Mean Girls: The Musical

Mean Girls, the award winning and highly acclaimed film, has finally been adapted to the stage. With great music and a show-stopping cast, this highly anticipated musical is Broadway bound. As of now, the show is premiering at the National Theatre in DC until December 3 and plans to hit the Great White Way of Broadway in April of 2018.

​As in the movie, Cady Heron moves from her simple homeschool life in Kenya to the dark and daunting reality of high school. At first North Shore seems very unwelcoming, but she is eventually greeted by two quirky characters, Janis and Damian. They become Cady’s only friends and together devise a plan to spy on the Plastics, a group of the three most revered and feared girls at North Shore. The Plastics are comprised of Gretchen Wieners, Karen Smith, and the queen bee, Regina George. These three girls are pretty in pink and cannot be stopped at North Shore High and on the stage.

One major reason why the show has been doing so well before even hitting the main stage is because of its amazing cast. Erika Henningsen, who plays Cady Heron, does the character justice by exemplifying her initial innocence. Another actor who captures the true essence of the film is Grey Henson who plays Damian. Mean Girls: The Musical takes advantage of all of Damian’s most quote-worthy lines and the sassiness that Henson brings to the stage.

Along with the outstanding acting on the stage, another key element that makes this show so impressive is the amazing vocal ability of the performers. Taylor Louderman uses her strong voice to capture the powerful and downright evil personality of Regina George. Particularly in songs like “Watch the World Burn,” Louderman’s voice is ruthless. She truly steals the show when she rises above the stage and watches her world, North Shore High School, burn.

​Although the show, even in its premier, is Broadway ready there are nevertheless areas that could be improved. First of all, some of the characters come across as exaggerated. Regina’s mother in the original film is the cool yet somewhat negligent and naive guardian that teenagers could only dream of. On the stage, however, the character comes across as too much like a Valley girl and can hardly be understood. Although the actress is very funny, her ability ultimately cannot live up to Amy Poehler’s iconic portrayal in the movie. The musical also rushes the development of Cady Heron from innocent nerdy girl to straight up plastic; slowing this transition down would give viewers a chance to truly grasp the depth of her alteration.

The script also leaves out an iconic telephone conversation from the movie. Including this conversation would better explain the unstable dynamic between all four girls and how they so easily turn their backs on each other. Although the plot as a whole does not suffer much from this omission, the scene could have humorously shown how rumors are spread and quickly misinterpreted even between best friends. Apart from a few minor issues which plague nearly all stage adaptations, Mean Girls: The Musical is truly a work of art that cannot be missed.