Elisabeth Vincentelli

Elisabeth Vincentelli

Theater

‘Heathers’ still cliques in musical re-imagining

Forget those big-budget, starry adaptations of beloved movies. If you want to relive a cult flick, head over to the ingenious, very funny “Heathers: The Musical,” which pulls off wonders on a shoestring.

The 1988 teen-bitchery classic “Heathers” was the peak of Winona Ryder and Christian Slater’s careers, and a high-water mark of outrageous ’80s fashion and baroque expressions — “f–k me gently with a chainsaw,” anybody?

Adapters Laurence O’Keefe (“Legally Blonde: The Musical”) and Kevin Murphy (“Reefer Madness: The Musical”) have preserved the movie’s memorable catchphrases and candy-colored palette while lightening up on the violent nihilism. The result is a spirited, naughty romp through a Midwestern high school. Even declawed, it’s very entertaining.

Our guide is Veronica Sawyer (the excellent Barrett Wilbert Weed), a nerd whose skill at forging everything from hall passes to friends’ handwriting makes her popular with the ruling clique: “mythic bitch” Heather Chandler (Jessica Keenan Wynn) and her acolytes, dim-witted Heather McNamara (Elle McLemore) and subservient Heather Duke (Alice Lee).

In the glam-rock-flavored number “Candy Store,” these teen tyrants tantalize Veronica with a syllabus of “drinkin’ hard/Maxing dad’s credit card/Skipping gym/Scaring her. Screwing him.”

Veronica isn’t entirely comfortable with her new status, and her boyfriend, the brooding J.D. (Ryan McCartan), exploits that insecurity by making her murderous fantasies a little too true.

Soon the pair go on a violent rampage against date-raping football jocks and overbearing queen bees.

The first act moves briskly as director Andy Fickman and his cast wring every last comic drop out of the script and songs. A cafeteria fight in slo-mo is especially hilarious, and the show revels in stoopid vulgarity — there’s an entire number, “Blue,” about a certain state of male frustration.

The production nearly derails in Act II, having killed off its antagonists. The film had the same problem, but here the sweetened worldview saps the grand finale of its effectiveness.

Still, seeing “Heathers” onstage is a joy. Don’t be surprised if the show inspires a run on hairspray and shoulder pads.