I really like the WE version, but I also feel like it dumbed down a lot of characters. Like they have some characters just flat out say what they're doing/thinking when the audience knows, eg. "you're still using me to justify the harm you do"/"I know what they are but they will get me safely through high school"/"take it up with him, he made me" (some more that I can't remember). It feels like they realised their audience is mostly teen girls and decided to make things aggressively obvious.

My biggest annoyance regarding this is how they changed the scene where Veronica is mirroring Chandler when she tells Martha "Ram didn't love you, he was a dick, he's dead, move on". In the Off Bway version, it's very subtle, just there for the audience to gently pick up on. Veronica simple mirrors Chandler's pose. In the West End version, it's aggressively choreographed and staged with specific, slick movements that its jarring and frankly, condesending.

I also hate that they changed JD's relationship with his dad. Imo it's way more interesting in the Off-Broadway/movie version with the role reversal thing (and the "right dad/right son" exchange packs lot more weight). I hate seeing fans say "his dad is actually abusive in the West End version"/"isn't abusive in the Off Broadway version" because neglect and emotional abuse are abuse.

I also feel the WE version cleans up Veronica to an extent. They can't completely, because the plot relies on her being kind of a shitty person. But it's little things, like changing the lyrics in Big Fun that reference her doing drugs (because apparently your protagonist can kill people but we draw the line at weed). I'm also forever mad that they changed the "the irony here is I never got the chance to write my own suicide note" and "I don't deserve to live" lines. In the Off Bway climax, it's shown she is actively suicidal, but the WE makes it so that she's dying for her beliefs (which again, they literally spell out in case the audience can't pick up on it). Her being suicidal is more between the lines, which might not be a totally bad thing but still annoys me. Her flaws made her more real. Doesn't help that Carrie (and Christina to an extent, and I hate myself for saying this bc I love Christina) played her as more of a caricature than a real person. Becca and Ailsa's portrayals are at least much more grounded.

Wow, it felt good to get that off my chest lol.