Heathers Musical Score Pdf
Rosalee Cobham
Heathers: The Musical is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Laurence O'Keefe and Kevin Murphy, based on the 1989 film of the same name written by Daniel Waters.[1] The producers include J. Todd Harris, Amy Powers, RJ Hendricks, and Andy Cohen. After a sold-out Los Angeles tryout, the show moved Off-Broadway in 2014. After the run in 2014, the show had an Off-West End run in 2018 and then transferred to the West End in 2018 for a limited engagement. In 2022, Roku released the Off-West end version of Heathers on their streaming service for free.
In 1989, seventeen-year-old Veronica Sawyer despairs at Westerberg High School's hellish social hierarchy, where students like the heavyset Martha Dunnstock, Veronica's best friend, are tormented by jocks Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly, and the school is ruled by a clique called the Heathers: weak-willed Heather McNamara, bulimic and petty but repressed Heather Duke, and "mythic bitch" Heather Chandler. When Veronica's talent for forgery gets the Heathers out of detention, they give her a makeover and elevate her to their inner circle ("Beautiful").
Heather Chandler orders Veronica to forge a love letter from Ram to Martha, tempting Veronica with the promise of popularity ("Candy Store"). The mysterious, poetry-quoting new kid, Jason "J.D." Dean, criticizes Veronica for betraying her friend. After J.D. wins a fight against Ram and Kurt, Veronica finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him ("Fight for Me"). Veronica's parents confess to their daughter that they are not sure they like her new friends and would prefer if she hung out with Martha again ("Candy Store (Playoff)").
Veronica flirts with J.D. at a 7-Eleven, where he extols the virtues of the Slurpee for numbing his grief ("Freeze Your Brain"). At Ram's homecoming party, Veronica gets increasingly drunk ("Big Fun"). When the Heathers cruelly prank Martha, Veronica angrily resigns from the group and vomits on Heather C., who in turn vows to destroy her reputation. With nothing left to live for, Veronica breaks into J.D.'s bedroom and has sex with him ("Dead Girl Walking").
J.D. and Veronica comfort each other and plan a vengeful prank: she will lure the jocks to the cemetery with the promise of making their fictional threesome real, then together they will shoot them with tranquilizer "Ich lge" bullets to knock them out before leaving another forged suicide note confessing they were gay lovers. When they arrive, J.D. shoots Ram but Veronica misses Kurt. As she realizes that Ram is dead and the bullets are real, J.D. then shoots Kurt dead and proclaims his undying love to a horrified Veronica ("Our Love Is God").
At Ram and Kurt's funerals, a distraught Veronica reflects that they could have outgrown their immaturity ("Prom or Hell?"). Grief-stricken, Ram's Dad chastises Kurt's Dad for remaining homophobic, until the latter suddenly kisses the former, revealing their own secret love affair and Ram and Kurt are turned into martyrs to homophobia ("My Dead Gay Son"). Convinced the murders are for the greater good, J.D. urges Veronica to target Heather D. next. She refuses, so he complains about doing nothing in the face of injustice, revealing he witnessed his mother's own suicide as a young boy, straining his relationship with his father and causing their constant moving around. Veronica gives him an ultimatum: give up violence and live a normal life with her or lose her forever ("Seventeen"). J.D. agrees and they reconcile. Martha tells Veronica she suspects J.D. of murdering the jocks, believing Ram's "love note" to her is proof. Veronica, urged by Heather C.'s ghost, confesses that she was actually the one who wrote it. Martha is heartbroken and runs off in tears.
Veronica, having faked her death, races to stop him ("Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)"). She confronts J.D in the boiler room, but in their struggle, he is shot. Unable to disarm the detonator, Veronica takes it to the empty football field, out of range to detonate the bombs. J.D. convinces her to let him take the detonator instead ("I Am Damaged"). It explodes, killing him alone.
Returning to school, Veronica takes Heather C.'s scrunchie away from Heather D. and kisses her on the cheek, ending the era of social ridicule. Veronica then invites Martha and Heather M. to hang out (depending on blocking, Heather D. is also included in some productions), rent a movie, and be kids before childhood is over ("Seventeen (Reprise)").
A new song for Heather Duke, "Never Shut Up Again", was also added for the London run, replacing "Blue (Reprise)". For the 2017 workshop, there was a different song to replace "Blue (Reprise)", which became "Big Fun (Reprise)", part of which is now included in "Never Shut Up Again". In the last week at The Other Palace, the authors added a new song after "Shine a Light (Reprise)" called "I Say No", in which Veronica finally dumps J.D. when he proposes a return to murdering, telling him "You need help I can't provide" and walking out on him. The song remained in the show for the Haymarket run and was released on February 15, 2019, as the first single on the West End cast album.
Andy Cohen and J. Todd Harris secured the rights from Daniel Waters (the screenwriter of the film) and immediately thought of Andy Fickman to direct. After seeing Laurence O'Keefe's work with Legally Blonde and how he transitioned film to theatre, he decided to pair him with Reefer Madness collaborator Kevin Murphy. Originally, lyricist Amy Powers was on the creative team, but she transitioned to joining producers Cohen and Harris. Fickman, Murphy and O'Keefe were also producers on the original productions in Los Angeles and New York. Fickman said of the experience, "we found that Heathers gave a great deal of opportunity for '80s commentary and a great chance for music and storytelling."[3]
Three private readings of the work in progress were held in Los Angeles in 2009, each starring Kristen Bell as Veronica. The first was in March at the Beverly Hills offices of Endeavor Agency (starring Christian Campbell as J.D.); the second in June at the Hudson Theatre on Santa Monica Boulevard (starring Scott Porter as J.D.); and the third in December at the Coast Theatre in West Hollywood, starring James Snyder as J.D. In each reading, Jenna Leigh Green, Corri English, and Christine Lakin played Heather Chandler, Heather McNamara and Heather Duke, respectively.[4]
Heathers: The Musical played at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles for a limited engagement on the weekends from September 21, 2013, to October 6, 2013. The cast included Barrett Wilbert Weed as Veronica, Ryan McCartan as J.D., Sarah Halford as Heather Chandler, Kristolyn Lloyd as Heather Duke, and Elle McLemore as Heather McNamara. The production was music directed by Ryan Shore.[6]
The musical next played off-Broadway, with previews beginning in March at New World Stages, directed by Andy Fickman. Coincidentally, New World is also the name of the original film's distributor. The cast included Barrett Wilbert Weed, Ryan McCartan, and Elle McLemore reprising their roles as Veronica, J.D., and Heather McNamara, respectively, with new additions being Jessica Keenan Wynn as Heather Chandler, Alice Lee as Heather Duke and Tony Award winner Anthony Crivello as Bill Sweeney/'Big Bud' Dean.[7] The show began previews on March 15, 2014, and opened on March 31, 2014.[citation needed]
The production played its final performance on August 4, 2014.[9][10] According to star Ryan McCartan, the original goal of the Heathers production team was to eventually create a film adaptation of the musical, with McCartan signing on to the L.A. and New York productions with the promise of reprising his role in the film. For numerous reasons, a film adaptation never emerged.[11]
A workshop of the musical at The Other Palace, London, held 5 presentations in the Studio from 30 May to 3 June 2017. The workshop featured Charlotte Wakefield as Veronica Sawyer and Jamie Muscato as J.D..[12]
The show had its official London premiere in the Theatre at The Other Palace from June 9 to August 4, 2018, starring Carrie Hope Fletcher as Veronica Sawyer and Jamie Muscato as J.D.[13] The production is produced by Bill Kenwright and Paul Taylor-Mills, directed again by Andy Fickman and with choreographer/associate director Gary Lloyd.[14] For the London production "Blue" has been changed to the new song "You're Welcome" and Heather Duke has received her own song "Never Shut Up Again" as well as a few script changes.
Heathers transferred to the West End at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, running from September 3, 2018, to November 24, 2018.[15][14] A new song for Veronica, "I Say No", as well as a few script changes to Act 2 were added for the transfer.[citation needed] A West End cast recording was released on Ghostlight Records on March 1. The album debuted at No. 24 on the Official Albums Chart.[citation needed]
The musical returned to the West End with performances beginning on June 21, 2021, and ran at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until September 11, 2021. The cast included Jodie Steele reprising her role as Heather Chandler.[17] The tour opened in Leeds on 5 August 2021 and finished in Edinburgh.[18][19]
Heathers: The Musical's 2014 Off-Broadway run was generally received well by critics and audiences alike. The musical was praised for staying true to the film while still having its own original additions to the storyline.[36] The score and choreography of the musical were also given praise.[37]
The musical, however, was criticized for the length and its characters not living up to the cast of the original movie. It has also been criticized for taking the dark themes of the source material and sanitizing them with bubbly music and cartoon-like characters.[38]
Marilyn Stasio, writing for Variety, wrote, "[S]easoned industry pros could pick up a few tips on the Do's and Don'ts of adapting material from this smartly executed musical treatment of 'Heathers.'" She praised the lyrics but was not a fan of the music, writing: "Even at their giddiest, the lyrics never dumb down the characters singing them. Wish we could say the same for the music, which is brassy and blah and sounds nothing like the music that made the 80s."[39]
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