Heathers the Musical Review at The Arts at Marble Arch

Heathers: The Musical emerged as a popular off-Broadway show in 2014, gathering a young fanbase known as Cornnuts.  It is based on the 1988 cult film “Heathers”. It opened in London in 2018, and its popularity enabled it to continue to run in London and on a UK tour through to 2024.  The show returned to New York in 2025 and has been extended until November 2026.   

The show follows Veronica Sawyer, who seeks popularity to fit in by joining the “Heathers”. Her plan to use them for social acceptance is rocked when she falls for JD, and the events that unravel evolve into dark comedy and murderous situations.

Performances – 5/5 ⭐️ 

The show starts with a bold and powerful opening by Veronica who is played by Gerardine Sacdalan. Her performance was charismatic with a beautifully clear voice throughout. JD played by Louis Hearsey, was perfectly tortured. His spiral to self-destruction was portrayed through intensity of physicality and song. The pairing was excellent, and this particularly came through when their acting and voices combined in “Seventeen”, which built and blended exquisitely.

Another immaculate pairing was Kurt and Ram, played by Markus Södergren and Beau Jackson respectively. Their energy together is top level, which brings out their best performances with sharp duo moves and you almost warm to these characters despite their obvious personality flaws. Their slo-mo fight number with JD was outstanding.

The Heathers were everything that you would want them to be. Special mention should be made of Heather McNamara’s “Lifeboat” performed by Lou Henry which was the most emotionally expressive version that I have seen. Similarly Martha Dunnstock’s “Kindergarten Boyfriend” performed by Sophie Manners drew you in and she was outstanding in this role.

The cast bring together the rest of the varied school community, maintaining their individual characters with dynamic energy. Their stand out numbers for me were “Big Fun”, “My Dead Gay Son” and “Shine a Light” where the performances gelled with animated pride and appropriate humour.

It was a joy to watch such a strong cast successfully perform this show, making it feel vibrant and new.

Music, Story & Writing – 4.5 /5 ⭐️ 

Sometimes it is refreshing to hear new music for the first time but I think I enjoyed this show more because I know the music so well now: I’d forgotten how many bangers are in this show. 

The story and writing were built in such a way that they made sense. For example, JD’s spiral linked back to his experience losing his mother, and we were given just enough to explain Heather Duke’s bulimia, Kurt and Ram’s dads’ connection and Heather McNamara’s depressive thoughts. My slight confusion related to Veronica, who was trying to fit in by seeking popularity to avoid being bullied. So she swung from wanting to be left alone to having to step up in her journey in her character’s progression, but finding her way back to Martha is believable. I also always feel that it is a stretch for Kurt and Ram to move from typical school bullies to likely date rapists in order to move the story forward but understand the possibility.

The show incorporates several dark themes to successfully highlight some of the issues faced by this cross section of High School characters. As always, please be aware of age ratings and trigger warnings.

Staging, Lighting & Sound 4/5 ⭐️  

The backdrop is inside the school, with additional set pieces moved on and off. This theatre is a temporary venue so these pieces were moved manually, and I was aware of some noise during these changes. A second level is used which works well in this particular venue because there is one ceiling height throughout from back of stage to the very back of auditorium, meaning there should not be any cutoff from overhang restriction.

Lighting was used effectively, and I particularly liked the use of primary colours to highlight the Heathers in their colours to enhance their design.

A comment must be made about the temporary venue. Whilst it is fantastic to have a new venue for the interim Arts, the location between very busy roads does affect the sound within the auditorium. Before the show, loud music was played, but this served to generate energy in the auditorium, and there was no obvious outside interference during the sung performances. However, sirens from traffic were intrusive during spoken sections. During my visit, it was unfortunate that this occurred during the iconic croquet scene and the initial funeral speech.

Overall Experience   

The chemistry of this entire cast together is the strength of this show. The air conditioning was effective, which was very pleasant at this time of the year. There were a couple of minor sound issues as well as outside noise, but they were passing and not dissimilar from other venues where you may perhaps hear noise from trains overhead or outside bars. It would be a shame if that is all that people talk about instead of these incredible voices and performances. For me, this reiteration is an improvement on the previous UK run.

Heathers the Musical plays at the Arts at Marble Arch Threatre until 22 August 2026.

Where I Sat

I sat in H17 of the Stalls. This was the middle of the row, about a third back, with a clear view of the entire stage. There was a good, equally stepped rake throughout this venue, so the view must be decent even at the back, just further from the stage. However, my seat was not staggered with the one in front and the seats around me all appeared to be lined up with those in front. Therefore, I found myself sitting upright to see over the person in front despite the stepped rake. Legroom was great, and the seat was nicely supportive despite the temporary venue.

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Reviewed by Candace Ashby for SeatPlan, July 2026