If you did not get the chance to see the UMass Theatre Guild’s production of “Heathers: The Musical” over the weekend of Thursday, April 17, through Saturday, April 19, you have missed out big time.

Adapted from the 1988 film starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, “Heathers: The Musical” follows Westerburg High student Veronica Sawyer after she gets accepted into the clique of a lifetime: the Heathers. However, Veronica is soon thrown into a world of murder after her new trench coat-wielding boyfriend J.D. makes it his life goal to “purify the world” and off anybody who causes him or Veronica any type of pain, using Veronica to get to them. It originally premiered off-Broadway in 2013 and on London’s West End in 2018.

 I have probably seen close to 100 different productions since being introduced to theater at a young age, and this production, by far, is one of the most fun I’ve had as an audience member. It was refreshing and effortlessly brought out the humor in such a dark plot.

This production was led by a standout performance by Maddy Ohlgren as Veronica and through the entire cast’s impressive vocal power, comical acting and creative blocking. Ohlgren didn’t skip a beat and performed like she could do it in her sleep. The notes she sang seemed to get higher and higher, and she hit every single one. I absolutely loved her performances of “Fight for Me” and “I Say No.” Broadway casting agents should be keeping an eye out for her.

Ohlgren’s performance right off the bat, matched with the ensemble’s powerful sound in the opening number “Beautiful,” had me convinced I was going to enjoy what I had yet to see.

Brian Conlon as J.D. really brought out the persuasive and evil energy of the character, and his smooth vocal range added warmth, making me forget that he would, in fact, be trying to blow up the entire school by the end. I empathized with him in “Freeze Your Brain” and then was completely scared of him in “Meant to Be Yours.” His and Ohlgren’s voices mixed perfectly in “Dead Girl Walking” and “Seventeen.”

Ashley Greco, Karahlyn Dupras and Arianna Simoneau, who played the titular Heather Chandler, Heather Duke and Heather McNamara, respectively, portrayed their characters with the perfect amount of cruelty and nastiness. Their rendition of “Candy Store” matched that energy and just blew me away with their vocal power, individually and as a trio.

Simoneau’s performance of “Lifeboat,” an honest number that occurs when McNamara reveals she attempted to take her life, is one of my favorite songs from the entire show and nearly left me in tears. “Kindergarten Boyfriend” near the end is a gut-wrenching number, and Ava Duffy’s rendition as Martha Dunstock actually brought me to tears at one point.

My favorite part of the show was Jacob Sorenson and Arkie Baptista’s performances as Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly, the stereotypical high school jock characters. These two were honestly born for the part, and I was laughing every time they were on stage. Their acting and movements were just hilarious. In the song “Fight For Me,” a number where they get beat up in slow motion by J.D., I couldn’t believe how convincingly they moved so slowly. There was also a part I noticed where Baptista ran off stage just like Woody from “Toy Story” after the lights had already gone out, so he was just really devoted to that part.

However, I don’t believe just any one person made this production great. One of the greatest parts about it was how every member of the cast, lead role or not, had star power energy. The ensemble especially shone through in many of the larger numbers, such as “Big Fun,” “The Me Inside of Me,” “Dead Gay Son” and the finale “Seventeen (Reprise).” I do also want to give props to the blocking, especially with some unique lunch tray work in “Beautiful” and the use of flashlights being held by every cast member as the stage’s only light source in “Shine a Light.”

Hopefully the Theatre Guild plans on releasing a video of this production because I enjoyed it so much, just one time isn’t enough for me. You can find them on Instagram at @umtheatreguild and catch their next production of “Murder on the Orient Express” from May 1 to May 3.

Peter Tuohy can be contacted at [email protected] or [email protected].