Will Heathers open on Broadway?

[Broadway Flash]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 4:50pm

Now that it's closing in London, will they bring the show to Broadway?  It seems like the right time.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 4:57pm

The right time to delete this thread, yea! 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 5:03pm

Can anyone recall the name of that user that swore to heaven and earth the new world stages production was going to transfer to broadway. I think their username began with a p, but I’m not too sure. Ahhh, good times.

Updated On: 8/12/23 at 05:03 PM

[quizking101]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 5:41pm

It’s closing in London and then headed back out on a UK tour after. 

I think the time for this to happen on Broadway has past - especially with the extreme rise in school violence in the years since it premiered. As much as I love this show and adored the UK production during my trip, I think part of the reason it works there is because they aren’t dealing with issues like this every day. I can recall some moments that, from my American point of view, made me cringe more than the people around me.

[PegasusOasis]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 6:14pm

God willing!

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 6:40pm

Maybe a reunion concert next year to celebrate the 10th anniversary but we don’t need a fully staged show. Especially on Broadway. It had major success in the UK but now it’s time to just let the show travel into the sunset. 
 

I agree with BroadwayNYC2, delete this thread please!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 7:36pm

Please God, no. 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 7:49pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Please God, no."

Right there with you Jordan. After seeing the show this summer, it was fun, I’ll admit, but it had its fun in the spotlight and now it’s just time for it to go away! 

[darquegk]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 8:35pm

There's a certain kind of naïveté that thinks "running on Broadway" = "winning." That's not really how it works. And for the record, I LIKE the Heathers musical, but I don't think Broadway would be a win for it. It just had a West End run, it's one of the most commonly produced musicals at regional, school and community levels, it has a proshot and TWO successful cast recordings. It's Tiktok famous. Hell, it has its own Riverdale episode.

What does a show in that position gain from being on Broadway? Literally nothing- in fact it probably loses. Broadway is expensive, and it would create a freeze on those licensing fees around the East Coast, which I'm pretty sure are more lucrative than the Broadway nut would be. And they aren't going to do a new proshot, and likely not a new cast recording. So the safest and most financially sound thing for the producers and rights owners is to let the Heathers machine run and not try to mount a flagship production: it's not an award bait show, and it's already achieved just about every goal a musical can achieve in terms of ACTUAL success, not just imaginary prestige.

[WldKingdomHM]

Posted: 8/12/23 at 9:22pm

Will they repeat the UFO set ? 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/13/23 at 7:23am

I know it has its haters but I love the score. Any idea what the composer is working on now?

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 8/13/23 at 8:56am

Let the record show that I’m not a hater. I saw the show in London this past summer and had fun with it, but it’s not something Broadway needs right now. 

[inception]

Posted: 8/13/23 at 10:46am

 but it’s not something Broadway needs right now."

You don't want Heathers, but since BTTF seems to be a success, how about instead...

Top Gun the musical

Indiana Jones the musical 

Ferris Bueller's Day Off the musical

Planes, Trains, & Automobiles the musical

When Harry Met Sally the musical

Moonstruck the musical

Sleeplesss in Seattle the musical 

The Goonies the musical

Beverly Hills Cop the musical

Lethal Weapon the musical

I was about to write Ghost but somebody already tried it:

https://playbill.com/article/ghost-the-musical-based-on-oscar-winning-film-to-haunt-broadway-com-181983

Seems like the possibilities for turning once popular 80's films into shows is almost endless.  On the Sound if Music speculation thread it got mentioned that what once could be sold to Boomers may be in trouble - that's my parents & yep they have zero interest in leaving their house for anything.  So I guess we'll be saddled with a crap load of shows aiming at my generation's nostalgia now.  Honestly I was always surprised that Heather's got made into a show since it wasn't a huge hit, but more a cult film.

How about some other Winona Ryder movies?  They already tried Beetlejuice...

Edward Scissorhands the musical

Mermaids the musical

Reality Bites the musical 

The Crucible the musical... Whoa!  Why has nobody ever tried that?

  Oh, there's an opera. But nothing with a chorus of tap dancing witches

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 8/13/23 at 11:22am

this show is doing well with community theatre, colleges, and even some professional shows. It has succeeded in the way that is best for its longevity. There isn't anything financially beneficial to trying to barely break even on a broadway run right now. Hope its success is measured in how much its loved internationally, not in the fact that it hasn't/shouldn't have a broadway bow.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 8/13/23 at 12:01pm

“Honestly I was always surprised that Heather's got made into a show since it wasn't a huge hit, but more a cult film.”


that’s why it succeeds where it does. Popularity shouldn’t be the beacon of why things are made a musical. The original Hairspray wasn’t a runaway hit. Nor was Little Shop. And that shouldn’t stop people from adapting it. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 8/15/23 at 1:56pm

I think the overall theme here is they *can* do a musical of a movie, but that doesn't always mean they *should*. Heathers could come to Broadway-but haven't other people already said there are shows "chomping at the bits" to go there already? I would say we have a while before Heathers attempts an actual Broadway run. 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 8/15/23 at 2:14pm

I don't really ever see this coming to Broadway. It does pretty well in licensing and is almost constantly performed. There's also now a proshot. I don't think it would make sense to come to Broadway at least financially 🤷🏻‍♂️

[dramamama611]

Posted: 8/15/23 at 2:22pm

Don't care about Heathers....but I'll be honest: MOONSTRUCK the Musical doesn't actually sound bad.