First Year Players’ production of “Heathers: The Musical” opened Thursday night to a not-quite-packed crowd in Goldstein Auditorium. The audience was teeming with excitement before the show started, talking and laughing as if they were the students in the minimalist high school set on stage.

As soon as the first actor walked out on stage, before she got her first line out, the back of the auditorium erupted. Former FYP actors and crew applauded and cheered on the freshman who had taken the baton.

Opening night seemed to be mostly for them. It was for the actors on stage to perform, and it was for the past actors in the audience to commend. The rest of the audience was just witness to the support they offered one another and the talent that was a product of months of work.

The only people more excited to perform than the actors were their mentors. Collin Brown, a sophomore and FYP member, said watching this year instead of performing was incredibly rewarding.

“It’s really emotional. We have a strong mentor-mentee program, so I have a lot of pride watching them on stage.”

However, “Heathers” isn’t for the emotional. It’s a twisted dark comedy about high school’s typical mean girls, typical jocks, typical losers, but an atypical heroine, Veronica Sawyer. As she prepares for her senior year, she looks to ingratiate herself to Westerberg High’s cool girls, the Heathers. By being their friend, maybe she won’t get picked on anymore.

With all this set up in the first few minutes, hilarity ensues. The first act is nonstop, unapologetically funny. With the help of her love interest, Veronica gets herself into a mess she would kill to get out of.

The hilarity of the first act is also matched with the show’s music. The first act offers heartfelt ballads such as “Blue,” a harrowing tale about what it’s like to have blue balls, belted by some delightfully dumb jocks. There’s also a upbeat song about acceptance, ironically titled “I Love My Dead Gay Son.”

The lines are explicit, the characters are crude, and audience members laugh when they know they shouldn’t have, which makes it all the more fun. Erin Skelly, a sophomore television, radio and film major, said she loved every aspect of the production.

“It was so well acted; I loved the music; I would definitely recommend it,” Skelly said. “It’s fun for the whole family, but it’s really not.”

“Heathers” leaves no topic unturned in the two and a half hours it runs: eating disorders, suicide, sexuality, morality and identity are all discussed, mocked and considered.

Dealing with these topics, especially in the second act, can be difficult. But Serena DeSeta, a sophomore in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said this makes the actors even more incredible.

“The cast is so talented. I am in awe,” DeSeta said.

“Heathers: the Musical” continues Friday through Saturday. Tickets are available for $4 with an SU ID at the Schine Student Center box office.

Published on April 15, 2016 at 12:00 pm