Tina Fey’s iconic 2004 film “Mean Girls” is quite a choice for a musical adaptation, but boy, does it deliver. The stage musical follows the same story as the movie, with surprisingly few changes in the plot, as most movie-to-stage adaptations change quite a bit. The biggest difference is, of course, the addition of music and dance.
Mariah Rose Faith (Regina George), and Jonalyn Saxer (Karen Smith) in the National Touring
Company of “Mean Girls“.
The choreography is particularly great whenever there is a scene in the classrooms or cafeteria, the rolling school desks and lunch tables swirling around each other combined with the screen-based set — which displays the iconic brickwork and mascot paintings of any traditional American public high school — really transport you into the setting. It could be called a more mature “High School Musical.”
Speaking of the music, the lyricism and tunes are brilliant. I can’t imagine having to figure out how to progress an already existing story, especially in a way to almost not change the plot at all. I’ll admit I have been listening to the original Broadway cast recording since it was released, despite not having seen the show, and hearing it performed live and seeing the visuals that go along with it was absolutely fantastic. Some of the songs even had different lyrics than the original recording, and there was a reprise or two that aren’t featured on it at all!
This musical would probably be rated the same as the original film, PG-13, and does contain sexual references and strong language.
“Mean Girls” is being performed now through March 1 at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Fla. To buy tickets for the Orlando performances, visit DrPhillipsCenter.org. For the full list of tour stops, visit MeanGirlsOnBroadway.com/tour.