Nominated for a staggering 35 Awards in 2018, This musical is brutal and hilarious! An adaption of the 2002 book by Rosalind Wiseman, the musical portrays the female high school social cliques, school bullying, and the damaging effects they can have on students. Cady Heron arrives at school to befriend outsiders, Janis, and Damian. They educate her in the reigning “Plastic” and other social cliques in the school. By gentle persuasion, Cady infiltrates and tries to damage the reputation of the Plastic’s, but she ends up falling for the Queen Bee’s ex-boyfriend, and then jeopardizing that relationship. She soon has the entire girl population at school at each-others’ throats, and the school principal must intervene to restore order… Can Cady reform herself, and get elected Homecoming Queen before the end?
Drama Desk Award winner for Outstanding Book of a Musical
“A ferociously funny new musical!”
“It’s Not a Regular Musical. It’s a Cool Musical.” – Entertainment Weekly
Having spent the last 12 years in Africa being home schooled by her parents, Cady Heron finds herself at North Shore High School, in Evanston, Illinois. Two outsiders, Janis Ian and Damian Leigh befriend her and explain the school’s various cliques. However, there is one specific clique she must be aware of – “the Plastics”. A group of Beautiful People; the wealthy but insecure Gretchen Wieners, a sweet but somewhat dimwitted Karen Smith, and the illustrious “queen bee” Regina George.
Cady manages to become accepted into the Plastics, but develops a crush on Aaron Samuels, a senior in her math class but, he is also the ex-boyfriend of the Queen Bee, Regina. As Cady spends time with the Plastics she learns about a scrapbook the keep, with cruel and hurtful rumors about the other students and even the faculty.
After catching Regina kissing Aaron, Cady embarks on a mission to destroy her, teaming up with Janis and Damian, they devise duplicit and secretive candy cane-grams between the Plastics in an effort to divide and turn them on each other. Their plan is working perfectly until, Cady tells Aaron that Regina is cheating on him. Aaron accuses Cady of being as manipulative as Regina and ends any chance of them getting back together.
Regina, realizing that she has been outdone, distributes contents of the Burn Book in such a way as it appears to have come from Cady. The situation is so out of control the school principal has to intervene to restore order between the girls. In the meeting in the gym, all sorts of accusations are aired and Regina storms out of the building, to be hit by a bus, fracturing her spine. Accepting full blame for the Burn Book, Cady is shunned by her peers and distrusted by her own parents. How is Cady going to come back from all this, and how is she going to win back Aaron?
In 2002, Rosalind Wiseman wrote a book, Queen Bees and Wannabes. Tina Fey re-penned this into a screen play and in 2004 the film, MEAN GIRLS was made. By 2013 work had begun on the musical. The film was finally adapted into a musical and premiered at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. in 2017. In April 2018 Mean Girls opened on Broadway, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced theatres across the nation to close, the show halted performances in March 2020, when Broadway shut down, by which time Mean Girls had played to 833 performances.
“MEAN GIRLS is HILARIOUS! The cast is sensational – expert comedians with fierce voices and acting chops to match.” – Vogue
“Vibrant, beautifully sung and visually splendid, this funny charmer.” – Deadline
“Fey’s book is very funny and warm. She totally gets the teen culture and all the superficial drama that defines the high-school years. And if the score, by her husband Jeff Richmond with lyricist Nell Benjamin, lacks a big memorable number, the tuneful songs enhance the material quite nicely. Nicholaw, who also choreographed, paces the two-and-a-half-hour production with high energy, maneuvering between the silly and serious moments with tremendous finesse. The clever video design with non-stop projections is a huge plus as well.”
– Roma Torre, reviewing for NY1
“‘Mean Girls’ isn’t flawless. The first act is so strong, with such a well-built, fast-paced arc, that the second half feels like it takes a few tugs on the starter cord before the lawnmower fires up again. Some of the movie’s best jokes don’t fully land in their delivery…It’s not shocking that ‘Mean Girls’ is a fast-paced fancy fun time, but it’s a real treat to find that it’s still witty, worldly, and wise.”
– Sara Holdren, reviewing for New York Vulture
“Fans of the original movie should be reassured that nothing important has been purged from the story. Cady falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron (a very clean-cut Kyle Selig), which causes her former friend Regina and her brat pack to come after her with claws bared.”
– Marilyn Stasio, reviewing for Variety