Guardian Australia
Arts Centre Melbourne, then touring Australia This candy coloured musical has a bombastic pop-rock score and great stage design, but it erases the grey that made Heathers such a strange and compelling film Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Before Mean Girls, there was Heathers. The 1989 black comedy still stands up as a cruel, cutting satire of 80s teen films, starring a young Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer, a popular girl with the heart of an outsider who’s in with the trio of cool girls, all named Heather, at Westerberg High. Sick of the tyranny of the “lip gloss gestapo”, she falls for a mysterious new student, Jason “JD” Dean, and becomes an unwitting accomplice to murders framed as suicides. Heathers the Musical premiered in 2014 and has more in common, aesthetically and tonally, with the film’s millennial successors. A high-octane blast of colour with a bombastic pop-rock score by Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde) and Kevin Murphy, the musical has gained a devoted fanbase. Seeing it on opening night felt not unlike going to a pop concert, with the costumed audience emitting high-pitched screams the moment the cast appeared on stage. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...
Go to News Site