“I think this is the most fun I’ve ever had on stage,” McKenzie Kurtz laughs. “Ever.”
Kurtz has been enjoying a longer-than-expected run as “demon queen of high school” Heather Chandler in Heathers The Musical at New World Stages Off-Broadway. The musical black comedy is an adaptation of the cult classic 1988 film of the same name that starred Winona Rider and Christian Slater.
Before going full “demon queen,” Kurtz showcased her infectious charm and pageant-perfect bright white teeth playing “little sweet dumpling” Anna in Frozen in her 2020 Broadway debut. She took Anna on the road in the U.S. national tour before returning to Broadway in 2023 as Glinda in Wicked for its 20th anniversary. While Anna and Glinda enchant and beguile with hearts of gold, Heather Chandler is all razor blade sharp eyeliner and swinging croquet mallet.
“This is the first villain I’ve played,” Kurtz says, before clarifying that her “hot take” is that Chandler isn’t the big bad she’s made out to be. “It’s just fun, dude. There are no rules. One of the things that makes me the most proud is [when] people, after the show, say, ‘I loved hating you.’”
To see how you can fluff your hair into Heather Chandler’s signature pony and hear how Wicked is like a sorority, watch Kurtz get ready in the video below.
Crowned with a bright red scrunchie, “mythic bitch” Heather Chandler leads a trio of Heathers (played by Elizabeth Teeter and Jackera Davis) in tormenting the students of Westerberg High School. When shy Veronica Sawyer’s (Kuhoo Verma) talent for forgery catches the eye of Heather Chandler, Veronica becomes a member of the Heathers’ royal court. As tends to happen in a hormone-fueled, hellish social hierarchy, things at Westerberg take a turn for the tragic.
“Spoiler alert,” Kurtz says. “[Heather Chandler] dies. So we have Heather Chandler alive and well in the first act, and then I call her Ghost Heather in the second act. I get a little wild with it, which is a great time.”
And it is a great time, especially if you are a teenage or 20-something girl. Even with reports of seismic activity, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has nothing on the Heathers audience. Fans, who Kurtz and company call their “corn nuts” (IYKYK), scream, shout, and sing along throughout the show, ravenous for the raucous (and relatable) shenanigans unfolding on stage.
“I feel like a rock star making that entrance,” Kurtz says. “These fans are nuts in the best way. They come, like, fully in costume.” Stepping into the shoes of someone as unapologetically unflappable as Heather Chandler has had a meaningful impact on fans of Heathers. “People will come dressed as her and say, ‘Dressing as Chandler has made me feel confident and given me power when I don’t feel that in my day to day.’”
Heathers is a dark musical. The characters grapple with violent, unrelenting bullying, teen suicide, sexual assault, and homophobia. Kurtz sees the musical, which does have a happy ending, as a refuge for teenagers from real-life social stressors.
“It’s an unfortunate reality that high schoolers can relate so much to what is happening in our show,” Kurtz laments. “That being said, I think it gives them a safe place. There are characters everyone can relate to and there’s a reason people love the show so much and keep coming back.”
