Theater returns to Crown Uptown with ‘Heathers the Musical’

“If you want to consistently work in theater, you’ve got to create your own opportunities,” says Dalton Zogleman, quoting his teachers at New York City’s American Academy of Dramatic Arts, a performing arts conservatory whose alumni include Lauren Bacall, Robert Redford and Anne Hathaway.

So in the summer of 2013, Zogleman came home to Wichita and teamed with his mother, Deanne Zogleman, longtime director of music at Newman University, to create DZ Productions to showcase his talents – not just as a performer, but also in tech areas like design, lighting, directing and producing.

“What better way to make sure it happens than to do it yourself?” says Zogleman, 22, who will be a senior at Rutgers University this fall, finishing up his musical theater degree.

“But my goal, one of my mission statements, is to also provide a launch pad for pre-professional artists in the Wichita area. There are such huge strides in theater now and how the form is being manipulated. I wanted to give them a chance to be in buzzworthy, thought-provoking musicals you won’t see anywhere else in town,” Zogelman says. “We are filling a hole.”

The college-age performers, some of whom have been with DZ all three shows, are volunteering their time in exchange for a resume credit that’s something more adventurous than “Sound of Music” or “Oklahoma,” Zogleman says.

That allows tickets to be an economical $12 for adults and $10 for students, he says.

That first summer, they did “Glory Days,” a four-person musical about a reunion of high school buddies that was on Broadway in 2008. Last summer, they put on the provocative and ground-breaking 2006 Tony winner, “Spring Awakening,” about puppy love, child abuse, adolescent angst, rape, incest, homosexuality, pregnancy and suicide among a group of turn-of-the-century German teens. Both were staged at Newman University’s intimate Black Box Theater.

This summer, DZ’s choice is “Heathers the Musical,” a darkly satirical look at high school mean girls, bully jocks and nerd revenge, based on the cult 1988 film starring Winona Ryder, Christian Slater and Shannen Doherty. The musical, by Laurence O’Keefe (“Legally Blonde the Musical”) and Kevin Murphy (“Reefer Madness”), debuted off-Broadway just last year following a sold-out tryout in Los Angeles.

“We’re the Midwestern premiere, and only the third regional premiere so far,” Zogleman says enthusiastically. “I wanted to do it (1) so I could be part of it and (2) so it could be seen here.”

The show will play a three-night run – 8 p.m. July 9-11 – not at Newman but at the larger Crown Uptown Theatre. Doors open at 7:15 p.m., and tickets are available at the theater box office.

“We’re bringing theater back to the Crown,” says Deanne Zogleman.

After more than three decades as a dinner-theater fixture in Wichita, Crown Uptown discontinued live theater last year in favor of private events like weddings, parties, meetings, one-night concert stops and specialty performances. DZ Productions is renting the venue to perform “Heathers.”

“They (Crown officials) are as excited as we are. I am very proud of my son. This is darn cool,” Deanne Zogleman says.

Directing “Heathers the Musical” is Darian Leatherman, event coordinator at Crown Uptown, who previously worked behind-the-scenes with in-house theater productions. Music director is Paul Graves at the keyboard who will lead a seven-piece combo.

Zogleman himself will take only a small role as “Hipster Dork” because he is also designing the set and lighting. His partner/mom, Deanne, who has a theater as well as music background, will take two small roles: school guidance counselor and one teen’s mother.

Maddie Razook is Veronica, the brainy new girl who, for her own survival, finagles to get into the good graces of the three beautiful mean girls who run school society – all three remarkably named “Heather.” Larissa Briley is the preening lead Heather, with Jessica Curtiss and Madeline Regier sneeringly in tow. Angie Thompson is Martha, Veronica’s overweight best friend who becomes an easy target.

Justin Ralph is Kurt and Daniel Nelson is Ram, two dumb but popular jocks who drool over the Heathers, gleefully brutalize their non-jock classmates. Sam Warner is JD, a proudly cynical outcast who has his eye on Veronica. His attempts to show his feelings for her by bedeviling the school royalty, however, turn dark and then deadly.

Others in the cast include Mary O’Neal, Rusty Carbaugh, Jaden Shepard, Gavin Myers, Ryan Schafer, Paul Bolton and Brad Robertson.

Razook says she likes that her Veronica character is “extremely independent,” “free-thinking” and “stands up for herself.”

“She isn’t motivated by wanting to be popular. But when she sees an opportunity to keep the Heathers from picking on her, she takes it,” says Razook, a junior at Oklahoma City University seen here previously in “Urinetown” and “Little Women.”

“Her dark side comes from JD. None of it (revenge) is her idea. She is well-intentioned but gets sucked into the situation,” she says. “I can identify with her sense of humor. She’s quirky. She’s easy to relate to because she is so down to earth, even when she gets into the clique. She remains human.”

For Warner, his JD is a sensitive soul who turns sociopath from tragedies at home.

“He sees the world as an evil place and blames his dad for his mom’s suicide. That takes a toll on him. He believes that evil-doers deserve what they get,” says Warner, a theater student currently on break from Butler County Community College who has been a frequent performer with Music Theatre for Young People.

“I like that he’s kind of crazy. His strength is that he’s a mystery. No one knows about him because he’s never had a close relationship,” Warner says. “He can switch it on and off. He’s unpredictable, but he has a soft side because of Veronica.”

As the head Heather, who stalks the halls leaving quaking nerds in her wake, Briley says the role is a real challenge.

“It’s really chilling for me. She is just so mean, more so than any character I’ve ever played. She feels incredibly entitled. She’s definitely not a dumb blonde. She’s very smart. She knows exactly what she’s doing, which makes it worse. I felt like I had to apologize to my fellow cast members after rehearsals,” laughs Briley.

This story was originally published July 1, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Theater returns to Crown Uptown with ‘Heathers the Musical’."