Skip to main content

Heathers: The Musical Costume Sketches Are So Very

The show's costume designer talks to TIME about perfecting the look

Heathers: The Musical

When Amy Clark signed on to design the costumes for Heathers: The Musical, which opens March 31 in New York City, the first thing she did was go back and watch the 1989 comedy on which the new production is based.


Though she was a big fan of the original film and its costumes, she realized that her memory of it wasn’t entirely correct. The Heathers, the triad of same-named high-school divas who give the movie its name, stuck in her mind as paragons of sex appeal. After all, that’s how the plot works: the Heathers had to be sexy, or else they wouldn’t wield so much power over protagonist Veronica Sawyer.

The only problem? The costumes that looked so sexy 25 years ago seemed downright dowdy. “From a contemporary point of view about clothes,” she says, “I couldn’t put that on stage. The audience wouldn’t have visceral reaction to those silhouettes.”

So — as shown in Clark’s sketches — she and director Andy Fickman decided to take elements like shoulder pads and blazers and scale them back, nodding at the ’80s but with shorter skirts and more fitted jackets. That said, they knew better than to mess with the film’s iconic attention to aesthetic detail. “I think they really established a vocabulary and slammed it home the whole time,” Clark says. “The film has this feel of almost being curated, like a museum.”

For example, the precise and meaningful colors of the costumes stuck around: powerful red for Heather Chandler, weak yellow for Heather McNamara, jealous green for Heather Duke and black and blue for Veronica. “She’s the battered and bruised one who actually feels things,” Clark explains.

And then there was the sweatshirt.

The musical turns Martha Dunnstock, a minor player in the movie, into a majorly sympathetic character — and gives her a unicorn-and-rainbow-bedecked pullover that would be majorly (if ironically) cool today. There’s no movie inspiration for the sweatshirt, which had to be specially made for the production, but that doesn’t mean the designer conjured it from thin air: “Her costume is 100% based on my favorite outfit that I wore probably every other day in 1984,” she says. “That unicorn was my entire life in 1984, though I was lucky enough to grow out of it. That outfit — there’s something so heartbreaking about it.”

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Sexy Costumes That Make You Look Glamorous And Gorgeous.

Define your appeal and sexiness, in your own way. Give the audience, something to look at and follow with all your sexy costumes from SpicyLegs. Costumes that are meant for you, make you feel comfortable in your skin and sit properly with those curves. We believe that a costume is just a well-designed cloth until you wear and carry it with your attractive confidence and transform it into a sexy costume. Look top-notch and grab all the eyes, with the costumes that compliment you. Select the super tempting sexy costumes from the Spicylegs closet. 1) Mischievous Maid - 2 pc. Costume   Cleanliness is of primary importance and it should be done regularly. But then who says, you can’t look sexy while cleaning? Break the rules and look Haute -Haute with this sexy maid costume. Be a mischievous maid and sweep everyone off their feet. Buy this attire that includes the dress along with the apron and headpiece. 2). Treasure Pirate - 4 pc. Costume   Everyone will surrender their hearts to you, you

Top 20 Rock Star Costumes Ideas for Kids

Dear readers! Last time I was very happy with the Page views of my post. It was about Star Wars Costume. And people mail me that they want, some original and fun going costume for kids Party. You can find now great reviews on Our blog for your kids. We are going to make reviews on a delightful group of rock star Halloween costumes and diva costumes. Your little kids will love dressing up in one of our rock star or diva costumes for a Birthday party, costume party, or just for the occasion which celebrates you. Popular Diva Costumes for kid girls Toddler 80's Diva Pop Star, Girls 80's Rock Star, Silver & Pink Diva, Rock star Diva, Superstar Diva Costume, Girls Hollywood Starlet, Western Diva Cowgirl, Diva Star Runts, Silver & Black Diva, Western Diva Costume and Mega Star Costumes. Popular Diva Costumes for kid Boys Do you want to dress up as The King of Rock 'n Roll? You should wear a Child Elvis Costume with Elvis sunglasses and an Elvis wig for

Bestsellers of all Halloween costumes & Party Supplies 2022

It may have been the big American tradition but the UK has inherited yet another American trend as Halloween fever hits the UK this year. If you went back 10 years It would be hard to find a Halloween costume on the High Street, yet there is now an explosion of High Street retailers and Supermarket chains selling a mass of Halloween products. Supermarkets claim that Halloween is their third biggest sales boost of the year nowadays, just after Easter and of course Christmas. Valentine's Day still remains popular but Halloween’s popularity is growing with each passing year and has now overtaken the annual commemoration of love and affection for sales. If you go back 20 years, big supermarket chains may have stocked some pumpkins or even a toffee apple that you could pick up with your weekly shop, but there is now a vast amount of Halloween products to choose from. ParyBell.com sells many varieties of Halloween-themed food including 5 different types of toffee apples, end