Despite its depiction of dark, heavy themes like murder and teen suicide, “Heathers: The Musical:” has gained a significant following out of appreciation for its off-color humor, somewhat jovial tone and energetic musical numbers. Though it has never reached the heights of Broadway, its spectacular Off-Broadway and West End runs pleaded for a live recording to take place. Thus, Roku blessed fans with a professionally shot, or proshot, of the show, specifically its 2022 West End Revival.

Based on the 1988 film “Heathers,” the musical adaptation focuses on the culture of Westerberg High School, an institution dictated by its toxic social ladder and rigid cliques. More aptly, the show hones in on the titular “Heathers,” the so-called popular girls whose status quo is disrupted by Veronica Sawyer (Ailsa Davidson, in her stage debut), a reluctant inductee to the group whose own life takes a turn for the worse after meeting homicidal bad boy J.D. (Simon Gordon, “Girl From the North Country”). 

Keeping in tow with its source material, “Heathers: The Musical” greatly discusses sensitive themes including mental illness, like bulimia and teen suicide, while using the absurdity of its narrative to adopt such concepts as the basis for dark humor. While the show generally handles its themes with care, its willingness to frame some of its comedic moments around such serious topics may potentially be triggering to some viewers. However, others with the ability to stomach its comedy may find that most of the jokes land based on their shock value and enthusiastic delivery, alone.

As for the cast, Davidson perfectly captures the troubled, timid nature of her character, making the role her own while also delivering an appropriate, though fittingly more perky, emulation of Winona Ryder’s (“Stranger Things”) performance in the original film. Though somewhat unassuming in terms of acting, the rest of the cast displays infectious vocals which radiate with energy and flare throughout the show’s entirety. The only exception to this praise is Gordon, whose plain crooning does little to convey his character’s bad boy nature, especially in headbanging numbers like “Freeze Your Brain.”

The proshot itself is adequately filmed, displaying the show from multiple angles and shots which help elevate it past the static view one would have sitting in a theater seat. However, its use of shots displaying the audience itself, though not uncommon for stage recordings, may take viewers out of the performance by distracting from the action onstage.

Given the Roku Channel’s status as a free service, the notion of commercials being thrown into the mix with the recording should be of little shock to viewers. However, as opposed to using natural pauses in the show, like scene transitions and song endings, to stop and break for ads, interruptions are often implemented at unnatural moments mid-scene. To further worsen the issue, the film itself unabashedly shows these abrupt pauses were built into its production, using eye-catching, yet unforgivable, rotoscoped animations to signify its abrupt transitions to commercial.

Though far from the authentic theater experience, “Heathers: The Musical’s” proshot greatly succeeds in providing a taste of the stage for home audiences. Though not without its own shortcomings, the film successfully captures the show’s overall electricity, thus giving viewers a reason to get off the couch and start dancing.

Image from The Roku Channel via YouTube