Heathers: The Musical, High School Edition
New Haven Academy Legacy Studios Drama Club
444 Orange St.
New Haven
Thu. Feb 19th 2026, 7:00 pm
Fri. Feb 20th 2026, 7:00 pm
Sat. Feb 21st 2026, 7:00 pm
Sun. Feb 22nd 2026, 6:00 pm
All the world may be a stage, but some worlds are more conducive to theatrics than others. Like the highs, lows, fights, truces, and existential crises of the American high school.
On Thursday night, the New Haven Academy (NHA) gymnasium featured a portal to another school’s drama: that of Westerburg High, 1989, setting of NHA’s latest production, Heathers: The Musical (High School Edition). The show runs through this weekend.
The show was tight, punchy, and packed with non-stop action. Dancers did the worm (Anthony Pellino) and the splits (Janiyah Correa). The orchestra pit was so rock ‘n’ roll it was like its own concert. Lexi Kochanowicz, as Heather Chandler, belted out a riff in “Candy Store” that brought the house down.
When Veronica Sawyer (played by Olivia Tapia Ko) introduced Chandler as a “mythic bitch,” I laughed and thought, This is so high school.
The same thought tugged at my mind as the musical descended into the themes it was famous for: sexual harassment, suicide, and murder. Death skyrockets one character into super-popularity. Another turns his distaste for society into violent plans. We get intimate with the twisted logic of his psyche. Sure, Hamlet‘s got murder too, but this high school within a high school felt a touch more real.
Heathers (the 1988 movie the musical is based on) was made before Columbine. These kid actors were all born well after, into a different world. Were they going to be OK?
Then lights flooded the gym. It was time for intermission.
After some Nerds Gummy Clusters and a hot dog from the concession stand, I was ready to dive back into Heathers‘ all-too-familiar universe, with a renewed resolve to humble myself in the face of the larger vision.
I didn’t need to; the music got me. I found myself bopping along, experiencing the story not through the lens of an imagined high schooler’s mind but in the first person. This was, after all, how kids experience heavy things too. And when it comes to senseless violence, I don’t know if adults are better equipped to understand it just because we’re older.
High school students go through armed attacker drills on a regular basis. When I worked in a first-grade classroom, we did them once a month. This is their life already, not just in musicals. If NHA’s drama club made me uncomfortable with their singing and dancing about unsettling realities, maybe they should.
My sneaking suspicions of the show’s self-aware commentary were confirmed with the antics of guidance counselor Ms. Fleming (played by Correa). Her comical attempts at wisdom turned out to be little more than a way to make her feel important, in control of a situation she really knew nothing about.
The kids won’t wait for adults to save them. “You’re all idiots,” Veronica says to the guidance counselor. She cuts through moody love interest JD (played by Leonato Jones)’s ruminations, singing, “We’re damaged, really damaged/ But that does not make us wise.” I know plenty of adults who have yet to have that conversation with themselves.
I realized I had been putting a false distance between high school and real life. Was this show really so high school? Or was it a tale about the hell we go through no matter our age?
There’s something about the magic of a musical production that eases us past long-held beliefs. The ensemble stomped forward with confidence, every choreographed move performed with a flourish. The dialogue was killer—”I didn’t catch your name,” Veronica says to JD, to which he replies, “I didn’t throw it.” The plot points were sharp, and the vocals were off the charts. Trust, in real life, is a tricky cake to bake. On stage, the recipe is simple. Just be really dang talented.
Heathers‘ gnarly themes and poppy soundtrack were a delicate balance to hold, and NHA’s Legacy Studios Drama Club held it with impeccable poise. The script asked the audience to let our guards down. The cast and crew played a tune so catchy we had no other choice.
If you are struggling with self-harm or suicidal thoughts, there are resources available. Call or text 988 any time, any day for the suicide crisis lifeline, or go to 988lifeline.org.
