Q&A with Carrie Hope Fletcher at The Heathers Live Lounge
Posted on 7 June 2018
It’s always exciting when a new musical comes to town, but it’s even more exciting when it’s going to be a world premiere. As director Andy Fickman boasted, the new scenes AND new songs make the upcoming Heathers musical the first of this specific production to be staged. Just like how the Heathers would have created a buzz in Westerberg High, this musical is certainly creating a ripple of excitement in the West End.
If you were lucky enough to be invited to the Live Lounge, then you, like me, are probably ticking off the days until Saturday (9th June) gets here for this show to begin, even more so than before. For everyone else, don’t worry, we used our privilege to get all the pictures and videos we could. We were treated to three songs by the cast and thankfully due to the song “Shine a Light”, we were able to see the entire cast on stage. Unfortunately, due to a very small stage, there was absolutely no room to dance, but we were teased that choreographer Gary Lloyd has ensured that this show will come with incredible routine after routine.
The show hasn’t even come around yet but after the small sneak peeks I was privy to, I am already raving about this production and I can tell no one will want to miss it (I already want to see it multiple times). This is one creative team that is just bursting with talent, from director, choreographer, writers, producers and not forgetting an outstanding cast. So, if you haven’t already got your tickets then you must hurry because they are going quick. This show is going to be hotter than the hell which Veronica and JD find themselves in!
I’m not the only one who is excited for this production to take to the stage either. I had a little chat with the lovely Carrie Hope Fletcher, about why she’s excited to sink her teeth into the role of Veronica. Read below:
You’ve played very exciting roles in the past; what is it about this role that excites you and what initially attracted you to it in the first place?
She’s so different from any other character. She’s sort of like a mix of a lot of other characters I’ve played. I’ve played characters who are very dark like Wednesday and Eponine, to an extent, and then Truly who’s very sugary sweet and very light, and Veronica is like a mix of Truly and Wednesday. She’s got that darkness that attracts her to JD and she uses a monocle to write in her diary, she’s sort of eccentric, but she just wishes the world could be a beautiful place. Her whole first song is called ‘Beautiful Place’. She wishes people weren’t so mean and nasty at school and she just wishes everyone would be beautiful. She’s got these really idealistic views of what the world could be but sort of gets herself into a slightly terrible situation. She’s got an amazing story arc; a really incredible juicy story to sink my teeth into and that’s what any actor wants.
Do you find getting into the headspace of Veronica difficult and does that change the way you are preparing for this role?
The thing about Veronica is because she’s the central story of the show, we follow her and so everyone kind of has to relate to her. Her story has to relate to everyone in order for us to find her likeable, charming and endearing; and for us to sort of feel sorry for her when things start to go wrong. I think everyone relates to Veronica in certain ways because everyone was 17, everyone knows that feeling when you’re at school, where there were girls being mean and boys being mean and it all felt like it was the end of the world when something went wrong. For Veronica, it could be the end of the world because JD is a little bit of a maniac. It’s very easy for me to get into the headspace of what I was like when I was 17 and then it’s just about adapting that to [Veronica].
Are you a fan of the movie? And if so what is your favourite quote from the movie and/or the musical?
I love the movie! When I first discovered Heathers the Musical, I’d never seen the movie so, I went and watched the movie, maybe like three/four years ago. We watched it on our first day of rehearsals, which was great fun. I’ve never had a first day of rehearsals where you sit and watch the film. I love the saying “how very” because it’s like in ‘Mean Girls’ where she tries to make “fetch” happen. It’s like the original “fetch”. “How very” is just so genius and Dan Walters, the original writer, is so clever. Imagine being the first person to coin something like that and then to have movies copy you; it’s incredible. I love that JD starts every meeting with “greetings and salutations” from ‘Charlotte’s Web’ which I’m a fan of, and I think it’s a really cool way to greet people.
*Claxon noises* Did you get your tickets yet? The show is running from June 9th to August 4th (yes, I’m already praying for an extension) at The Other Palace. You can get your tickets here.
