Theatre Trip: Heathers

HEATHERS

New Wimbledon Theatre
Date: 5 November (Friday), 7:30pm
Seats: Stalls W10-12

(Seen with Jess and Linda!)

It's another touring show at Wimbledon! These are my favourite on a work day, because no matter when I say I'm going leave (5pm) versus when I actually leave (just after 5:30!), I can still have time for dinner and a quick catch up before a show. Today Jess and I met at McDonalds at half 6 to grab some dinner before the show. I also had her birthday present to give to her, as I haven't seen her since her birthday last week! Linda ran late and had to sneak in after the opening number, but it was lovely to have her.

As it is Heathers, I have seen it before on the West End several times. This production was essentially the same in plot and staging as on the West End. It has, however, been several years since we saw it and of course the cast has completely changed. We also had several understudies in our performance.

We even got drinks at the interval - it has been a long week after all! Being Heathers, they have slushies for sale, and I got us each one with an added shot of vodka for interval! Unfortunately, my drink was so frozen that it got stuck in the straw and I couldn't actually drink it until it melted, which meant I didn't get it to actually drink until after the show!

I thought the Heathers in this show were quite good. Heather Chandler, Duke and MacNamara were played by U/S Daisy Twells, Merryl Ansah, and Lizzy Parker respectively. Heather Chandler was much funnier than I remember Jodie Sam Steele was, but her vocals weren't quite as strong, especially up in the higher register. Heather Duke, I actually preferred to T'Shan Williams from the West End cast. Her vocals were stronger and she didn't fade into the  background as much in this version, which I liked. Heather Mac I also really liked. She had a very different, less silly portrayal than Sophie Isaacs in the other cast and I liked her vocals a lot. 

Ram and Kurt (U/s Callum Connolly, Liam Doyle) I didn't like as much. They were good jocks, of course, but I didn't think they were actually handsome enough! If you're going to spend more than an hour every night wearing just your underpants you need to be looking good. JD (Simon Gordon) was quite good - a little shouty at times but good. He didn't really get as creepy as I expected, either, until the key moments when his psychopath side actually came out.

Veronica (U/S May Tether) I really liked. Her comedic timing and facial expressions were totally on point! I thought it made her much funnier. Her accent was VERY strong and meant a lot of the vowels changed shape (and therefore sound) and it made some of them a lot harsher, but her notes were very accurate and I felt like she balanced the character of Veronica really well. I have to admit I was more impressed than I would have been given that she is the understudy rather than the usual Veronica. Unusual to have an understudy on a Friday night, but oh well.

In summary, it was a very good show and I loved being able to see a show I really like again! It's just that the original West End cast was the only cast of this show most people have experienced, and being on the recording too means that their versions of the characters feel like they are set in stone for me. So they weren't bad, just very different versions. And I did still like them a lot! It's nice to see different versions of familiar characters.