Review: HEATHERS THE MUSICAL at The Nomad PlayHouse

We all have endured it at one point or another in high school, the popular kids. Maybe you were one, or maybe you were their prey. But there came a time in all of our lives where we just wanted those who tortured us, teased us, or would gossip about us to just..disappear. But never have we acted on such a thing, however Veronica Swayer can say otherwise. Who doesn't want to hear how, or why she was able to take out the most popular girl at Westerberg High School?

This can all be answer in Heather's the Musical.

The Nomad Playhouse in Boulder, CO opened its production of Heather's the Musical July 15th and it did not disappoint. Based on the 1989 cult classic, Heathers, tells the story of one Veronica Swayer, a nerd with a talent for forgery. When the most popular girls at her high school Heather McNamara, Heather Chandler, and Heather Duke, discover this she is brought into the group and into the world of the Heathers. Everything is perfect at first but when they begin to pick on her childhood friend Martha, Veronica begins to question is popularity worth it. This is when she meets the new kid at Westerberg, Jason Dean, or J.D for short. Veronica finds herself admiring him for his looks, and attitude, but through a chain of events they accidentally end up killing Heather Chandler and with the help of Veronica's forgery skills pass it off as a suicide. The consequences of this leads on to more murders, gay fathers, and the ghost of Heather haunting Veronica until she can fix what she has done.

Going into the show, I already knew of both the musical and the movie, so I did already know what I was getting into. However, I was impressed by what The Nomad Playhouse did with the production. Many of the actors in the show are local high schoolers or college freshmen and their talent really shines within the show. The standouts of the show are the leads, Nora Landy (Veronica), Marcos Ospina (J.D.) and Hannah Howard (Heather Chandler) each took on a big task when performing these roles, and they ran with it. You could really tell they were having fun,and brought the hilarity, seriousness, and compassion that is needed for the characters. However the entire cast all were wonderful to watch, and each brought their own style making the characters their own to which I really admired.

What really surprised me was the staging of the show, the off-Broadway production of Heathers had a very simply set as did the Nomad Playhouse. It worked with simplicity, and used this to its advantage. There was one staging that I thought was brilliant, and so well done even more so than the off-Broadway production, but due to the importance of the scene I will not give away any spoilers. I will say director Taylor Roberts and crew surprised me in every way with the show. All I can say is how Very it was!

Heathers is playing at The Nomad Playhouse from July15 through the 24th. For tickets call 303-673-0744 or visit http://www.centerstagetheatrecompany.org/

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