DVD/Blu Ray

Heathers: The Musical  (15) |Home Ents Review

Dir: Andy Fickman, UK 2022, 122 mins

Cast: Ailsa Davidson, Simon Gordon Maddison Firth, Vivian Parka, Teleri Hughes

Filmed live recording.

Review by Carlie Newman

Capturing the excitement, energy and enthusiasm of the stage play, this Heathers: The Musical has been filmed on stage at The Other Palace in London.

It’s 1989 and we are at Westerberg High School. New girl Veronica (Ailsa Davidson) goes all out to become part of a small group of three nasty very close friends all called Heather. They are distinguished by the different colour clothes they wear. Heather Chandler (Maddison Firth), Heather Duke (Vivian Panka) Heather McNamara (Teleri Hughes) in red, green and yellow.

When Veronica becomes friendly with JD (Simon Gordon) the musical becomes altogether darker as JD sets about organising killings.

But in spite of some dark moments including an almost date rape scene, director Andy Fickman manages to give us a quite jolly show! The killings are presented as suicides to the press until Veronica bravely manages to change the story.

There is a good little performance by Mhairi Angus as Martha Dunnstock, Veronica’s former best friend who she now neglects in favour of her three new Heather friends.

The real stars are Veronica and the Heathers. All four perform well and put across the songs – which

are sometimes repetitive – with charm and enthusiasm. The rock musical is based on the 1989 film – which starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater – and reminds me of the music of & Juliet.

There are lots of shots of the (mainly young) audience which show their enthusiasm and sheer joy while watching the musical onstage. While we get their feelings of excitement, we don’t get the same all round experience that you can only experience in a theatre. The production is lively and we get the advantage of close-ups that are, obviously, missing in a theatre. There are cheers from the audience when Veronica saves herself from the two boys trying to rape her.

Yes, there is a lot of adult material here, but also infectious music and super choreography by Gary Lloyd. An enjoyable movie!

Heathers: The Musical will be coming to digital platforms, DVD & Blu-Ray from 5th June!

DVD / Blu-Ray Extras: Limited edition film poster, Behind The Scenes at The Other Palace (10 mins), Extended Interviews with Cast & Crew (13 mins) and Sing-Along Version (Blu-Ray Exclusive)