Dead Girl Walking!!

I told you this was going to be a very varied trip - straight after Twelfth Night, I took myself back to the other side of the river for a bit of shopping and a walk down Oxford Street towards Piccadilly Circus, in which I got to see a bit of the Christmas lights. Then after some food it was off to the Theatre Royal Haymarket near Trafalgar Square to see my last show of the trip: Heathers: The Musical, based off the 1988 cult film of the same name.

It originally opened off-Broadway in 2014, and starred Barrett Wilbert-Weed, Ryan McCarton and Jessica Keenan-Wynn (Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again); this version has also been directed by the original director, Andy Fickman.

After the workshop at The Other Palace (formally the St James') last year, it had a run during the summer at the same venue - and at the time when I was in London during the summer, it was all sold out, just like Fun Home. However, it was because I couldn't get tickets for these two that I saw Everybody's Talking About Jamie and the cast change at Wicked instead, so it all turned out great. But after hearing that Heathers was going to get a West End transfer, I was over the moon that that I was going to have another go trying to see this show, which has become a bit of a cult hit itself, especially in the young theatre-going crowd.

In fact, when I told a lady who was staying in the same room as me at the hostel that I was planning to see the show, she told me that she had seen it not that long ago. I remember her saying that there were a LOT of young fans screaming at every entrance and I thought "oh God", hoping it wouldn't be like Grease all over again. Tbh, though, while we did have some big fans in the house, they weren't completely crazy, realising that it was still a theatre performance. So thank you guys for showing your fandom while also being respectful for people who hadn't seen it before, and maybe those who wouldn't normally come to a show like this.

….Anyways, onto the main event....

Just like the film, the show mainly discusses bullying, what people are willing to do to achieve popularity, and the cost of said popularity at the expense of you being yourself.

The story follows 17 year-old Veronica Sawyer (played by Carrie Hope Fletcher (The Addams Family)), struggling to survive her high school: "This ain't no high school, This is the thunder-dome". When she becomes friends with the titular Heathers (Jodie Steele, T'Shan Williams and Sophie Isaacs), people start to notice her and her social standing soars. But she quickly realises being at the top of the high school food chain isn't all it's cracked up to be, so she and her new boyfriend Jason "J.D" Dean (a dreamy Jamie Muscato) decide to take matters into their own hands.

If you imagine Mean Girls but darker and with more murders you wouldn't be far off.

As I said earlier, it is very popular with the young 'uns, but adding a popular star like Fletcher (who I adore myself btw) in the cast was bound to attract even more of the younger generation, so how was she as Veronica? Well, I have to admit, I preferred her this time to when she played Wednesday. She made Veronica very relatable and human and she vocally knocked it out of the park, despite still recovering from tonsillitis!

As her boyfriend, Jamie Muscato was the perfect choice. Firstly, he was gorgeous - sorry but it's true, just my type. You could easily fall for him at the beginning. In fact, you find yourself like Vernonia drooling over your sweets during Freeze Your Brain; but after each death and during the second half, he becomes genuinely terrifying as he becomes much colder and his relationship with Veronica becomes more and more abusive.

The titular Heathers are wonderfully bitchy, particularly Steele as "the almighty..... mythic bitch" Heather Chandler, who is just as hilarious in death as she is in life, acting as Veronica's strange voice of reason on her shoulder.

I should also mention Nathan Amzi, who played Ram's Dad, JD's Dad and the school's coach. This is mainly due to his version of Dead Gay Son alone - that song is utter madness and had the whole audience in stitches.
Finally, in this cast section, is former I'd Do Anything contestant Amy Booth-Steele, who has just replaced Rebecca Lock (Mary Poppins) as Veronica's Mum and Ms Fleming. Her version of Shine A Light did take me a bit by surprise, with one moment in particular breaking the 4th wall with a rather unfortunate and embarrassed gentleman in the front row...

The show is written by Laurence O'Keefe, along with Kevin Murphy; O'Keefe wrote another big fat cheesy and fun musical, Legally Blonde. It may not be the better written of the two, or even the bigger guilty pleasure, but it certainly is just as funny and no-shame good cheese. Plus the 80s era is BIG at the moment, especially in the terms of escapism; any fan of Stranger Things will tell you that =P
I should also mention that they play a number of 80s hits whilst you're being seated and during the interval - just to hammer it in more.

If I had to nit pick about one thing, it would actually be the programme.
Ok, now hear me out here, because I have never had to talk about this before. It's big and glossy and has lots of pictures, which is great - I like lots of pictures. But the cast and creative team bios are only a booklet slotted in rather than being a part of the programme itself and it cost £10 - that's rather pricey, especially as the programmes for the other 3 shows costed no more than £5/6 each. The one for Hadestown I think seemed particularly good value as it is rather thick, and that's from the National!

I always buy a programme as they're not only helpful during the show itself but also when I'm writing my reviews - especially during the "Am I spelling that person's name right?" scenario, but it did make me wince a bit when I heard the price. Please do better Haymarket!

I'm determined not to end on a rant though, so here's the ending bits that I am always rubbish at. Was Heathers the best show I've seen? Probably not. Was it the best written or the one that made me think the most? Definitely not. But there was a reason why I chose this one. With my last big trip, I ended on Dreamgirls, which was a big fat bang. With Heathers, I knew this was going to be the same. I think the best way to say this is that if you want a friends night out to the theatre or you want something that doesn't take itself too seriously, and you're in the London area, then it's time for Big Fun!