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Before Mean Girls, there was Heathers. The 1989 black comedy still stands up as a cruel, cutting satire of 80s teen films, starring a young Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer, a popular girl with the heart of an outsider who’s in with the trio of cool girls, all named Heather, at Westerberg High. Sick of the tyranny of the “lip gloss gestapo”, she falls for a mysterious new student, Jason “JD” Dean, and becomes an unwitting accomplice to murders framed as suicides.

Heathers the Musical premiered in 2014 and has more in common, aesthetically and tonally, with the film’s millennial successors. A high-octane blast of colour with a bombastic pop-rock score by Laurence O’Keefe (Legally Blonde) and Kevin Murphy, the musical has gained a devoted fanbase. Seeing it on opening night felt not unlike going to a pop concert, with the costumed audience emitting high-pitched screams the moment the cast appeared on stage.

The young cast shines, particularly Emma Caporaso making her professional debut as Veronica. Swapping Ryder’s apathetic cynicism for something warmer and more likable makes the ensuing antics even more jarring, though it also takes the sting out of some of the character’s iconic, sarcastic lines, and her eventual redemption feels less transformative. Caporaso’s soaring vocals elevate staple songs like Dead Girl Walking and the moving, anthemic ballad Seventeen.

The Voice finalist Calista Nelmes embodies “mythic bitch” queen bee Heather Chandler, bedazzled in red – her vocal gymnastics on Candy Store are impressive, and she plays both flesh and ghostly versions of the character with campiness. Abigail Sharp as Heather McNamara has a stunning moment with Lifeboat, showing off her dynamic range from a timid whisper to a bell-clear belt. In a clever bit of stage design by David Shields, the Heathers are often positioned a tier above the rest of the cast, reinforcing their position in the hierarchy. Colour plays a strong, striking role in this production, too – the Clueless-esque colour-blocked outfits have matching spotlights, and it’s a genuine thrill when Heather Duke (Amélia Rojas) becomes the new leader, signalled by her green outfit and socks suddenly turning bright red.

Conor Beaumont plays a brooding, Beaudelaire-quoting JD with sensitivity, giving the character flashes of tortured humanity as his murderous rage grows – one of the most contentious changes from film to stage, as Christian Slater’s original version is more blatantly psychopathic. Alongside the excellent Ellis Dolan as JD’s abusive father, Beaumont imbues a sense of pathos. It’s a shame that his vocals aren’t quite as strong, wavering on key songs like Meant To Be Yours; when he sings with Caporaso, though, the challenge seems to melt away with strong and believable chemistry.

Heathers covers serious issues, from suicide and bullying to eating disorders, rape culture and homophobia. The approach to the latter two topics has obviously changed in the last few decades and the musical knows it – the controversial Blue, a jokey number about date rape and “blue balls”, has been swapped out since 2019 for the more explicit You’re Welcome, in a scene where Veronica faces real physical danger from jocks Kurt and Ram (played as goofy comic relief by Nic Van Lits and David Cuny). A one-liner from the source material has been transformed into an unlikely celebration of queerness (My Dead Gay Son). Slow-motion fight scenes also add to the schlocky humour of the piece, undercutting the real violence depicted.

Bigger missteps are in the newer songs such as I Say No, in which Veronica finally rejects JD, comparing him to a drug (“This troubled teen is getting clean” is one of many on-the-nose lyrics). It does the audience a disservice to have to spell things out so explicitly, and while Caporaso carries it with admirable defiance, the unsubtle moralising erases the grey that makes Heathers such a strange and compelling story to begin with.

Heathers the Musical is more bark than bite, and the stakes never truly feel high – but it’s good, hammy fun, and the cast and audience alike are clearly having a ball. Its tonal chaos is the embodiment of the whiplash in one of Slater’s chilling lines from the film: “Our love is God. Let’s go get a slushie.”

  • Heathers the Musical is in Melbourne until 9 May. It tours to Adelaide 16-26 July, Gold Coast 30 July-9 August, Canberra 14-23 August, Sydney 26-29 August and 1-19 September, and Perth 30 September – 11 October. All dates and venues here