More cheeky than challenging, more silly than serious – but Heathers the Musical is irresistible

Before the curtain had even risen on Sydney’s opening night of the Asia Pacific tour of Heathers the Musical , the merch line was packed with fans, some already boasting thematic scrunchies and (in some cases) full Heather cosplay. After the show, the line to meet the cast at the stage door was even longer. When people love Heathers, they love it with everything they’ve got – and this production won’t disappoint them.

Based on the acerbic 1988 cult film where high school power struggles turn into murders staged as suicides, the pop-rock musical landed with buzz off-Broadway back in 2014 and was fast-tracked to Sydney in a well-received production for the Hayes Theatre. A West End cast recording and professional film capture (streaming on HBO Max), helped grow the show’s passionate fanbase. Over a decade later, it’s back off-Broadway and in Sydney too: re-imagined, re-tooled, and ready to knock your socks off.

There’s a real ease to this production. Its pacing and shape, especially in the second act, has been tightened and improved by the original creative team. The cast – all excellent – are well settled into their roles. Associate director for the Asia Pacific tour, Matt Heyward, has kept a keen eye on character and the ensemble are fully dropped-in for each scene, maintaining high school hierarchies and cliquey quirks in the background – there are so many background gags and running ‘bits’ you might not catch them all.

This tour also offers a Heathers that’s still edgy (well, musical theatre edgy) but is less cruel than its original outing. Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, have cut the comedy song Blue that made light of sexual assault and replaced it with a number that gives the girl dodging those advances back her power. Slurs have also been cut, and the meanest jokes have been blunted. There’s plenty of audacity – it’s now just causing a little less harm to its audience. There’s now even a little more gravitas to bullied Martha Dunnstock, played winsomely here by Mel O’Brien (perhaps best known as half of comedy duo Mel & Sam).

The band, led by Martine Wengrow, is loud, rollicking and delightfully brash. Ben Cracknell’s lights are mischievous and bold; both elements are playful – it feels, charmingly, like they are egging on all the drama.

It’s all so very much, but the cast rises to the occasion. These are powerhouse leads who make a meal out of every joke and find new spins on old insults. Newcomer Emma Caporaso is an instant star as Veronica Sawyer – naturally funny, big-voiced, seemingly endless energy – and Calista Nelmes finds new and surprisingly arch shades of queen bee Heather Chandler. Conor Beaumont has a lighter take on brooding bad boy JD that builds nicely towards darkness, and across the board there’s a real sense of freshness and full-bodied commitment.

This cast is going to give you one hell of a show. It’s more cheeky than challenging, more silly than serious, and very easy to like. There’s no use in resisting.