Samantha Regan, playing Veronica Sawyer, is picked over by Olivia Gogas, playing Heather Chandler, right, and Erin Innes, playing Heather McNamara. Heathers: The Musical runs Oct. 23-26 at the Imperial Theatre.
Tyler Kula / Tyler Kula/The Observer
Theatre Sarnia is going back to school for its latest show, Heathers: The Musical.
“(It’s) kind of like an ’80s version of Mean Girls, but with murder,” said Olivia Gogas, one of the actors in the Oct. 23 to Oct. 26 production at the Imperial Theatre. “It’s not a super well-known show, and it is a darker comedy, so people are skeptical when they hear, like ‘What? Murder?’
“But it’s funny and it’s fun, and it would be a fun night out for adults around Halloween time, just to kind of get you in the spirit,” she said.
Based on the 1988 movie Heathers, the rock-laden musical follows Veronica Sawyer (played by Samantha Regan) through her makeover and acceptance into a clique of popular girls all named Heather, after she does them a favour.
But being part of the group isn’t what she thought it would be, and falling in love with new student J.D. offers a solution to her problem, Theatre Sarnia officials said in a synopsis.
“So there’s the three mean girls, and then they take in the lesser cool girl, make her over,” said Gogas, who plays the lead Heather (Heather Chandler).
“And then it kind of all goes to hell when she and her boyfriend start murdering everyone.”
Heathers is a favourite for Regan, who said she’s “beyond stoked” for what she called her dream role.
“I feel like it’s a story that really needs to be told, and in our society, we really don’t get to talk much about suicide and just mental health in general,” she said, “so I think it’s a great way to bring that topic to discussion.”
She recommended watching the movie before catching the musical, she said.
“The musical is a little bit different. It can be very humorous, but it’s also very dark.”
Directed by Ian Alexander and choreographed by Jackie Burns, the shows are 7:30 p.m. each night at the downtown Sarnia theatre.
Parental guidance is suggested.
Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors, $15 for 19- to 29-year-olds, and $12.50 for youth, and are available at imperialtheatre.net.
