Heathers The Musical
“Heathers,” one of the most ambitious projects undertaken by DRAMAT, went on show at the Fisher Theater with impressive turnouts last weekend. There was not an empty seat in sight.
“Heathers” was originally a 1988 black comedy film about the high school social scene and was later adapted into theater.
Senior Jacqui Byrne, the show’s co-director, watched the film her upper spring and “fell in love” with the songs and the humor. “I had known I wanted to direct a full length musical my senior year for a while, and when I listened to ‘Heathers,’ I knew it was perfect,” she said. Byrne reached out to fellow theater-enthusiast and senior Mila DeGuere, who agreed to co-direct the show.
Rehearsals took more than two terms because of the sheer scale of the project. During fall term, the cast mostly worked on perfecting the “Heathers” soundtrack, while winter term was devoted to blocking and going through each scene one by one. It was a learning process for everyone involved.
DeGuere commented about her inexperience as a director, saying “I had only done big shows through the Theater Department.” Directing exposed her to other aspects of the theater, such as costumes, sound and light.
“[The play] was really tailored to high-schoolers. Everybody in the audience could relate."
For senior Kenny Pitch, who portrayed football player Ram Sweeney, it was his first time participating in musicals and theater in general. His scenes included getting shot in his underwear and saying vulgar words on stage.
“People know it’s not the way I am; it’s acting,” he said. “It was weird, but I got over it.” Pitch enjoyed working on the show because it hit on a lot of truths. “Abusive relationships are common in today’s society, I see people around me blinded by what they think is love. Life can be very dramatic,” he said.
Senior Jack Baker, a member of the ensemble, also spoke about doing theater for the first time. “My senior year I wanted to branch out, I did not want to graduate without doing something musical,” he said. “I considered myself an awkward person, but I had a lot of fun with it,” he added.
Even for students who had previous experience with theater, rehearsing for the student-directed show was still a unique experience. “It’s not similar to anything I’ve done before [...] such an odd rehearsal process but it started to come together at the end,” said lower Jade Goulet, a lead member of the cast.
Because of the show’s controversial content and emphasis on suicide and murder, however, Byrne was worried about its reception from the student body. “I knew if we didn’t pull it off and people hated it, then we would have a lot of backlash,” she said. DeGuere and Byrne made sure to speak with health instructors and the DRAMAT faculty advisor to discuss what to include as trigger warnings in the speech they delivered before the productions.
During the performances, the audiences also received materials from H4 about counselling services for mental health issues. Byrne hoped that the show would evoke conversations surrounding these issues. “After all, that’s what theater is about: pushing boundaries and making you feel uncomfortable sometimes,” she said.
Another concern was the explicit depiction of gun violence, especially given the Parkland shooting that occurred only a month ago. “We were nervous that the shooting scene might offend people, but we had been working on this musical for some time; those scenes are pretty integral,” Baker said. “We briefed students beforehand that we’re not condoning gun violence or even trying to make fun of it,” he added.
Audience member Jackie Brenner said she appreciated that there was finally a show that discussed issues of great gravity with humorous undertones. “[The play] was really tailored to high-schoolers. Everybody in the audience could relate,” she said.