Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tickets and more information: https://meangirlsonbroadway.com/
Booking until: 13th July 2019

In collaboration with her husband composer Jeff Richmond and lyricist Nell Benjamin, national American treasure Tina Fey has brought her 2003 movie Mean Girls to the stage in the form of a musical. Having grown up on the film, I was hesitant to see what the creative team were going to do with it. But with a modern update, an uplifting score and some of the most iconic lines woven within the book, the musical successfully delivers a fresh take on an iconic movie. In case you’re unfamiliar with the story, Mean Girls follows Cady Heron who moves from Africa to America and it follows her experience in the hierarchy of an American high school.

Although the movie is set in the early 2000s, the musical has brought the story right up to date in 2018 with the inclusion of social media, which is frequently brought up in scenes. For example; the iconic Rockin’ Around The Pole scene is in there but the addition of social media allowed the school’s negative reaction to be all that more amplified. The scenic design by Scott Pask is pretty much all projections. Hand in hand with video design by Finn Ross and Adam Young, you’re kind of made to feel like you are trapped within the bubble of North Shore high school which works as this is similar to what the characters are feeling and reinforces the Apex Predator hierarchy at the school. This is Regina George’s world we’re living in after all.

Earning a well deserved Tony nomination as the queen bee herself is Taylor Louderman whose voice and performance is so powerful that I was wearing a thick jumper and she still managed to give me goosebumps. Especially during World Burn in act two. Playing her Plastic companions are Ashley Park who delivered a nervy and insecure Gretchen and Kate Rockwell who shines as Karen with great humour. Erika Henningson plays Cady and takes her on a journey with such stamina (she’s rarely off stage), excellent comedic timing and a stunning voice, particularly in the finale song I See Stars.  Playing Janis and Damian at the performance I attended was Gianna Yanelli and DeMarius R. Copes, who were a brilliant duo.  And I was lucky enough to catch Broadway icon Kerry Butler as the adult women before her last performance!

I’ve already published a post dedicated to the score of Mean Girls and I didn’t think I could love it more than I already did. My heart started racing, I was so excited to finally see how these songs were staged; especially when The Plastics made their entrance. When the musical was first announced, I did have my reservations because I thought it would’ve been hard to translate the film to a stage musical. But the cast and creative team, under the direction of Casey Nicholaw, have succeeded successfully and I didn’t want the show to end. I had so much fun and I really hope the show transfers to London in the not too distant future.

Until next time,