestrates the murder of Heather Chandler and convinces her to forge a fake suicide note to cover it up. This leads to more murders and more mayhem, that satirically take on not only teen suicide, but homosexuality, bulimia, religion and other hot-button issues, though always tongue-in-cheek.
Fickman does an outstanding job staging things, aided by his choreographer and associate director, Gary Lloyd. This newly tweaked production has been successfully done in London and Australia, and with the addition of new songs and material arrives in New York in terrific shape. David Shield’s functional unit set is highlighted by his boldly colored costumes, co-created with Siena Zoe Allen, superbly enhanced by Ben Cracknell’s lighting design. Dan Samson’s sound (cranked up to 11) manages not to distort, even if the screams of the fans when I saw it may have left me with some permanent hearing damage.
Kudos to the Telsey casting office for a taut and talented ensemble. Lorna Courtney as Veronica has a splendid voice, ample vulnerability, and a fine comic sense that is entirely necessary acting opposite McKenzie Kurtz’s Heather Chandler. Kurtz, who played Glinda in Wicked at the 20th anniversary performance I attended, is not only a spectacular singer but really knows how to get laughs where none may even exist. The audience couldn’t get enough of her (as a ghostly presence in Act Two, she is a hoot). As J.D., Casey Likes is saddled with the most difficult role in the show, mostly due to his charm factor wearing off early, though it’s not his fault it’s written that way. In fact, the biggest drawback that prevents this from being a great musical rather than a good one is that as the story progresses, the challenges of keeping things light and its tonal anxieties get more difficult as events become more complicated and don’t live up to the frothiness that makes Act One such a pleasure.
But its Murphy and O’Keefe’s fine score that keep things lively throughout. The rhyming is clever and the references to 80s pop culture a constant delight. As one example of a first-rate lyric, in an ode to the 7-11 Slurpee, J.D. sings: “When the voice in your head / Says you’re better off dead, / Don’t open a vein / Just freeze your brain.” The whole score allows for multiple opportunities for everyone to sing their hearts out. And even though I’m not a fan of the trend that has “American Idolized” Broadway (sustaining big notes too long and unnecessarily changing keys too many times), this group is pretty much irresistible. Shout outs to Kerry Butler—always welcome on a New York stage—playing a number of roles, and to Xavier McKinnon and Cade Ostermeyer, who are extremely funny as the school’s less than brilliant reigning jocks, Kurt and Ram (Ostermeyer, having only just graduated from Pace University, is a genuine find). Olivia Hardy and Elizabeth Teeter as the other Heathers and Erin Morton as the school nerd also make worthwhile contributions.
To the question of whether Heathers, initially released as a film in 1989 and presented as a musical in 2014 can still work with audiences again in 2025, the answer is yes. It’s all about getting off on the right foot, which Fickman and company admirably achieve. From the moment the first lyrics are delivered, more shouted than sung (“Freak! Slut! Burn-Out! Bug-Eyes! Poser! Hard Ass!”), you’re in for a bit of time travel that’s well worth the trip.
Heathers: The Musical is playing at New World Stages, 340 W 50th Street, NYC. For ticket information, please visit: https://heathersthemusical.com.
Headline photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade: Elizabeth Teeter (Heather McNamara), McKenzie Kurtz (Heather Chandler) and Olivia Hardy (Heather Duke).
