“You can’t sit with them but you can sit in the audience.”
Mean Girls the Musical is due to be coming to the stage in 2018. The musical will be based on the popular film ‘Mean Girls’ directed by Mark Waters. Since its release in 2004 Mean Girls has been a definite favourite for many teenage girls across the world. The film is about a 15 year old Cady who moved from the African bush to a supposedly less volatile place: high school. Cady finds herself embraced by a clique of rich and popular girls known as “the Plastics,” led by Regina George and featuring her two sidekicks Gretchen Weiner and Karen Smith. Cady quickly realises how manipulative they can be and she soon discovers she’s violated a ‘law’ when she goes out with Regina’s ex-boyfriend. It isn’t long before Regina and her friends are out to get her.
The well-known film is scheduled to come to Broadway in New York in April 2018 after being a firm favourite candidate for a musical adaptation. The musical will debut in Washington’s National Theatre in November and December this year before beginning previews in the August Wilson Theatre in New York on March 12th 2018. Tina Fey comedian, actress and writer of Mean Girls collaborated with her husband, composer Jeff Richmond, to create many Broadway numbers for the musical. The music was composed by Richmond while the lyrics were written by Nell Benjamin the helping hand in adapting another fan favourite Legally Blonde into its Broadway incarnation. The show will be directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw and the musical’s main producer is Lorne Michaels the brains behind massively popular comedy staple Saturday Night Live.
The production has announced that it will be starring Kerry Butler, known for her roles in the Broadway productions of Hairspray and Little Shop of Horrors. As well as this Erika Henningsen who will be playing Cady Heron, Henningsen is known for her role in the Broadway production of Les Miserables, gaining fame as the youngest actress to play Fantine. Regina George will be played by Taylor Louderman who is no stranger to Broadway having starred in Kinky Boots, Bring It On and Peter Pan Live. Regina George’s sidekicks will be played by Ashley Park as Gretchen Wieners and Kate Rockwell as Karen Smith. The role of Janis Sarkisian will be played by Barrett Wilbert Weed who has starred in another cult classic turned musical Heathers.
Although a few changes have been made to bring the musical more up-to-date, for example adding in fresh content jokes and storylines, the lines that have become so famous are almost all accounted for in the Broadway production which many fans will be happy to know. It has also been suggested that there could be mentions of Snapchat, Instagram and other technology which was not around when the film was originally made. All in all this new musical should give Mean Girls fans their fix after fourteen long years.
