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A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
Production photos by Pamela Raith Photography https://pamelaraith.com/photography/theatre/
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The latest in the trend of turning 80s movies into musicals, has finally come to Aberdeen. This one is by Bill Kenwright Ltd and Paul Taylor-Mills, directed by Andy Fickman and choreographed by Gary Lloyd. I loved Heathers as a teenager, mainly because I was a huge fan of Winona Ryder after seeing her in Edward Scissorhands. It is a fabulous story, although Heathers has dark themes running through it. It covers teenage angst, bullying, suicide, sexuality, gun crime, and things that can go wrong so easily when you are young and inexperienced. The musical stage version is full of laughs and fun; not to mention some brilliant acting.
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Winona’s character Veronica Sawyer is struggling though high school as a nerd, until she sees an opening to get in with the Heathers. These are the cool girls of the school, who everyone looks up to, mainly because the lead girl is an absolute bully and makes them all listen to her! The main storyline looks at the cost of pursuing popularity as a teenager in America. In both versions Veronica gets involved with a brooding male, Jason “JD” Dean who is new to Westerberg High school. In the movie this was Christian Slater, in the musical it is Keelan McAuley, who fits perfectly with Jenna Innes as Veronica. Their duet of Our Love is God is especially moving. There are some fantastic outfits (did we really wear that?!), and some clever set changes taking us from the different locations of: school, the characters’ houses, and a field.
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The Heathers themselves are played by Sedona Sky, Esme Bowdler and Daisy Twells, who are just perfect as the three much revered, although also slightly feared, girls. In their distinct colourful outfits with matching short skirts and long socks, these girls pose and pout perfectly through the whole performance. Iconic, although in the musical I could not stop thinking of Clueless as Heather McNamara’s yellow outfit made me think of Alicia Silverstone as Cher.
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This black comedy featured some brilliant songs – its not often a funeral scene features a song such as My Dead Gay Son! Candy Store is probably the best known song but my favourite is when Veronica meets JD and he sings Freeze Your Brain, because we all need a song worshipping the American staple of a Seven Eleven!
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This performance was made even more special by the fact that the lead character Jenna Innes is from Aberdeen. Apparently many of the audience were her family, welcoming her home. She asked us to give donations to a local mental health charity at the end of the performance which seemed very fitting. As they were all leaving the stage, after a standing ovation, someone passed Jenna the Scotland flag and she twirled it round in the middle of the stage as her fellow stars watched her delighted from the back of the stage. One of those magical moments you only get with live theatre.
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Footnote: Thanks to my companion Laura Bain for capturing the special moment in the attached photo, and for having a lager in the interval so we discovered that Aberdeen Performing Arts now have their very own Fierce Beer – two of my favourite local companies collaborating is a marvellous thing! We had already been excited to see the musical version of this much loved film but were squealing like school girls ourselves when we went to the bar during the interval! I would also highly recommend a Fierce!
Further information: https://www.heathersthemusical.com/
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Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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