Mean Girls the Musical review
December 6, 2019
The plastics are back, but this time on Broadway. The popular 2004 teen movie, Mean Girls, has been turned into a musical. Tina Fey who wrote the original screenplay, also wrote the Tony nominated book while her husband, Jeff Richmond, wrote the music. It follows the story of innocent Cady Heron, as she moves from Kenya to Chicago and how she tries to manage “girl world” as she would say.
Get in loser, I’m reviewing a musical. Once Cady begins school in America, she’s befriended by outsiders Janis and Damian. They act as narrators and comedic relief in the production. Cady then meets Regina, Gretchen and Karen, the plastics. After Cady gets invited to eat with them, Janis and Damian convince her to destroy them from the inside. Along the way, she falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron, and as we all know, “Ex-boyfriends are off limits to friends. I mean that’s just like the rules of feminism. “Their world then starts to burn.
What makes it so fetch? It’s extremely loyal to the movie, but it’s fresh and updated. Fey has modernized the script for a 21st century audience but in a tasteful way that doesn’t feel forced or cringey. “Sometimes I feel like an iPhone without a case. Like, I know
I’m worth a lot, and I have a lot of good functions, but at any time I could just shatter,” Gretchen said.
Another example of Fey incorporating modern technology is when the winter talent show blunder goes viral and when Damian tells Cady, through song, of course, to not double text a guy. Karen shares how when she was 13 years-old when she sent her boyfriend an explicit photo and it was spread through the school. “Someone should just teach boys to not do that in the first place, [She’s] actually a human being not a prop,” Karen said.
The characters also have a chance to get fleshed out. Cady is awkward, goofy and is the driving force of the show. We get to know more about her life in Kenya as well. In the second song, “It Roars,” she sings about her yearn to move and to make friends and how difficult it is for her. Cady also sings “Stupid With Love” about how she’s always been smart with math but stupid with love. When getting to know Aaron, she finds confidence that she can “learn” love. In that song, we also get a peek into her life before moving.
Karen and Gretchen are able to be more than Regina’s henchmen. We really get to see how obsessed Gretchen is with being liked and being accepted in a heart wrenching song, “What’s Wrong With Me.” Karen gets to prove she’s more than get a dumb blonde during her talks with Cady and her verses in the song, “Fearless.”
Regina even becomes more three dimensional. The queen bee shows that she’s vulnerable when talking to her cool, not a regular mom, and in her song, “Someone Gets Hurt.” She explains to Aaron how hard it is to be her. We only get a glimpse of her being vulnerable, because after all, she still is a truly mean girl, but it’s enough to make her more human.
Mean Girls the Musical is totally grool. It’s hilarious, heartfelt and catchy. I give it 10/10 burn books. Mean Girls the Musical is currently on Broadway and on an American tour.
