Now in its second year on Broadway, Mean Girls (playing at the August Wilson Theatre) is a LOL funny crowdpleaser that's sure to amaze its target audience (teenagers from 13 to 18) and others such as regular theatregoers and tourists. For those who haven't seen it yet, this is like High School Musical with a Saturday Night Live edge to it (due to the fact that Tina Fey wrote the show's libretto that she adapted from her script of which she wrote for the 2004 film).
Cady Heron (Erika Henningsen) is a new student in Chicago's North Shore High School. This is her first time ever in a education environment since moving from Africa where she was home-schooled by her parents. She tries to makes friends at first, but she ends up with goth artist Janis (Barrett Wilbert Weed) and "too gay to function" Damien (Grey Henson). Later at the lunchroom on her first day, she meets the popular and ruthless group of North Shore High, the Plastics, which consists of queen bee Regina George (Taylor Louderman), the eager-to-please Gretchen (Krystina Alabado) and the totally dumb Karen (understudy Becca Petersen, at the performance that I attended).
Cady suddenly becomes the new girl in the group. Soon, she begins to have feelings for her classmate in math class, Aaron (Kyle Selig), who coincidentally was Regina's ex-boyfriend. Regina then decides to take Aaron back. In response, Cady creates a revenge plan on Regina which involves weight-gaining bars, candy cane grams and a holiday pole dance at the Christmas talent show. The result: Cady becomes the new queen bee in school, but Regina retaliates with a book that discovers the secrets and/or lies among the students. Cady soon has to learn the fact about who her friends really are.
The direction and chorography by Broadway vet Casey Nicolaw (who has the same honors with three other currently running shows, Aladdin, Book of Mormon and the Tony-nominated The Prom) is well done here and the pop-infused score by Jeff Richmond (who is married to Fey) and Nell Bejamin is likeable enough. But the thing that helps make this show work is Fey's top-notch book that she adapted for the stage. Hearing these actors saying the words that was written in the libretto make the viewer and fans of SNL, 30 Rock and Kimmy Schmidt aware that this work has Fey's comic DNA all over it. Gregg Barnes' costumes are very cool and the video sets (created by Scott Pask, Finn Ross and Adam Young) make the show look like a John Hughes movie come to life.
Among the first-rate cast, Louderman is totally fierce as Regina and Henningsen is so radiant in the role that Linsday Lohan played 15 years ago on screen. I also enjoyed the engaging performances by Alabado, Petersen, Weed, Henson, Selig and Jennifer Simard, who plays various roles in the show such as Cady's math teacher (the role that Fey played in the film) and the mothers of Regina and Cady.
As a critic, I have to confess that I haven't seen much of the movie that the show was based on. But, I have to say that it works fine on its own as a musical comedy that will leave you with a good smile. As Gretchen would say, that is "so fetch".
The Buzz on Mean Girls:
Rating: ***
Bottom Line: A LOL funny crowdpleaser with a likable score and a top-notch book by Tina Fey. It's High School Musical with a SNL attitude.
Recommended Best For: Ages 13 and up. Contains adult language and adult situations.
Playing At: The August Wilson Theatre (on 245 West 52nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue) for an open-ended run. For tickets, go to ticketmaster.com, todaytix.com/x/nyc or call 800-745-3000.
Ticket Tip: You can purchase $42.50 rush tickets on the day of the show at the theatre's box office. My advice is to get there before the box office opens (Mon.-Sat. at 10am, Sun. at 12pm) so that you have a better chance of getting the tickets sooner rather than later.
Special Note: 2019 Jimmy Award winner Reene Rapp (making her Broadway debut) will be taking over Louderman's role as Regina for a limited engagement from June 7 through the 26th. Rapp will return on September 10th to take over the part permanently.
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