Mean Girls the Musical Redefines Broadway in a Particularly Unsettling Way

Tina Fey brings her 2004 movie comedy, Mean Girls, to the Broadway stage in a ridiculously entertaining way so good, some would even say - it’s fetch. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the musical adaptation perfectly captures the film’s essence and pairs the movie's hilariously well-known one-liners with brilliantly choreographed song and dance. Mean Girls exploits the supposed hell that is high school and how changing who you are to fit in doesn’t make you the “Apex Predator”. “Apex Predator”, the title of one of the songs sung by Queen Bee Regina George, the true mean girl, played by renowned actress Taylor Louderman, explains how popularity gives her power. Mean Girls is the story of how new girl Cady Heron comes to North Shore High School and disrupts the throne Regina George has sat on for so long. The show is a story of how being true to yourself never goes out of style and how social status does not define your worth. From the scenery to the song lyrics even the choreography, this screen-to-stage shift hasn’t changed the story’s modern aspect at all, which may not be appealing for some. Mean Girls may have redefined and challenged the traditional Broadway style, but not for the better. For those traditional, hardcore show lovers like myself, this Mean Girls adaptation takes away the magic of Broadway every theatre-goer knows and loves because its drastic alteration to meet the present-day culture.  

In my opinion, one of the most exciting parts of seeing a Broadway show is the creatively complex scenery that makes every audience member feel as if they are physically in the scene rather than in the audience. A big part of the Broadway appeal is how certain set pieces move completely on their own, without any stagehand help, providing realistic transitions between scenes. However, the set of Mean Girls lacked that effect. The scenery mostly consisted of large screens covering the back of the stage broadcasting different backdrops that coordinated with what was occurring in the scene. When the next scene came, the screens would switch to a different image rather than different pieces of physical scenery coming on and off the stage. It felt artificial. For instance, the scene where “The Plastics” take Cady Heron to the mall to buy her new clothes, the stores are represented with digital images posted on the digital screens as opposed to real tangible stores on the stage. Though not necessarily interrupting the smooth transitions, getting rid of this 3D effect took away the experience of feeling at that very mall myself while still sitting in my seat in the orchestra. While this largely technological aspect may work for shows like Dear Evan Hansen since the plot revolves around the abuse of social media, the story of Cady Heron and how she changes the boundaries of popularity and status at North Shore High has a very distant affiliation with the new technology of the time period.

Broadway shows are known for their big over-the-top flashy production numbers filled with numerous jazz hands and box squares and have been moving audiences since the early 1800’s. However, there was not one kick line, barely any musical theatre dance steps throughout the entire show for a matter of fact. While there was a very elaborate tap number, every other production number had a hip-hop, almost “street” dance twist to it, different from anything seen on the stage of the August Wilson theatre in a very long time. Nicholaw took the term choreography to an entirely new level, challenging what the word truly means. From the perfectly synchronized pencil movements during “Stupid with Love” or the precisely choreographed taps and slaps of the lunch trays in “Where Do You Belong?” the routines surpassed traditional dance steps. Along with the enormous shift from pirouettes and leg lifts to popping and locking, many of the numbers had an animalistic nature to them, going off of the theme of Regina George and her posse being the predators feeding off the fear of their prey, and Cady Heron’s background living in Africa. A fellow fan expresses his insight on the show claiming, “The animalistic approach was a weird interpretation of the plot because it took away from the focus of the song.” The song’s fluidity would suddenly be interrupted by animal imitations and sounds reflected through the choreography, which I honestly found just plain strange. Challenging the Broadway reputare that has been wowing audiences for years is a risk that took away what entices audience members to willingly pay loads of money to see.

Despite how different Mean Girls is in opposition to the other Broadway shows before it, 14 years later from the movie’s first premiere, the story still never fails to leave any audience member in tears of laughter, as they recite hilariously witty quotes on the ride home from the show.