From The Harrington Theatre Arts Company - Heathers: The Musical

An Interview with Co-Creative Directors, Nick Benton and Brianna Salica

Written By: Gavin Kennedy

Edited By: Bridget Gallagher

Overview

Coming to the Bacchus Theatre the weekend of October 16th, the Harrington Theatre Arts Company will be performing Heathers: The Musical, a contemporary piece of musical theatre written by Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe. The production explores themes of the modern young adult culture, but approaches them in a more fresh, edgy, and gritty way. It conveys a brutal view on teenage social life, while avoiding the Disney Channel-esque tropes that romanticize real issues to make them traditionally more palatable to audiences

The story follows a young girl named Veronica Sawyer as she navigates a newfound relationship with the school bullies, along with a charming yet strange loner who would do anything to protect her. Many pre-existing fans of the musical may notice that HTAC’s production uses what's known as the “West End version,” which differs from the original Off-Broadway version that opened in 2014. This darker adaptation of the show features different songs such as “You’re Welcome,” “Never Shut Up Again,” and “I Say No.”

I had the incredibly gracious opportunity–despite their busy schedule–to sit down with the Co-Creative Directors of the HTAC show, Nick Benton and Brianna Salica, to talk about these changes and other aspects of the show:

The Interview

Question #1: How would you describe this version (West End), and more specifically, your production of Heathers?

Brianna answered in what I thought was a very meaningful way. She prefaced her response by saying she loves both versions of the show but specifically prefers the West End version overall, particularly how it handles darker themes. 

She went on to describe the differing songs used to portray the main character, Veronica Sawyer, and her attempted sexual assault by the secondary villians of the story, Kurt and Ram. She said that the West End version’s “You’re Welcome” does a better job than Broadway’s “Blue” at establishing the situation through the traumatic gaze of Veronica, making the scene more real, guttural, and horrifying. 

She also mentions the West End-only song “I Say No,” where Veronica stands up to J.D. and his horrific actions that he’s roped her into committing with him. She went as far as to describe the song as Veronica “putting her foot down” and “establishing boundaries.”

Question #2: How has both of your roles in creative positions affected your relationship to this show as a fan?

Nick described having a “newfound appreciation” for the show and views his role in the production as bringing a “vision to light.” He called the opportunity “very surreal,” as this is his favorite musical. 

Brianna described a similar sense of surrealness at having the opportunity to direct the show. She admitted that, for the longest time, she had only listened to the soundtrack, so as she continues in her directorial role, she’s beginning to “appreciate the small details.”

Question #3: How would you describe both of your experiences in working with the subject matter of the show?

Nick described how his past work on other shows with dark themes, such as Spring Awakening, Carrie, and Cabaret, has served him well in this production. He emphasized that comfortability was a top priority throughout the process, saying, “All the way to the phone calls offering roles, we were giving trigger warnings about characters as we offered roles out.” He noted that these themes extend beyond the more well-known songs, even including scenes like the simulated sex-scene in “Dead Girl Walking.” 

He went on to explain their use of intimacy coordinators, which allowed cast members to feel that there was someone acting as a buffer between the directors’ creative vision and the personal boundaries of the actors. 

Brianna expanded on this point, reaffirming cast comfort and safety as a top priority. She pointed out her approach of contextualizing scenes before rehearsing them to allow cast members to prepare themselves mentally for the potentially heavy material. 

Question #4: With such a fluid ensemble throughout the show, how would you describe your approach to directing their characterization?

Brianna spoke on this question mostly, highlighting that all but two characters actually have canonical names–or more specifically “titles”– in the eyes of the main character, Veronica Sawyer. This allowed the directors to build the characters from those titles, giving the ensemble a foundation to expand upon in a way that felt authentic to their individual interpretations.

But just establishing the individual was only the beginning. Brianna described the process of getting the cast to adhere to and create a complex social system on the Bacchus stage. “I’m constantly telling them, ‘Find your cliques. Be more cliquey.” She shared an example: “For the two unnamed ensemble members, I asked them, ‘Who are you guys?’... they ended up becoming the preppy, popular cheer girls”. Both directors agreed that this approach allows for a living, breathing, social environment–one where characters don’t just exist on stage, but exist within a dynamic, believable world. 

Conclusion

I was already planning on seeing the show, but being able to get a deeper look into the creative process, both internally through the perspectives of the two directors and externally through their direction and rehearsals, has given me an immense appreciation and excitement about seeing this high-caliber show performed by an entirely student-run arts company like HTAC. I’d like to give a massive thank you to both Brianna and Nick for giving me the amazing opportunity to pick their brains.

Importantly, I also want to mention the philanthropic aspect of this show. As with every HTAC production, a portion of the cash ticket revenue will go to End Community Violence Now, a Delaware-based organization dedicated to ending gun violence in the state through  a variety of progressive initiatives. There will also be a Send-A-Scrunchie fundraiser, where the company will be selling scrunchies, with a third of the revenue going directly to ECVN. You can learn more about ECVN here.

Heathers: The Musical, as performed by the Harrington Theatre Arts Company, runs from October 16th through October 18th at the Bacchus Theatre, located in the Perkins Student Center. You can buy tickets to this dark musical comedy on their website (as listed in the poster at the top of the page) or with a purchase at the door!