Photo taken from TodayTix
Heathers the Musical -Laurence O'Keefe & Kevin Murphy
RATING ★ ★ ★ ★
Directed by Andy Fickman
Theatre Royal Haymarket
September 2018
Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy adapt the 1988 cult classic, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. O’Keefe is also responsible for composing the sheer spectacle that is Legally Blonde: The Musical. Knowing near-to-nothing about Heathers I certainly had high hopes for O’Keefe’s latest endeavour.
Think Little Shop of Horrors mixed with Mean Girls dabbled in Rocky Horror Picture Show and a healthy sprinkling of High School Musical… Heathers brings the unexpected to London’s theatre scene. Carrie Hope Fletcher dazzles in the lead role as Veronica Sawyer, the nerd-turned-cool kid who is taken under the wing of the popular Heathers trio. Her life is all-sing-all-dancing until she meets the mysteriously twisted and murderous JD.
Particular numbers shine through as personal favourites, My Dead Gay Son, Dead Girl Walking and Kindergarten Boyfriend, to name but a few. The ensemble multi-roles with strikingly strong vocals, tied together with exuberant energy and colourful costume.
The set design is a little uninspiring. With a show as bizarre as this one, I hoped for a more innovative and less 'blocky’ design to match the eery narrative which floats between reality and the afterlife. At times the humour seems out of place, lacking taste when joking about body size, mental health and suicide. But once you’re in the groove you’ll be swept up by the quirky nature of the unexpected story unfolding before you.
Heathers puts a smile on your face, not least because of Hope Fletcher’s dulcet tones but because of its film noir-esque satire and fabulous musical numbers.
RATING ★ ★ ★ ★
Directed by Andy Fickman
Theatre Royal Haymarket
September 2018
Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy adapt the 1988 cult classic, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater. O’Keefe is also responsible for composing the sheer spectacle that is Legally Blonde: The Musical. Knowing near-to-nothing about Heathers I certainly had high hopes for O’Keefe’s latest endeavour.
Think Little Shop of Horrors mixed with Mean Girls dabbled in Rocky Horror Picture Show and a healthy sprinkling of High School Musical… Heathers brings the unexpected to London’s theatre scene. Carrie Hope Fletcher dazzles in the lead role as Veronica Sawyer, the nerd-turned-cool kid who is taken under the wing of the popular Heathers trio. Her life is all-sing-all-dancing until she meets the mysteriously twisted and murderous JD.
Particular numbers shine through as personal favourites, My Dead Gay Son, Dead Girl Walking and Kindergarten Boyfriend, to name but a few. The ensemble multi-roles with strikingly strong vocals, tied together with exuberant energy and colourful costume.
The set design is a little uninspiring. With a show as bizarre as this one, I hoped for a more innovative and less 'blocky’ design to match the eery narrative which floats between reality and the afterlife. At times the humour seems out of place, lacking taste when joking about body size, mental health and suicide. But once you’re in the groove you’ll be swept up by the quirky nature of the unexpected story unfolding before you.
Heathers puts a smile on your face, not least because of Hope Fletcher’s dulcet tones but because of its film noir-esque satire and fabulous musical numbers.