"What's your damage, Heather?" More than you think, even as a musical

By Matthew Wexler

“What’s your damage, Heather?” It’s a good question with a potentially perverse answer, depending on who you ask. We’re talking about the latest movie-to-musical, Heathers, now playing Off-Broadway at New World Stages with an A-list cast that nearly makes you forget the musical’s troubling tone.

The original 1989 dark comedy starred Winona Ryder as Veronica Sawyer, a teen struggling to survive her high school senior year, and Christian Slater as J.D., the new kid in town with a vigilante grin. The musical, featuring a book, music, and lyrics by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe, ran a mere five months Off-Broadway in 2014, but its 2018 UK resurrection, which included several tours and runs on the West End, set in motion a new generation of Corn Nuts (a term for fans of the musical). Heathers 2.0 isn’t so much a reimagining as a high-polish paint job.

But this is no “Greased Lightning.”

While Grease depicted late-50s nostalgia and the kind of gang warfare that didn’t escalate much beyond chewing gum on the underside of a desk, Heathers‘ Gen X timestamp goes for the jugular, with a triple homicide, fat jokes, fag jokes, a potential date rape and an attempted suicide. Meanwhile, an audience dotted with Gen Zers dressed like the three popular Heathers (a powerhouse trifecta of McKenzie Kurtz, Olivia Hardy, and Elizabeth Teeter), squealed at decibel-shattering levels, equally mesmerized by Lorna Courtney (& Juliet) as Veronica and Casey Likes (Back to the Future) as J.D.

Director Andy Fickman, who has helmed Heathers seven times, along with choreographer and associate director Gary Lloyd, knows how to package a teen musical, as evidenced by the production’s soaring box office, with tickets on sale through January 2026.

Casey Likes (front) in "Heathers." — Casey Likes (front) in “Heathers.” Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.

But few characters evolve beyond Veronica, resulting in a pastiche rather than the original film’s subversive effect. And anyone who lived through 1999’s mass shooting at Columbine High School understands the visual impact of a brooding teen in a trenchcoat even before he opens his mouth.

As J.D. says, “The extreme always seems to make an impression.”

Heathers plays Off-Broadway at New World Stages. Tickets are currently on sale through January 25, 2026.

‘Heathers’ takeaway

A notice posted outside of the theatre entrance buries references to suicide and sexual assault among the usual mentions of haze and strobe lights. But the Trump administration’s shutdown of the LGBTQ+ suicide hotline is making headlines. The Trevor Project CEO and president Jaymes Black said in a statement, “This is devastating, to say the least. Suicide prevention is about people, not politics.”

If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat at TheTrevorProject.org/Get-Help, or by texting START to 678678.