In the age where every musical feels like it’s based on source material, there’s something charming and distracting about Mean Girls the Musical. Despite a catchy song book with plenty of air-headed bops to add to your playlist, it’s a show that often feels less like an essential translation and more an excuse to feed off of the nostalgia many have had for the 2004 film through Tumblr memes and the omnipresent use of pink in many attendees’ wardrobes. There is a cult around the film and it definitely makes for a delightful addition to the show. However, one really has to ask what besides the fun nature of revisiting your high school memories is there in this adaptation? It’s a fun show and the jokes are aplenty, but more than anything it’s lacking a real purpose.
This is present from the opening minutes. Prior to the show starting, a prerecorded message from creator Tina Fey announced the typical rigamarole. It’s all the basic “don’t be rude” commentary spiced up with a few jokes. However, the one that really suggests a cynical intent is when Fey concludes that you shouldn’t record the show because they’ve already made it into a movie (it’s likely this is more in reference to the original and not the upcoming movie musical). The merchandise is lined with endless quotes, 95% from the film, and makes for an easy impulse buy. However, in an age where shows like Dear Evan Hansen have taken teenagers’ experience with online communication to new heights, what does Mean Girls really have to offer?
Some of the text has been updated to be more reflective of the Twitter era. Many key scenes have been rewritten to find many of The Plastics having online wars while others have embarrassing wardrobe malfunctions. So much of the story is codependent on digital discourse that the whole set is walls of screens that constantly change the sets. While there are actual props wheeled on and off the stage, there is something too artificial about Mean Girls’ approach to this story, where they sacrifice doing something impressive with their craft for a few background gags. This is especially true during musical numbers where the screens present visuals that distract from the otherwise impressive dancing going on. It’s a stage with dizzying craft, never really allowing one to focus and lose themselves in the real artifice of the piece: theater. It’s a self-conscious production design, and one that may make some scenes flow together better but ultimately lacks any greater heart.
Which is a shame because there are small things that the stage version has adapted with an intriguing eye. Special credit to Damian (Eric Huffman) and Janis (Lindsay Heather Pearce) who have been promoted to narrators of the piece. With their ability to talk to the audience, they allow for some impressive short-hand for gossip. They may sometimes seem vindictive and revenge-seeking, but their chemistry is top notch and captures the heart of what this show does well. Damian especially feels like he deserves a better show because there have been few gay high school kids as entertaining on Broadway as him. Whether it’s wearing “ArtPop” era Lady Gaga shirts or doing a very critical group dance number, he captures a more muted form of flamboyance that gives him more pathos. While every other character feels more steeped in caricature, Damian and Janis at least feel distanced enough from the pink-filled scenery that their status as outcasts feels like the only thing the show really nailed.
As mentioned, there’s a lot to like if Mean Girls (2004) is one of your favorite movies. It basically rehashes the plot at every conceivable turn. The pros and cons of the show lie in this decision as you’ll either be comparing or anticipating the big moments and lines. Rarely has a show felt so rooted in pre-existing expectations, where the experience is more Pavlovian than about just enjoying the moment. While the choice to update the aesthetic to a more Gen-Z approach is fine, it’s easy to use it as proof of what doesn’t translate. Sure, the story has been timeless for a reason. The conflict of social groups remains evergreen. With that said, the only advantage Mean Girls has over something like the equally flashy Be More Chill is cultural cache, evidence of Broadway’s need for recognition often over original stories.
This isn’t to say that the evening is bad, but it’s a fairly underwhelming one for those wanting a musical on par with the film. Whereas most develop enough of their own personality to exist in tangent, Mean Girls never really gets there. The music and dance have something to offer, but when the remaining queries rely on how faithful it is, that becomes the issue. The performances are fun. To the show’s credit, having Karen’s (Morgan Ashley Bryant) lyrics be off-tempo or incomplete is a stroke of genius. Nobody in the show is doing that bad of a job, actually. The greater issue is that it’s working overtime to hide how little really feels essential to this take. Even compared to a recent Segerstrom production of Frozen reflects how little is here, as that show expanded and edited in ways that allowed everything to feel more special and intimate.
It is likely that many will love Mean Girls because they loved Mean Girls. There’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, the soundtrack is more than likely to get stuck in your head on the way out. There’s effort into making this a fun experience for those who laughed at Tina Fey’s joke about the movie. Everyone knows what kind of show this will be, and it delivers fully to that crowd. With that said, in an age where everything feels adapted from celluloid, it’s lacking a real necessity to stand out in any way but name. There’s better adaptations. There’s even better high school-based shows making the rounds. Don’t let me stop you from having a good time, but personally, I found the whole thing a bit too ephemeral and codependent on a pre-existing relationship to really feel like it stands as its own substantial work of art.
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