Award-winning sell-out musical HEATHERS blessed our presence at the Grand Opera House York last night and wow, what a blessing it was!
Jenna Innes lead the show as ‘Veronica Sawyer’ and stole the stage with her heartfelt acting and unbelievable vocals. Portraying perfectly the twists and turns of this dark plot, Innes managed to effectively convey the inner turmoil and struggles of teenagehood and modern society. Her solo Dead Girl Walking and duet Seventeen brought the auditorium to silence as we were taken on her journey of emotion.
Alongside Innes, Jacob Fowler played J.D.: the musical’s central antagonist. He did an excellent job at portraying such a complex and “damaged” character. The onstage rapport between J.D. and Veronica was great at encapsulating such a heart-wrenching and troubled relationship. Act One ended with a powerful rendition of Our Love is God epitomizing the captivating relationship between the two.
The iconic Heather trio was played by Verity Thompson (Chandler), Summer Priest (Duke) and Billie Bowman (Mcnamara) and we can assure you that we were kind of in awe when they first stepped out on stage. It’s the recognisable trio that’s splashed over all the billboards and here they were, the red green and yellow silhouetted on York stage- almost a bit surreal!
Whilst the show tackles some very serious and hard-hitting topics, it balances these moments with humour. The cast managed these moments spectacularly with each one bringing their own personal flair to the well-loved characters. Heather Chandler (Verity Thompson) and Ram Sweeney (Morgan Jackson) in particular had the audience in hysterics.
It’s safe to say we didn’t realise people could sound so incredible in real life, it sounded like we were listening to an edited soundtrack. Actually… it sounded even better. Our only criticism is that sometimes that sound could have been louder. Certain microphones, such as Heather Duke’s (Summer Priest) could have been turned up. Then again, that’s a criticism on the technical side rather than the acting!
HEATHERS was everything we could have hoped for, and more!
Heathers the Musical is on a national tour, and will be performed at the Grand Opera House York until Saturday 13th May, where you can get tickets here.