Backstage:Review - Heathers, The Musical

Heathers: The Musical. Presented by MUSOC. Direction by Nick Cheesebrough. Musical Direction by Charlotte Ensor and Emily McCulloch. Reviewed by Sophie Ricketts, Backstage Christchurch.

I’m sure all of us have a myriad of memories about our own high school experiences, and I imagine almost all of them share a collection of cliques, rumours, pubescent desires, and poor choices. However, hopefully not too many contain a murder. A decidedly dark foray into teen angst, this show pushes everything to the limits while making the themes relatable across the board. For those who haven’t seen the cult 1988 film, don’t bother, the musical is much more engaging and, in my opinion, more accessible. That being said, each performance should probably come with a trigger warning in the foyer given that it wrestles with suicide, date rape, bulimia and peer pressure head on.

On opening night the show suffered some inconsistencies with sound quality, but things dramatically improved in the second half - let’s hope it was merely opening night kinks being worked out and that the rest of the season is more clearly heard so it can be more deeply appreciated. In such a lyric-driven show it is a real crime to miss out on any of the zingy references laced throughout the musical numbers. 

Caitlyn O’Rourke as Veronica Sawyer channeled Winona Ryder’s accent perfectly and managed to convey a terrific blend of good girl gone bad combined with innocent gumption. She maintained her energy through the entire performance, which is no mean feat given that she was in practically every scene, and really brought some refreshing depth to the character.

The three Heathers were brought to life (and death) by Hannah Falconer, Ali Diamond, and Georgia Chapple. Hannah played Miss Sarah Brown in MUSOC’s production earlier this year of Guys and Dolls so it was refreshing to see her revel in her first “mean” role; she was so good at it I suspect the innocent ingenue might have been the real act. Ali was a sensational pint sized terrorist, and definitely got my vote for best “resting bitch face”. All three showed off terrific vocal ability, but it was newcomer Georgia who eclipsed the others with her Act Two torch song Lifeboat.

For as strong as the leading ladies all were the creme de la creme was, without a doubt, the Act Two zinger My Dead Gay Son –Matt McMenamin shone bright like a diamond as he delivered the show’s unexpected anthem to tolerance and acceptance. Other notable mentions go to Lawrence Botting (that silky voice!) and Rob Thomson for playing the aforementioned dead gay sons, and Grace Millar as Martha Dunnstock – not only a great character actor but a terrific singer, it is a shame Martha doesn’t get more solo time in the spotlight. The lively ensemble brought the hallways of Westerberg High School to life with their terrific energy and hilarious character choices: I felt like I was looking through an old yearbook seeing each of the stereotypes parade past in the large group scenes. And while some of the hair could be higher, all of the show’s costuming was especially on point.

While this is a show about high school I almost certainly would never want to see actual high schoolers perform, it is great for MUSOC to present the South Island debut of this raucous, raunchy, and all around ridiculous musical. Take the opportunity to see it while you can, shows like this are controversial and don’t get selected very often.