Heathers the Musical: Act 1 Synopsis

The annoying thing with musicals is that, if you don't watch it, you miss a lot of the story and can't follow the plot so easily (with exceptions like Hamilton). It's easy to miss the plot points that happen between songs so I've decided (with a lovely suggestion pushing me into this direction) that I'd write a synopsis of the whole plot so you can follow the story while you listen to the songs for the first time. Sure, you could just get this somewhere else on the internet but... I love Heathers and want to do it myself anyway.
If you didn't know, Heathers the Musical is based off the movie Heathers released 30 years ago. The musical is actually really faithful to the original movie and the plot is essentially all the same. To describe it, I would say Heathers is like Mean Girls but with psychopaths and murder rolled right in. Who wouldn't find that interesting?
I'm gonna go through the whole plot of Heathers (with some help from Wikipedia) and point out where all the songs go throughout. Hopefully, you'll love Heathers as much as I do!
I'd recommend listening to this playlist on Youtube because it has the lyrics with the songs, meaning you can tell who's singing and it also includes a couple of songs that aren't on the soundtrack!

Heathers Act 1 Soundtrack Review | Heathers Act 2 Soundtrack Review | Heathers Book Tag

Act 1
We start the play being introduced to all our main characters on the first day of high school, September 1st, 1989. Our main protagonist, Veronica Sawyer, is beyond frustrated with the social hierarchy and cruelty at Westerburg High School and dreams of a change and leaving Westerburg for good. We're introduced to the school jocks/bullies, Kurt and Ram, as well as Veronica's best friend, kind and overweight, Martha.
Veronica wishes to be out of the drama and away from the bullying, realising the only way to do that would be to become popular. We meet the popular clique: the feared and revered Heathers. Heather McNamara (yellow Heather) is the pushover, air head cheerleader of the group. Heather Duke (green Heather) is bulimic, head of the yearbook committee with no personality but an extra doze of meanness. And, finally, we have Heather Chandler (red Heather) who is the queen of high school and deemed a 'mythic bitch'.

(West End's Heathers and Veronica)

Veronica uses her talents of forgery to get the Heathers out of detention and, in return, asks them to make her beautiful and popular so she can be unbothered by other students. The Heathers give Veronica a make-over and she suddenly finds herself in the inner circle of the popular clique.

🎵Beautiful🎵 (aka. you're gonna be pop-u-lar)

Heather Chandler discovers that Martha (Veronica's ex-best friend, now) has a major crush on school bully and jock, Ram (for reasons certainly unknown to me because the guy's a douche). She orders Veronica to forge a love note from him to give to Martha, inviting her to a homecoming party he's holding. Veronica tries to refuse but backs down when the Heathers threaten to destroy her social life. Martha is given the forged note and is super excited that Ram seems to like her back.

🎵Candy Store🎵 (aka. the Schuyler Sisters but evil)

(West End's Candy Store)

The mysterious and dark new guy at school oversees the Heathers threatening Veronica and accuses her of betraying her friend for popularity. Ram and Kurt pick a fight with the new kid but are surprised when the he beats them. Veronica watches the fight and finds herself drawn to the stranger. She fantasises about having someone fight for her and not be ashamed to be around her.

(West End's JD)

🎵Fight For Me🎵(aka. daaaaaaaayum)

On the way to Ram's homecoming party, Veronica bumps into the stranger once more in a 7-Eleven store. He introduces himself as Jason Dean 'JD' and Veronica confides to him that she hates her friends. They flirt and hit it off while JD explains how he uses 7-Eleven slushies to freeze his brain and numb the pain of his life. He confesses that he has a troubled relationship with his father, that his mother is dead and that he lives a lonely life of constantly moving.

🎵Freeze Your Brain🎵 (aka. tragic backstory)

Ram and Kurt's father are away on a fishing trip and, as they leave, we briefly see them treat their sons the way Kurt and Ram treat students at school, giving us a bit more understanding as to why Kurt and Ram are so mean and arrogant at school.

With his parents gone, Ram starts the homecoming party that quickly spirals out of control. Veronica gets increasingly drunk and Martha shows up, thinking she'd been personally invited by Ram. Ram quickly brushes her off, making fun of her for being so weird and desperate.

🎵Big Fun🎵(aka. my personal hell)

(West End's Big Fun)

The Heathers overlook, laughing and mocking Martha, dressing up a pig-shaped pinata to look like her. But before they can go through with this prank, Veronica stops them, finally sick of their cruelty. She throws the pinata in the pool and tells them that she quits from the Heathers. H. Chandler refuses to let Veronica go so easily and again threatens to destroy Veronica's social life. But an intoxicated Veronica only vomits on H. Chandler's clothes, enraging the mythic bitch even further. Everyone turns their backs on Veronica and she realises that when she goes back to school, her social status will be ripped away and she'll be ridiculed more than she'd ever been before.

Knowing she has nothing to lose and still feeling mostly drunk, Veronica leaves the party and breaks into JD's bedroom. She seduces him and loses her virginity that night. Because, why not?

🎵Dead Girl Walking🎵 (aka. great decisions are made under the influence of alcohol)

Veronica has a nightmare of H.Chandler torturing her and decides to visit Heather's house and apologise, hoping that might earn her some leniency. JD chooses to tag along as well. When reaching Chandler's house, she orders them to make her a hangover drink while she lies in bed. JD 'jokingly' suggests they put toxic drain cleaner in the drink as revenge. Veronica doesn't find it funny and tells him to be serious. He apologises and kisses her. Still dazed and swooning from the kiss, Veronica accidentally grabs the wrong cup, the one full of toxic drain cleaner. JD notices the mix-up but doesn't say anything as Chandler refuses to accept Veronica's apology and downs the drink, quickly dying.

(West End's Dead Girl Walking)

JD convinces Veronica to forge a suicide note, using her fear of getting caught against her. Veronica writes the suicide note, making Chandler sound more misunderstood and complex than she really was, prompting the entire school to sympathise and idolise with Heather. Teacher, Mrs Fleming, starts a campaign to help prevent teenage suicide.

🎵The Me Inside of Me🎵 (aka. oh, the irony)

Heather Duke assumes control now that Heather Chandler is gone. Veronica and JD watch Duke give her sob story on multiple news channels at JD's house, watching Duke enjoy the spotlight caused by Chandler's death. JD's father comes in and Veronica sees the tense relationship JD has with his father, demolitions expert Bid Bud Dean. She sympathises with JD and it only draws her to him further, knowing how misunderstood he is.

Veronica is also plagued by the memory of Chandler, who appears as a ghost to torture Veronica from beyond the grave.

Veronica gets a call from Heather McNamara, begging her to come to the cemetery. When Veronica gets there, she discovers that the Heathers have locked themselves in a car, hiding away from a drunk Kurt and Ram who are trying to get it on with them. Veronica realises that the Heathers escaped date-rape by offering her up for date-rape, telling the boys that they can have Veronica instead. Kurt and Ram beg Veronica to have sex with them but she manages to distract them with alcohol until they've had enough to pass out.

🎵Blue🎵 (aka. why the hell does this song have to be the funniest and catchiest of the soundtrack?)

(West End's Blue)

The next day at school reveals that Heather Duke has taken on Heather Chandler's role of leadership, stealing Chandler's red scrunchie from her locker (a symbol of power).
Rumours fly around school and everyone believes the lies that Kurt and Ram are spreading around school: that Veronica had sex with both of them. Veronica is ridiculed and called a slut.

🎵Blue Reprise🎵 (aka. wounded pride)

Veronica assures JD that it's not true and starts to cry when Kurt and Ram beat JD up, victorious this time.
JD comforts Veronica and promises her they'll get revenge. They devise a plan to humiliate Kurt and Ram. Veronica lures the two jocks to the cemetery, claiming that she wants to have a three-way with them. Once the boys are there, the plan is to shoot them both with, what JD explains to be, 'ich luge' bullets. These bullets are supposed to simulate the real pain of a bullet wound and knock Kurt and Ram unconscious until the morning. The plan was to keep them unconscious long enough for Kurt and Ram to be found by the cops along with a forged suicide note claiming they were gay lovers.

(West End's Kurt and Ram)

But... JD is a complete liar ('ich luge' literally German for 'I'm lying') and uses real bullets instead. JD shoots Ram but Veronica misses Kurt. JD runs after Kurt as Veronica realises that Ram is actually dead and not unconscious, the truth behind JD's intentions dawning on her. JD catches up to Kurt and kills him in cold blood which forces Veronica to forge their suicide note in order to cover their tracks.

JD claims that it was simply revenge for everything they did and he claims his undying love to a horrified Veronica. And yet... she still says she loves him back. I know, I know. He's a murderer and she wouldn't want him turning on her but her love for him is actually genuine! She's just as crazy as he is.

🎵Our Love is God🎵 (aka. love and murder go hand in hand)

And that's the end of Act 1. It gets super crazy from here on (even crazier... I know).

Thanks for reading! Feel free to comment your thoughts! Stay amazing!
Chloe