City Times Staff

STEVENS POINT — A musical based on an edgy, cult classic 1989 film will be staged by the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point’s Department of Theatre and Dance next month.

“Heathers the Musical” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10, and Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 14-17 in Jenkins Theatre in the Noel Fine Arts Center, 1800 Portage St., Stevens Point. A matinee show will be staged at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11. The show is recommended for mature audiences due to adult language and subject matter.

The off-Broadway rock musical is set at Westerberg High School, where a shoulder-padded, scrunchie-wearing trio, each named Heather, are the hottest and meanest girls in Ohio. Another student, Veronica, seems to fit in with them until the mysterious J.D. leads her down a different path.

The black comedy is filled with many funny, satirical moments as well as 80s references, fashion, music and dance. It touches on awkward first love, bullying, teen angst, sexuality and suicide.

Director Mark Hanson, assistant professor and coordinator of the musical theatre program, helped his cast of 24 students adapt their own high school experiences to the world of the 80s, when he was in high school and college. The students had freedom to develop their characters according to archetypes like the preppy nerd, hippy dippy teacher, goth and the football jock.

“The show plays across generations,” said Hanson. “People will relate to it and react differently to the situations depending on their age. In the end it is about the ability to come out on the other side to become a strong and smarter young adult and to know you can survive your teenage years.”

While it has some of the iconic scenes from the movie, the show has different elements and a story brought together by music that includes 80s pop, gospel and Broadway showtunes directed by Kristin Stowell, a visiting assistant professor of musical theater, and choreography by Dance Professor Jeannie Hill.

Tickets for “Heathers the Musical” are $23 for adults and seniors or $13 for age 17 and under, and are available at the UW-Stevens Point Information and Tickets Office in the Dreyfus University Center concourse, by calling 715-346-4100 or at http://tickets.uwsp.edu. Discounts are available for UW-Stevens Point students, faculty and staff.

Tickets are also available for the First Nighters package Friday, Nov. 9, which includes dinner before the performance (www.uwsp.edu/theatre-dance/Pages/First-Nighters.aspx).