The 1989 cult classic film “Heathers” is a very smart film. It is, occasionally, too smart for its own good, opting against explaining certain parts against the plot, but it operates under the assumption that the viewer is a smart person.

The musical adaptation, now playing off-Broadway at New World Stages, does not treat its audience with the same respect, unfortunately.

“Heathers: The Musical” isn’t an awful show, far from it. It’s a competent new musical, and it departs from its source material in some clever and entertaining ways. But it also falls victim to a problematic trend in the contemporary musical theater community: the compulsion to make musical versions of beloved movies. These movie adaptations are everywhere—out of the twelve new musicals that debuted on Broadway this season, only three were not based on existing song catalogues or movies—and it seems like producers are trying every kind of title they can think of to see what will make a hit musical.

And so we arrive at “Heathers: The Musical,” a show based on an eminently quotable movie with a fairly small but devoted audience (indeed, despite the many similarities the movie shares with “Mean Girls,” “Heathers” does not seem to have entered the popular lexicon in the same way). The show follows Veronica (a wonderfully wry Barrett Wilbert Weed, who was the best part of last year’s messy restaging of “Bare” off-Broadway) as she accidentally gets revenge on her terrible classmates at Westerberg High School. All too happy to help her is the tall, dark, handsome, and very mysterious J.D. (Ryan McCartan).

READ MORE: Theater Review: 'Bare' Off-Broadway

Brimming with fresh young musical theater talent, the cast works well together to tell the campy story. Jessica Keenan Wynn particularly stands out as Heather Duke with effortlessly wry delivery of some of the film’s most iconic lines, and a delightfully legit voice that works surprisingly well in Laurence O’Keefe’s poppy score. Director Andy Fickman provides some brilliant moments, especially in the contrasts and parallels in the physicality of Veronica and the people around her.

But while these charms work to sweeten the overall experience of “Heathers: The Musical,” there are just a few too many bitter elements for the show to work as well as O’Keefe’s previous adaptation of a beloved movie, the bubbly “Legally Blonde: The Musical.” While “Heathers” the movie has its lowbrow moments, it always maintains an undercurrent of arch sophistication. The same cannot be said for the musical, which seems to throw campy jokes at the audience just because it can (while entertaining for a minute or two, was a whole production number of “My Dead Gay Son” really necessary?).

It’s probably not fair to compare a musical so directly to the movie on which it’s based, but given the nature of the property, it’s bound to happen, especially with source material as beloved as “Heathers” is. Is “Heathers: The Musical” a fun, escapist show? Sure. But is it anywhere close to being as good as the movie (which can be streamed on Netflix)? Sadly, the answer to that question is no. 

“Heathers: The Musical” is now playing at New World Stages (340 W. 50th St., New York, NY). Tickets are $50-$85. For more information, visit HeathersTheMusical.com.

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