Heathers: The Musical isn't just a clever interpretation of the 1989 black comedy Heathers. This stage show is a rock show, thanks to a gutsy revival production and an audience bursting to experience it.
Admittedly, this came as a surprise to me. I'd missed the stage musical when it first came to New York City in 2014, and only knew the snippets of songs that had made their way into TikTok trends, like the slur-laden chorus of "Beautiful" and the urgent pleas to open the door in "Meant to Be Yours." I was much more familiar with the iconic movie on which the musical was based, in which Winona Ryder and Christian Slater played misfit teens so influenced by hormones and isolation that they go on a killing spree that they frame as a spade of teen suicides.
Walking into the New World Stages theater, I was skeptical of how such a dark comedy could fit into a bouncy musical, which, from what I could tell, had very young fans. From my seat, I spotted a handful of adolescent girls cosplaying as Ryder's heroine, Veronica Sawyer, mimicking her plaid skirt, blue blazer, and matching blue scrunchie. During intermission, I spotted more cosplayers, some casual, focusing on the red scrunchie of Heather Chandler, with others making it a group affair, like a quartet of twenty-somethings who modeled their look after the central toxic friend group, right down to the bright yellow, red, green, and blue blazers. Conversely, fans of the original movie were present, making themselves known with indicators like a vintage tee that reads "Free Winona." IYKYK.
My skepticism was unfair, especially considering the setting. Months before at New World Stages, I'd seen Teeth: The Musical, which turned the 2007 horror comedy about a teen girl learning her vagina has teeth, into a gory and goofy extravaganza — complete with dismembered penises falling from the ceiling in the climax. So surely New World Stages could handle Heathers: The Musical? They did, debuting a show that is rollicking fun and deeply fucked up.
Heathers: The Musical has a familiar plot with some smart changes.
With book and music by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O'Keefe, Heathers borrows most of the plot from the Daniel Waters-written film. Veronica Sawyer (Lorna Courtney) is a rich and wickedly smart senior at Westerberg High School in Sherwood, Ohio. But she's fallen in with a bad crowd, the Heathers. Heather Chandler (McKenzie Kurtz), Heather Duke (Olivia Hardy), and Heather McNamara (Elizabeth Teeter) are preppy, popular, and cruel. It's not enough to rule the school through flawless skin, fierce fashion, and an intimidating glare. They go out of their way to bully unpopular kids, like the chipper and fat Martha Dunnstock, cruelly nicknamed Martha Dumptruck (Erin Morton).
Like in the movie, an early scene of such bullying reveals Veronica's discomfort with such behavior, but also how she's too willing to play along. To embarrass Martha, Heather Chandler — the ruthless queen bee in red — demands Veronica forge the handwriting of dunderheaded jock Ram Sweeney (Xavier McKinnon) to lure Martha to a big party, where she can be a punchline. This is a minor change from the original, but it leads to a flashier scene of embarrassment, while combining two small characters from the movie (Martha and Veronica's childhood friend Betty Finn) to make a more fully formed figure for the Heathers' abuse. (It also leads to a solo that offers a glimpse of Martha's inner world, which is far gentler than the "fuck me with a chainsaw" vision of the Heathers' worldview.)
Despite her reluctance to embarrass Martha, Veronica quickly caves to Heather. However, her growing crush on a snarling new kid in a duster could change everything. J.D. (Casey Likes) shares Veronica's hatred for the cruelty of the Heathers and the hurtful high school games they've mastered. Their attraction is instant and hot, resulting in an onstage love scene duet ("Dead Girl Walking") that had the audience — young and old — hooting with delight. But soon after this hot night, the cold reality that J.D.'s plan for vengeance isn't petty but homicidal hits like a girl crashing through a glass coffee table.
Before the intermission, Heather Chandler is dead, made to look like she died by suicide. But also, she's resurrected. Drawing inspiration from the trippy dream sequence in the movie, Heather's ghost — or at least Veronica's imagined version of Heather's ghost — follows her back to school, still taunting her from beyond the grave. As more popular kids are killed by J.D., the hotties haunting Veronica multiply, leading to twisted humor that plays perfectly on the stage.
Heathers: The Musical has big theater kid energy.
This version of Veronica is less vicious and more innocent than Ryder's version. Lorna Courtney (& Juliet) brings a broad comedy tone to the role, bolstering the idealism that was an undercurrent of the movie's character. Despite all her rage and snark-filled diary entries, there was a part of Veronica that wishes things in high school could just be simpler and kinder. Courtney follows that wish, spinning in some scenes from a mean girl to a dream girl. She's radiant as she sings her wish song, "Beautiful," pining for "a better way."
However, the rest of the song (as teased above) is filled with hateful insults hurled by her classmates at each other. This sets up the brutal atmosphere of Westerberg High. So when the Heathers enter and strike a pose, the audience roars with excitement. Custom-color spotlights paint each of the trio in their signature color (green, red, or yellow) as they sing "Candy Store," a biting threat in a catchy tune.
The death scenes have a similar verve, reflecting the grim humor of the movie. However, the funerals are a showstopper of their own. Murphy and O'Keefe have shrewdly taken classic lines from Heathers not only to spice up their scenes ("Lick it up!" or "What's your damage, Heather?") but also to make a wildly irreverent gospel number, inspired by the deeply campy line, "I love my dead gay son!" Cheers to Ben Davis and Cameron Loyal, who make the most out of every moment of this outrageous number.
Admittedly, this high-energy approach falters as the story gets more serious. The fight scenes and final confrontation between Veronica and J.D. come off clumsy compared to the director Andy Fickman's ferocious first act. But the final number manages to resurrect that energy for "Seventeen (Reprise)," which led slickly into a curtain call with all the energy of a pep rally, or frankly, a pop diva concert. The moment the first castmates returned to the stage for their bows, the audience was on their feet, clapping, screaming, and cheering with gusto.
McKenzie Kurtz is to die for in Heathers: The Musical.
Make no mistake, Courtney is terrific as Veronica, balancing the character's chaotic mix of hope, hatred, and lust. Likes, as her paramour and antagonist J.D., is sublime, capturing that alluring mischief of '80s Christian Slater, while bringing a feral intensity that's all his own. Hardy and Teeter, playing the other Heathers, deliver by displaying viciousness and vulnerability, respectively. McKinnon and Cade Ostermeyer, who plays Ram's football bro Kurt Kelly, offer a winkingly homoerotic double act that had the audience (and this critic) in fits of laughter. But Kurtz is a stunner.
Heather Chandler is the iconic mean girl, so much so that her malicious lines still ring across pop culture 36 years after she first spit them. Kurtz manages not to be thrown by this role, but to sink her teeth in so hard the stage practically bleeds. She struts and insults without mercy, brandishing bewitching brutality with the enviable swagger of onscreen divas like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It's delicious to watch a bitch be this bad. And it's refreshing to see a musical be this ballsy (again?).
Simply put, Heathers: The Musical is a must-see. Not only is the show a jolting and deranged joy, but it also gives the experience of going to a great concert. The stage production is thoughtful and amusing. The singing is sensational, the musical numbers exciting, and the crowd exhilarating. The enthusiasm for this show brings with it what you hope for in live theater, a communal experience that brings us together despite our differences.
In that way, the experience of watching Heathers: The Musical becomes Veronica's wished fulfilled. Here we are, all freaks, sluts, losers, but not alone, because we're all here together relating to a story of finding yourself in the darkest of places.
Heathers: The Musical is now playing off-Broadway through Jan. 25, 2026 at New World Stages.
