The Carleton Musical Theatre Society (CMTS) is putting on a production of Heathers, an off-Broadway musical based off the film of the same name. With the premiere fast-approaching on March 8, The Charlatan talked to director Victoria Rutkowski about the show.
The Charlatan (TC): Tell me about your musical theatre experience before this show.
Victoria Rutkowski (VR): I’ve actually been involved in musical theatre since I was maybe four years old? I’ve done shows with various choirs and companies, I did about eight years of theatre with the New Star Children’s Theatre Company, and I was super involved in my musical theatre courses in high school. We did three musicals, I directed and played roles in all of them. I definitely cannot imagine my life without theatre. It’s just been crazy, the second I stood on stage when I was young I knew it was the right place to be.
TC: What made you think that?
VR: It’s the feeling, the rush that I get when I’m on stage. It’s kind of like nothing else in the world matters, you’re just there in the moment. It’s your moment to take it and own it. It just gives you this feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction that you’re doing what’s right. For me in my world nothing feels quite like it. It feels like home, the stage is like home.
TC: What drew you to Heathers?
VR: I just find that what I look for in a show is the character base. I read the script and I read it over and over before I even sent in my proposal because I wanted to make sure these were characters I could get invested in and I could work with to help tell their story. When I read Heathers, I felt the story was so powerful and the characters go through such a big journey throughout the show even though they’re high school students. It’s just super exciting to show them and guide them through their journey as characters.
TC: The play does tackle some pretty heavy subject matter—was that difficult to work with?
VR: To be honest with you, at one of our very first rehearsals in our read-through I sat down with the cast and we discussed all the heavy subject matter that’s in the show. We talked about the fact that it talked about stuff like bulimia and suicide, and things a lot of different teenagers go through like bullying. Some of the scenes get pretty intense, some scenes are a little hard and I have people in my cast who feel very emotional towards it, but they understand it’s a show. It’s definitely more of a comedy, and it kind of makes everybody laugh about it all, but it has some very serious subjects and we don’t hide that fact.
TC: What can we expect to see in the show?
VR: You can expect to see bright costumes, big hair, and lots of dancing. It’s a fun show, there’s so much going on and there’s so many different characters you learn to love or learn to hate. The audience is definitely in for a huge rollercoaster of emotion in the show. Which I think is fun for a show.
TC: Tell me what it was like working with your cast.
VR: We had over 70 people audition for a cast of 20. The audition process was really difficult because we had so many great, talented people come out and audition. But with the final decision we made, we could not be happier . . . They’re a great group of all ages, like there’s a lot of Carleton students, grads, and just a lot of kids from around Ottawa . . . My actors are phenomenal, they learn lines when I need them to learn lines, they practice the choreography at home, they’re amazing and honestly it’s been a very smooth process.
TC: Were there any big challenges you faced as a director?
VR: I think the hardest challenge for me has been producing the set design and working on that aspect of the production as well. I have never had to do that side, it’s always been done . . . It’s been challenging for me, I do work a full-time job and going back and forth from work to rehearsal, and it’s just super challenging to keep my energy up, but you know if you have a great support team and great people there to work with you it makes the process super simple.
TC: What’s your experience in Carleton’s theatre community been like?
VR: My experience has been amazing. I got involved two years ago when Sock ‘n’ Buskin did Bonnie and Clyde . . . Come showtime it was amazing to see the entire cast come together and create this family bond, this friendship bond that I had no idea could exist. That’s what drew me to audition last year when [CMTS] did Cabaret as well . . . I think Carleton has a huge, huge area for the arts, and there’s so many people who just want to be involved in theatre whether it be onstage or offstage.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
– Photo by Trevor Swann
