Shining A Light On Heathers

Our final show of the semester is Heathers The Musical. Heathers is a heartfelt, hilarious, and homicidal musical set in the ‘80s and is the definition of a campy show. The cast and crew are very excited to put this show up. 

Heathers moved in on Saturday and had a fun little optional rehearsal going over choreo and having an Easter egg hunt. Having rehearsals during holidays is hard, so it was a fun way for this cast and crew to bond. Let’s hear more about the cast and crew of Heathers!

Peyton Smith, the assistant choreographer and Ram Sweeny in the show, talked about his favorite part of the process so far and why he chose to be a director. He said “I love the creative process of choreography even more than the dancing itself! Figuring out what works/what doesn’t, seeing your vision come to life, typical non-dancers getting excited when they get a move down… it all brings me so much joy”. 

Which is why I think Sarah Cooper, the choreographer and young republicanette talked so highly of the dance rehearsals. When asked what her favorite part of the show process was, she said “I’m biased, but dance rehearsals. Getting to pump up the cast and teach a dance that Peyton and I worked on was so much fun. My absolute favorite aspect of teaching dance is when people get excited about a particular move in the dance or finally get down to a part they’d been struggling with.”

Abby Mangiafico, the lights person for the show, gave us the insider scoop on the big dance numbers when asked about her favorite parts of the rehearsal process. She said “one of my favorite parts of the show would be the huge dance numbers like “Big Fun” and “Never Shut Up Again.” All of the directors are putting in tons and tons of effort into this show but it truly shines when everyone is singing so loud and hitting these really cool dance moves. As the person doing lights for this show, I am always excited for the dance numbers on stage, but definitely for this show”. She even talked about how when the cast learns the dances, she does too, which is super special and fun. 

Almost every member of Heathers who was interviewed had something to say about the dances like the hipster dork in the show Issac Bradley, who said his favorite rehearsal moments weres the dance rehearsals. He said “even though I’m pretty sure I’m the worst dancer known to man. Sarah is just super funny so anytime she’s allowed to take the lead, I’m having fun.” Which is what LFC is all about, it's about taking chances and having fun even if you aren’t necessarily the best at whatever you're trying. 

A truly unique part of a musical process is having people step in when an actor isn’t there to sing their part, especially since for this show we have a limited amount of understudies. Zoe Purcell talks about this in her interview, she's the stage manager and she said her favorite rehearsal moment has been singing “You’re Welcome” for Kurt. 

Another fun thing is that they also have had three rehearsals every week so this group of people have gotten super close. That's why Zack Reed, a stagehand for the musical said his favorite part of the process is “being with a group of people multiple times a week. It feels so wholesome and joyous.”

Katie Mangan, the assistant stage manager, spoke about her favorite part, which is watching the show come together during tech week. It's a daunting but insanely fun task to put a show like this up on stage for the first time but we know that they’ll absolutely kill it! (literally and figuratively)

Erin Bishop—who plays Heather Duke—talked about her favorite part of LFC, which is truly heartwarming. She said her favorite part has been “making new friends every year/ keeping the same friends who have been with me all four years! Being the only senior in the musical all four years I really cherished my time being able to continue my passion into college and I hope to find such an accepting group of people post grad”. As we say goodbye to our seniors we hope they can carry these memories and friends with them into this next step in their lives. 

Come see Heathers The Musical at Arts West on April 25th & 26th at 7pm and April 27th at 2pm!! Tickets sold at the door CASH ONLY $5 per ticket!