Mean Girls
August Wilson Theatre, NYC, April 12, 2018
Reviewed by Elizabeth Ahlfors for Cabaret Scenes
Photos by Joan Marcus
Taylor Louderman, Kate Rockwell
and Barrett Wilbert Weed
The color is pink and the theme is just as fetch in Tina Fey’s musical, Mean Girls, as it was in the 2004 movie. Except now it has songs. Those totally grool beasties at Chicago’s North Shore High School are all amped-up with Fey’s memorable ’80s slang and original music by Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin at the August Wilson Theatre.
An expansive cast zeroes in on Regina George played by Taylor Louderman who regally nails her role as the “Queen of Beasts” (“…I am a massive deal/I don’t care who you are”). She dictates the social rules for her pack, called “the Plastics,” featuring Kate Rockwell (in an appealingly ditzy interpretation of dumb blonde Karen), and Ashley Park portrays insecure Gretchen (“If Regina is the sun, I am a disco ball”). These three alphas rule the school.
So what happens when newbie 16-year-old Cady Heron (Erika Henningsen) transfers from homeschooling in Kenya to public high school in Chicago? If you never saw the movie, you’ll quickly catch on that Cady has left one jungle for another. Her first friends are Janis, a lesbian (Barrett Wilbert Weed), and “art freak” Damian (Grey Henson) who warn her. “You’ll be judged on sight, voted in or out/’Cause that’s what high school’s all about!”
They take her under their wings, take her on a tour of the cafeteria to find out “Where Do You Belong?,” and invite her to sit with them at lunch. But then Cady spots Regina and the Plastics who condescend to let her to sit at their table. Although Janis and Damien’s opening song, “A Cautionary Tale,” is a reminder that “You can’t buy integrity at the mall,” Cady decides to join the bullying Plastics, promising to share all the dirt with Janis and Damien.
Gradually, Cady, played appealingly by Henningsen, turns the tables on the Queen Bee with an nasty diet trick and, just as bad, she crushes on Regina’s hot ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels (Kyle Selig), totally against the Plastics’ code. However, Cady finds the downside to social success, especially after Regina’s old “Burn Book” is revealed. However, the show delivers the necessary “I See Stars” finale.
More than capable are the supporting characters. Kerry Butler brings humor and distinction to her roles as a dodgy teacher, Cady’s grounded mother, and Regina’s “cool mom” (“Real beauty comes from your face”). Coach Carr teaches “Health and Yuman Sexshiality” (“this fall we’re gonna be doing the state-required unit on abstinence. And then in the spring we do condoms and nutrition.”)
Updated for today’s internet audience with a sly zap at POTUS, Fey’s book is still firmly targeted for teens. It could use trimming, and the skilled performances circle around, but never zero in on, the ill-defined characters. Richmond’s music, like “Stop,” is derivative of movie songs. Benjamin’s lyrics are not memorable, but often clever, and they do the job with a ballad for Cady and Aaron, “More Is Better,” and Cady’s first-act closer, “Fearless.” She confesses to one ill-fated brush with love with “Stupid with Love” (“He ran from me/Literally ran from me/And being Kenyan/He ran fast”). Ashley Park evokes the stultifying shyness of Gretchen with the poignant “What’s Wrong With Me?” Janis and ensemble have an inspiring moment with “I’d Rather Be Me.”
You have to cheer Louderman’s ultra-self-involved Queen of Beasts, Regina, strutting across the stage in some stunning outfits by costume designer Gregg Barnes. Barnes created a melange of tight tops, baggy jackets, lace stockings, and short-short skirts for the girls, remembering that rule of the Plastics dictate that they wear pink every Wednesday. Director/choreographer Casey Nicholaw’s (Aladdin, The Book of Mormon) staging lets the exuberant ensemble frolic on a technicolor playground with Scott Pask’s sliding sets and props. Projections by Finn Ross and Adam Young point to various locations.
Mean Girls may vie with Frozen for “Most Likely to Succeed,” at least at the box office.
