Raise your hand if you've ever been personally amazed at how much you loved Mean Girls on Broadway. I sure am raising my hand. On August 15, I traveled into New York City to see how Tina Fey turned her 2004 hit film Mean Girls into a musical that transforms the August Wilson Theater into the halls of North Shore High.
Starring as Janis Ian is Barrett Wilbert Weed, who I think, has the strongest role in the entire show. Her character is so clearly defined from the first moment she steps on stage through her energy and dark humor. Weed brings a certain vibe to the character that viewers don't feel through the movie, and this especially is shown in scenes where she sings because her true emotions are shown through song.
The best number in the entire show is "I'd Rather Be Me," because no matter who you are or what situation you are in, everyone can relate in some way to the song. She speaks to the idea of being yourself and not caring what anyone else thinks of you. The writer's really spoke to most of its audience through this song, because many of the people seeing this show are teens and young girls, who grew up watching this movie. The song itself also comments on the societal ideas of how girls are expected to behave by saying that girls always have to be kind, while boys can fight through disagreements, and ladies have to stay civil. She then proceeds to say, "So here's my right finger, to how girls should behave, cause sometimes what's meant to break you, makes you brave."
Regina George, the antagonist of the show, holds a presence on stage like no other. Every character is aware of when she's there, and I could feel the tension on stage, which makes the audience fear her as much as the rest of the cast does. Taylor Louderman, who plays Regina, has one of the most incredible voices and it echoes through the theater bringing chills to the audience's spines.
Surprisingly, the weakest character in the entire show was the star, Cady Heron. The actress who portrays Cady, Erika Henningsen, has a beautiful voice and makes the audience swoon when she is singing; but in terms of the character's development, there was not much. The only was no clear scene where she reflects on what she learned from her experiences is where she speaks to the entire school at Spring Fling. However, it was not as intense on stage as it was in the film.
From the movie, we all know how nervous Gretchen gets when she thinks Cady is replacing her as Regina's best friend, and in the show, the entire theater was living Gretchen's anxiety with her. It shows how much high school can affect a girl's self-confidence and how difficult it can be to figure out who you are, when everyone around you is doing what's popular to fit in. Karen is hilariously stupid, and her solo song "Sexy," makes the audience laugh harder than they had the entire show. And Damien, well he's still too gay to function.
Broadway shows themselves are experiencing, where even though the audience is not in the show, you truly feel like you are living the experience's on stage with the actors. Live theater brings out more emotions in people than movies, and this is truer than ever in mean girls. By the end of the show, I felt bad for Janis, Gretchen annoyed me more than ever, and Regina scared me. This show is definitely worth seeing for the music, the show, and the pink. Oh and by the way, if you're seeing the show on a Wednesday, wear pink. Because I forgot.
