Heathers At The Lyceum Sheffield Review

Reviewed by Jenny Bray

This is the first UK touring show of the musical Heathers, which carries on throughout the UK until December. It is a musical based on the film of the same name that came out in 1989, written by Daniel Walters that starred Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, although I have to confess that I’ve never watched the film. It was turned in to a West End show in 2018 by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe and then became the touring show I have just watched.

This was my second show since before the first lockdown. The first I went to was less than half full so it was nice to see that this one was full.

The main star of the show is Veronica Sawyer (Rebecca Wickes), who starts off as a nobody in Westerburg High school in Sherwood, Ohio. It starts on 1st September 1989. Her best friend is Martha Dunnstock (Mhairi Angus) who is also a shunned individual as fat, frumpy and a glasses wearer. Veronica comes to the front of the stage and states excerpts from her diary at various points of the show.

I don’t think it will be giving too much of the plot away to say that the 3 popular girls, who are worshipped across the school, are all called Heather. There’s Heather Mcnamara (Lizzy Parker) who is in red, Heather Duke (Merryl Ansah) in green and Heather Chandler (Maddison Firth) in yellow. They all wear matching outfits in different colours, with short skirts and blazers. They are rich and their ‘inner circle’ is hailed as beautiful. When Veronica does them a favour she asks if she can sit with them just once for lunch but they decide to make her over instead. She then gets a matching blue outfit in order to join them and her name gets included when everyone sings of their appearance. She loves no longer being a nobody, even though the Heathers are making her do tasks for them. One of these jobs leads her to pick things up for them from the local seven eleven store, where she meets new boy Jason Dean, known as JD (Simon Gordon). JD is a troubled soul but she swoons after him. This leads her to all sorts of haunting trouble after she gets with him after shunning the Heathers at a party to support her friend Martha and stop them continually picking on her, which all leads to an explosive ending.

Kurt (Liam Doyle) and Ram (Rory Phelan) did a great job as the ‘jocks’, goofing around and picking on others. They also strip to just their underpants for a few scenes. The rest of the cast do a great job of dancing around energetically throughout.

In the second half, teacher Ms Fleming (Georgina Hagen) does a great job of interacting with the audience. Poor Steve. I’m not sure how much was ad libbed but Steve had a skinhead and the song talked of a full head of hair and how it was a shame he hadn’t worn it tonight, which made the audience laugh.

It’s probably not suitable for a younger audience due to both the storyline and the amount of swearing in it. Let’s be realistic, they’re portraying 17 year old teenage angst, so swearing aplenty is to be expected!

While waiting for the show to start there was 80s music playing. This also played during the interval. The set throughout is of the inside of the high school and doesn’t really change much, apart from a few props being added in on occasion. The costumes are bright, some would say gaudy, which brings a lighter side to the darker plot being unravelled.

The sound didn’t seem quite right for this show. It was a little too loud, which distorted the voices slightly. This seemed particularly true on occasion when JD was singing. I’m sure this will be sorted after the opening night though.

It’s also worth noting that there are some points where strobe lighting and special effects are used, which is mentioned prior to entry as a warning to those who can’t tolerate these kinds of special effects.

The Sheffield theatres are situated in the heart of Sheffield. This show was on at the Lyceum, which generally hosts the touring shows. It is well signposted around the city centre and there is plenty of parking nearby. I was pleased to see that the local Q park at Charles Street still has an agreement with the theatres to offer the first hour free if you get a ticket from a member of staff at the theatre. Otherwise, much of the on street parking near the theatre only requires a ticket until 8.30. With extra covid precautions in place, bag checking and new e-tickets are checked in the fresh air, before entering the building. The cloakroom is not open but the bar is. Masks are to be worn at all times, other than when eating or drinking. The staff were all wearing masks.

The show is about teen stereotypes, wanting to fit in, murder, suicide and many things in between. Despite the plot line actually being quite dark, it’s still a very light hearted and cheery feel good musical I’d recommend seeing.

Rating: I rate it a 4/5

Tickets cost from £15.

Heathers is at Sheffield Lyceum from Tuesday 14th until Saturday 18th September 2021. For more information or to book tickets visit https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/heathers/dates or call the box office on 0114 2496000.
Sheffield Lyceum theatre, 55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA