An official taping of cult classic Heathers: The Musical — based on 1988 cult classic movie Heathers — will premiere on the Roku Channel on Sept. 16.
Like the original film, the musical follows regular high school student Veronica Sawyer (originally played by Winona Ryder), who gets swept up into the group of popular girls — three vicious and beautiful students, all named Heather. She resents their cruelty, but in their school it’s either join up with the popular clique or get chewed out alive. Enter JD (originally played by Christian Slater), a mysterious new student with a rebellious streak, who inspires her to shake things up. It’s all a teenage dream, till JD decides to murder the most popular Heather and frame it as a suicide. It ends up spiraling into a string of murders framed as suicides, and Veronica must find a way to put an end to JD’s misanthropic spree.
The musical had a 2014 off-Broadway run and a 2018 off-West End run, before a U.K. tour in 2021. But even with the limited runs, the soundtrack sparked to many fans (even when only a few songs were available on popular streaming services). Snippets of the songs have grown popular on TikTok, fans made animatics for YouTube (and also made some crossover videos with other fandoms), and Riverdale even did a musical episode centered around Heathers.
Finally, fans will be able to watch an official taping (albeit not with the original cast). The first trailer shows off some of the musical’s most memorable songs and moments, and of course, those iconic croquet outfits. Heathers: The Musical incidentally premieres the same day as Netflix’s Do Revenge, a dark comedy that definitely draws inspiration from the original Heathers.