meteordust (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
meteordust) wrote2016-06-12 11:17 pm
meteordust) wrote2016-06-12 11:17 pm
Heathers: The Musical
This isn't anything as coherent as a review of Heathers: The Musical, but I need to ramble about it.
I've seen a lot of musicals in my time. But I can't remember any that made me so impressed and so uncomfortable at the same time.
I've somehow never seen the movie, despite it being a cult classic. I knew it was a black comedy, but it turned out much darker than I expected. I was enjoying the songs and the humour, Veronica colluding and colliding with the Heathers, making tough choices about popularity and ostracism, defending her friends, falling in love - and suddenly a sharp left turn into murder? Your boyfriend is a psycho, Veronica! "Freeze My Brain" showed the vulnerable side of JD, but "Our Love is God" gave me chills.
Going in without knowing the story was very effective. I was riveted with suspense. And sometimes, with agony. The show is unflinching in its portrayal of how some teenagers target others, throw slurs at them, threaten them, shame them. "Blue" and its reprise were incredibly difficult to watch.
It's confronting. Themes like school shootings and bombings resonate very differently now, than when the movie was released in 1988. And the themes of bullying, sexual harassment, and youth suicide are always starkly painful. "Lifeboat" is one of many poignant moments. The teenagers see themselves as damaged, and adults as indifferent or helpless. Sometimes they hurt so badly, they want to kill themelves or kill others. JD picks the latter, with escalating violence.
And yet. Veronica rejects JD's solution of killing everyone he judges responsible for their suffering. She reaches out with compassion, to Heather McNamara, to Martha Dunnstock. In the "Dead Girl Walking" reprise, Veronica is willing to sacrifice her life to carry JD's ticking bomb away to an isolated place. (And how neat is the reprise, that it's now not social death she's facing, but literal death. And also that JD at this moment actually thinks she's dead, because she managed to fake him out.) And then, almost in a moment of grace, he takes on the bomb himself, because he believes that he's too damaged to be saved but she isn't. There's cruelty, brutality, and despair, but also courage, kindness, and - in the end - hope. "Seventeen" and its reprise were just beautiful.
Overall, it was incredibly well put together. The cast was fantastic. The plot was lean and brisk. Every beat was true. Every reaction was earned. Every song was a punch of emotion. It's just about a note perfect example of a musical. The cool thing about adaptations is, they give you a chance to refine the essence of the original. I should have guessed, from the calibre of the songs, that it was co-written by one of the co-writers of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Not always easy to watch, but very worthwhile.
I've seen a lot of musicals in my time. But I can't remember any that made me so impressed and so uncomfortable at the same time.
I've somehow never seen the movie, despite it being a cult classic. I knew it was a black comedy, but it turned out much darker than I expected. I was enjoying the songs and the humour, Veronica colluding and colliding with the Heathers, making tough choices about popularity and ostracism, defending her friends, falling in love - and suddenly a sharp left turn into murder? Your boyfriend is a psycho, Veronica! "Freeze My Brain" showed the vulnerable side of JD, but "Our Love is God" gave me chills.
Going in without knowing the story was very effective. I was riveted with suspense. And sometimes, with agony. The show is unflinching in its portrayal of how some teenagers target others, throw slurs at them, threaten them, shame them. "Blue" and its reprise were incredibly difficult to watch.
It's confronting. Themes like school shootings and bombings resonate very differently now, than when the movie was released in 1988. And the themes of bullying, sexual harassment, and youth suicide are always starkly painful. "Lifeboat" is one of many poignant moments. The teenagers see themselves as damaged, and adults as indifferent or helpless. Sometimes they hurt so badly, they want to kill themelves or kill others. JD picks the latter, with escalating violence.
And yet. Veronica rejects JD's solution of killing everyone he judges responsible for their suffering. She reaches out with compassion, to Heather McNamara, to Martha Dunnstock. In the "Dead Girl Walking" reprise, Veronica is willing to sacrifice her life to carry JD's ticking bomb away to an isolated place. (And how neat is the reprise, that it's now not social death she's facing, but literal death. And also that JD at this moment actually thinks she's dead, because she managed to fake him out.) And then, almost in a moment of grace, he takes on the bomb himself, because he believes that he's too damaged to be saved but she isn't. There's cruelty, brutality, and despair, but also courage, kindness, and - in the end - hope. "Seventeen" and its reprise were just beautiful.
Overall, it was incredibly well put together. The cast was fantastic. The plot was lean and brisk. Every beat was true. Every reaction was earned. Every song was a punch of emotion. It's just about a note perfect example of a musical. The cool thing about adaptations is, they give you a chance to refine the essence of the original. I should have guessed, from the calibre of the songs, that it was co-written by one of the co-writers of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Not always easy to watch, but very worthwhile.
no subject
no subject
Candy Store
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Xb_Aw2cL8
Seventeen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4go2Bw5jDKw