Onyx dives into the ’80s for production based on beloved black comedy ‘Heathers’

It’s hard to imagine that the 1989 dark comedy “Heathers” — featuring teen suicide, underage sex and a high school kid murdering people and plotting to blow up his school — as a musical, but it is, and it’s scheduled to be performed April 7-30 at the Onyx Theatre.

Director Troy Heard isn’t worried about an adverse reaction to the subject matter; in fact, he thinks that people who are disturbed about it really should see the show.

“They need to see this,” Heard said. “They need to see that there’s a history of these kinds of things happening; that it didn’t just pop up in the last 10 or 15 years.”

The movie version featured Winona Ryder as Veronica, a smart girl struggling to be in with the popular girls, the titular Heathers: Heather Duke, Heather McNamara and Heather Chandler. Christian Slater played the not-so-subtly named J.D., who falls for Veronica and brings her dark fantasies to deadly fruition. The musical follows the same story, with a few changes. A few characters are combined to streamline the plot, and the characters who are killed during the course of the story return as a sort of chorus of ghosts or a manifestation of Veronica’s conscience. Also, it’s a musical.

“Actually, it’s beautiful. It’s not a spoof at all,” Heard added. “Because of some of the other shows we’ve done here, some people thought it was going to be a cheap little spoof. The film was very prescient. The Heathers are the original mean girls. It’s also pre-Columbine, but you’ve got a guy in a trenchcoat running around killing his classmates.”

The theater was one of the first in the country to get the rights to produce the show, which was workshopped in Los Angeles and ran Off-Broadway. Heard added that it fit in well with the rest of the theater’s 10th anniversary season, which included ”Showgirls” and “Reservoir Dolls.” The show was difficult to cast because it’s vocally demanding, and many of the actors playing high school students are in their 20s, although there are a few high schoolers in the production, notably Maverick Hiu in the role of J.D.

Hiu seems to have a propensity for roles popularized by quirky heartthrobs: He performed in Las Vegas Academy’s recent production of “Footloose,” playing the Kevin Bacon role, which required him to burst into song before, during and after exuberant dance moves. “Heathers The Musical” casts him in the Christian Slater role, which presents its own set of challenges.

“The dance moves are less complex, and it’s nice to be able to sing without having to dance right before,” Hiu said. “It’s interesting because both the characters are seniors in high school, but J.D. is so much more complex. There are so many different levels to him. There’s a lot going on inside his head, but you’ve got to portray it externally.”

Hiu hadn’t seen the film before he was cast, but he’s watched it since. Lynnae Meyers, on the other hand, had seen the film and several productions of the musical, the latter via YouTube.

“I knew I had to audition for this show as soon as I knew they were going to do it,” said Meyers, who plays Heather McNamara. “I was happy to get any of the Heathers, but I would have done anything in the show. Everybody’s always onstage. It’s not like a chorus or ensemble. Everybody’s putting in the same amount of work.”

Because the music is so important for the show, the 17-member cast is set to be backed with a seven-piece band, which will have to work in a small space backstage, viewing the action through a monitor system.

But it isn’t the singing that Meyers is worried about — it’s the dancing.

“The hardest part for me is the choreography for ‘Candystore,’ which is pretty legit,” Meyers said. “It’s one of the staple numbers for the show, so you’ve got to make sure all of the Heathers are together doing exactly the same thing at the same time because people are expecting it. If you’re even a second out of sync, that’s going to be your downfall.”

Heard’s wife, Kady, is doing double duty as choreographer and playing a Heather.

Despite the mature themes, the show has a simple message that is summed up in the finale, “Seventeen (reprise).”

“It’s all about why are we trying to become adults, with all of the pressures that includes,” Heard said. “Why can’t we live a more simple life?”

Performances of “Heathers The Musical” are scheduled for 8 p.m. April 7, 9, 14-16, 21-23, 28-30, 10 p.m. April 8 and 5 p.m. April 10, 17 and 24 at the Onyx, 953 E. Sahara Ave.

Tickets are $25-$28. Visit onyxtheatre.com or call 702-732-7225.

To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor, email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.