Heathers The Musical

Paramount Live Presents Adaptation of Cult Classic

Thunder Bay’s Paramount Live is turning to a cult classic to kick off its new children’s theatre season: Heathers. But the production won’t be quite what theatre-goers remember from the 1988 dark comedy film.

“Apparently, during the pandemic, [Heathers] got very, very popular within the youth,” Paramount Live artistic director Candi Badanai says. “So, when the opportunity came along that there’s a high school edition, we jumped on that as soon as those rights came available. It’s fun, it’s dark, and there’s a lot of moving parts to that show.”

The high school edition of Heathers The Musical is a revised, PG-13 version that makes a number of changes to the original production; among the changes are rewritten song lyrics.

“We always try to get the input from our students, and they have always had Heathers at the top of their list,” Candi says. “They couldn’t be more excited.”

The show includes a cast of 23 youth actors, who have been rehearsing twice a week in preparation for the November 25 premiere.

“There’s a lot of dancing, a lot of intricate moves,” Candi says. “We just can’t wait to get onto the stage.”

This season will mark Paramount Live’s 12th year of operation. Producing director Lawrence Badanai attributes the company’s longevity to the opportunities it gives youth to express themselves and explore who they are. “That really is what builds their characteristics as humans,” he says. “A lot of the children and youth, and into the teenagers, it’s that part that they really like, and why they keep coming back.”

“We find that later on, even when they become teenagers and graduate from high school and they look back on Paramount Live, and they say it was one of the best experiences of their lives to be able to do that.”

The new Paramount Live season also includes productions of the youth edition of Footloose The Musical, Four Seasons, Seussical KIDS, and Winnie the Pooh KIDS.

Heathers runs from November 25–27 at the Paramount Theatre.

For more information, visit the Paramount Live Facebook page @ plivetbay.