It's time for my review of Mean Girls.I had listened to a quarter of the Original Broadway Cast Album before arriving in New York City, and it's safe to say that I was already hooked on this musical. I had watched clips of the musical online and was exceedingly impressed. In addition to this, I had heard glowing reports from those who had already seen it, and as a result Mean Girls was a high priority during my holiday in the United States.
Mean Girls is a 'cautionary tale' of the life of Cady Heron, a 16 year old girl who, despite growing up on the African savanna, was not prepared for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home of Illinois. With the assistance of her two best friends, she hatches a plan to rise to the top of the popularity pecking order by taking on 'The Plastics', a trio of lionized frenemies led by the ruthless Regina George. But after carrying out her plan to end Regina's reign, Cady soon learns that you cannot cross a Queen Bee without getting stung. As a high schooler myself, I found that Mean Girls provides a fairly accurate portrayal of what high school life can be like. Lunch tables are filled with cliques, some people rise to popularity a lot easier than others, social media plays a large part in people's lives, and most importantly, not everyone is going to get along with each other. The principal characters are all well written, with each character being distinctly different from one another. It is likely that almost each and every audience member will be able to relate with one of these characters, or at least the journey that they have been on. Mean Girls contains dozens of significant messages throughout the entire show, covering important topics such as bullying, self-insecurity and friendship. Not only does Tina Fey's well-written book achieve the covering of important issues, but the show is also immensely funny. There are many great one-liners and all of the quips are excellently delivered by the exceptionally talented cast.
The score to Mean Girls, with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, is filled with over a dozen of extremely memorable tunes. As mentioned previously, I had listened to a portion of the songs before watching the show, and since seeing it a week ago I have re-listened to it twice. Leaving the theatre, I was left re-playing all of the catchy tunes from the show within my head. To brand this music as unforgettable would be an understatement. The orchestrations, by John Clancy, compliment the music nicely, giving musical numbers such as 'Meet the Plastics' a uniquely dramatic feel. The lyrics are well written as well, particularly for the song 'I'd Rather Be Me'. The highlights of this outstanding score for me personally are 'It Roars', 'Apex Predator', 'Someone Gets Hurt' and 'Revenge Party'.
The cast of Mean Girls are all remarkable; there are some truly great performances to be seen here. Erika Henningsen shines in the leading role of Cady Heron. Henningsen embodies the role of Cady faultlessly, portraying all the different sides and changes in the character remarkably well. As the titular 'mean girl', Taylor Louderman steals the show as Regina George. For this role, Louderman has created a perfect characterisation, nailing every aspect of the character from the way she walks to how she talks. Louderman is also a gifted singer, showing off her phenomenal voice in musical numbers such as 'Someone Gets Hurt' and 'World Burn'. At the performance I attended, Ashley De La Rosa was making her Broadway debut in the role of Gretchen Wieners, the insecure 'plastic'. Rosa made a stunning debut, appearing to be very well-suited to the part. Her performance of 'What's Wrong With Me?' was done particularly well. As the third 'plastic', Kate Rockwell as Karen is utterly hilarious. Rockwell continuously had the audience in stitches, due to her perfect delivery of one liners. In the role of scorned friend, Barrett Wilbert Weed has created a brilliant characterisation for Janis Sarkisian. Weed has a tremendously powerful voice, which is clearly demonstrated during the number 'I'd Rather Be Me'. At this performance, Brendon Stimson was understudying for Damian Hubbard, a role that he does wonderfully. Stimson has impeccable comic time, he's a talented tap dancer and simply an overall joy to watch.
The scenic design is comprised mainly of video projections which have been created by Finn Ross and Adam Young. The video projections used are of the highest quality that I have ever seen in any theatrical production. They are utterly transformative and look incredibly life-like. The costumes, designed by Gregg Barnes, are also rather striking, due to the fact that they paint an accurate picture as to what type of outfits are worn by high schoolers in this current time period. The choreography, by Casey Nicholaw, is yet another outstanding aspect of this production. All of Nicholaw's sublime dance numbers are excellently carried out by this talented ensemble.
The featured star of Mean Girls is, drum roll please... TAYLOR LOUDERMAN!
This was an especially difficult choice to make, due to the fact that everyone in this cast are magnificent, however I ultimately decided to make Taylor Louderman my featured star for her stunning portrayal of Regina George. She stole the show with her gripping characterisation and was genuinely a delight to watch.
Now for my final verdict. I give Mean Girls...
I believe my views on Mean Girls are already crystal clear. With a great book, an exceptional score, a talented cast, phenomenal video projections, good costume designs and stellar choreography, it would have been criminal for me not to have given this show 5 stars. I left the August Wilson Theatre thinking that Mean Girls had been one of the best musicals I had ever seen; it was truly fetch!
Agree with my rating? Think it should have got a lower rating? If so comment below.
Thanks for reading!
-The Reviewer
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