Heathers the Musical: Act 2 Synopsis

I started with the first act of the Heathers the Musical so, obviously I was gonna finish with the second act. Act 2 is arguably my favourite but honestly, my opinion changes every other day so don't take that too much to heart. Both acts of Heathers are amazing because the musical is a masterpiece of epicness and dark comedy.

I'll link the Youtube playlist I'd recommend listening to here as it has the lyrics and even includes a couple of songs that aren't officially on the soundtrack.

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

Act 2

We start Act 2 with Ram and Kurt's funeral. Veronica is distraught and reflects that Ram and Kurt could have grown out of their immaturity but they weren't given the chance before their lives were cut short.

🎵Prom or Hell🎵 (aka. exactly my question during my own prom)

Ram and Kurt's fathers learn to accept their sons' homosexuality and even confess that they'd had their own love affair during a fishing trip many years ago. They vow that they will try and make the world a better place in their sons' honour.

🎵Dead Gay Son🎵 (aka. who lives, who dies, who tells your story)

West End's JD and Veronica

JD takes this as a positive sign, claiming that their murders are making the world a better place for everyone else. He tries to convince Veronica that Heather Duke should be their next target but Veronica refuses. JD rants about the pain and misery that society creates and finally reveals how his mother died. JD watched his mother commit suicide by walking into a library set to be demolished by his father and got blown up. Veronica pleads with him to give up trying to change the world through violence and asks him if he could give it up to live a normal life with her.

🎵Seventeen🎵 (aka. love or murder? the tougher decisions of life)

Heather Chandler's ghost appears again after JD leaves and she doubts if he's really changed, planting the insecurity in Veronica.

Martha asks Veronica to help her break into JD's locker because she believes he may have had something to do with Ram and Kurt's deaths. She reasons that Ram couldn't be gay because of the love note he wrote her. Veronica realises that if Martha looked through JD's locker, she may find something incriminating and become his next target because of it. Veronica also fears that her involvement in the jocks' deaths may come to light so is forced to reveal to Martha that she forged the love note from Ram and that Ram thought she was a loser. Martha runs off crying.

Teacher and school guidance counsellor, Mrs Fleming, organises a televised therapy assembly in order to help students express their feelings and to try and prevent more suicides from happening. However, the event is mainly used by Fleming to promote her controversial therapeutic techniques on live television.

🎵Shine A Light🎵 (aka. fan-freaking-tastic!)

West End's Shine a Light

Heather McNamara takes the opportunity to step forward and is the only student brave enough to confess how she really feels. She talks about the overwhelming peer-pressure she feels every day and how she's thought of killing herself on multiple occasions. She talks about how lonely she feels and the anxiety that follows her through each day.

🎵Lifeboat🎵 (aka. waving through a window)

H. Duke mocks H. McNamara and pressures the other students to join in. Veronica accuses Mrs Fleming of taking advantage of the publicity at H. McNamara's expense. In her rage, Veronica confesses to the murders but is met with disbelief as everyone thinks she's simply saying it for attention. Veronica follows H. McNamara to the bathroom and stops Heather from trying to overdose on a bottle of sleeping pills.

🎵Shine a Light (Reprise)🎵 (aka. the 'nicest' kids in town)

JD once again tries to convince Veronica to kill H. Duke and Veronica realises he's carrying around a loaded gun. She finally realises how unstable he is (a little slow on the uptake?) and breaks up with him. They argue and JD ends up accidentally pointing the gun at her (because what says true love more than being held at gunpoint?). Veronica storms out as the other students reveal that there's going to be a pep rally later that night.

JD confronts H. Duke with evidence that she used to be friends with Martha when they were much younger. He uses it to blackmail Duke into getting all the students at school to sign a petition declaring a holiday in remembrance of the suicide victims.

Martha, feeling lonely and mourning Ram, tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge.

🎵Kindergarten Boyfriend🎵 (aka. I have a dreeeeeeeeeam, a song to siiiiiiing)

She survives, coming away with a few broken bones, and her suicide is seen by Duke and the others students as an failed attempt to copy the popular kids. Veronica rushes to hospital to check on Martha while the ghosts of Ram, Kurt and Heather Chandler taunt her for being just as bad as the Heathers ever were. When Veronica gets home, her parents confront her, saying that JD had come by to tell them all about 'Veronica's depression and suicidal thoughts.' With this lie that he'd told her parents, Veronica realises that she's JD's next victim.

🎵Yo Girl🎵 (aka. karma's a bitch)

Veronica locks herself in her closet as JD breaks into her room, wielding a gun. Getting crazier and crazier by the second (and you can totally tell), JD frantically explains how he's changed his mind about killing her (aww, how sweet) because he believes that the student body has brainwashed her. His solution is to fix this by killing the entire school. He reveals that the petition he had signed by every student at Westerburg was really a disguised suicide note and explains how he's planning to blow up the school while everyone's attending the pep rally, making it look like a mass suicide. He begs Veronica for help and, getting impatient, breaks open the closet door. Inside, he finds Veronica dangling from a noose, having killed herself. Ridden with grief, he decides to carry on with his plan and rushes to the school, planning to continue in Veronica's memory.

🎵Meant to be Yours🎵 (aka. what insanity sounds like)

We quickly find out, though, that Veronica has faked her suicide. Once JD's gone, she grabs her croquet mallet and rushes to the school, planning to end JD's madness, even if she has to die in the process. She discovers that he's hiding in the boiler room under the gym and confronts him as he's setting up the bomb. She begs him to stop one final time and, when he refuses to listen, she attacks him. As they struggle, JD's gun accidentally goes off and JD collapses with a bullet in his stomach.

🎵Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)🎵 (aka. I'm not throwing away my shot)

With no clue how to disarm the bomb, Veronica takes it out to an empty football field, intending to sacrifice herself in an attempt to save the other students. JD, still alive, follows her outside and convinces her to let him take the bomb instead. He asks her to make the most out of her life and the bomb goes off, killing JD but leaving everyone else unharmed.

🎵I Am Damaged🎵 (aka. blow us all away) (aka. no one mourns the wicked)

Veronica returns to the school and snatches the red scrunchie off of H. Duke. She declares to the student body that the time of ridicule and social hierarchy is over. Veronica invites Martha and Heather McNamara to be friends once more and to hang out and be normal for a while before their childhoods are over.

🎵Seventeen (Reprise)🎵 (aka. girl power)

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the musical and feel free to comment your thoughts! Stay amazing!

Chloe