Theatre review: Mean Girls' witty teen comedy makes a "fetch" mix with song-and-dance spectacle
Energized Broadway Across Canada musical heightens the storytelling and deepens the characterizations
Broadway Across Canada’s Mean Girls.
Mean Girls continues at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre to January 28
MEAN GIRLS IS HAVING a moment right now.
The iconic film has long been stamped into pop-culture legacy, and the recently released film, an adaptation of the 2017 hit Broadway musical, has been crushing it at the box office. Meanwhile, Broadway Across Canada’s touring production opened in Vancouver last night. Like the original film version, the show is hilarious and smart, but here, the storytelling is heightened through the magic of musical theatre, complete with splashy song-and-dance numbers and vibrant young cast members who offer their own takes on the story’s well-known characters.
Similar to seeing the Barbie movie, attending the stage version of Mean Girls is a bit of a cultural phenomenon. There’s a happy, excited buzz in the lobby even before the show. Fun outfits, with plenty of pink (not just on a Wednesday), are everywhere and the photo booth is a vibe. Needless to say, by the time the lights go down in the theatre, the audience is amped up and it’s exhilarating to be immersed in this energy.
The show promises all the drama, when the characters of Janis and Damian inform us that we’re going to see a story “about corruption and betrayal! And getting hit by a bus!”. From there, we follow the story of 16-year-old Cady Heron, who moves from Kenya with her family back to the U.S. Despite having grown up alongside African wildlife, Cady is now thrust into the most viciously savage setting she has encountered yet: high school.
Guided by her new besties, Janis and Damian, we follow Cady’s journey as she navigates her way through the varsity jocks, rich stoners, debate team, and sexually active band geeks, to meet the “Plastics”. Consisting of queen bee Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith, the girls are North Shore High School’s royalty. When Cady is unexpectedly invited to sit with the Plastics at lunch, her whole world changes. But she soon has to consider “how far would you go to be popular and hot?”, as Janis and Damian warned us in their opening song. What follows is a ruthless fight up the adolescent food chain where anything goes to survive, even if someone needs to get hit by a bus. And it’s all wrapped up in pink.
Book writer Tina Fey (the former SNL and 30 Rock star who wrote the original film, starring in it as math teacher Ms. Norbury) has kept all the cherished movie elements, including such famous one-liners as “You can’t sit with us” and “I’m not a regular mom, I’m a cool mom”. Fey has also taken out parts that would be considered cringe these days and has updated the story to incorporate social media and to address homophobia.
No shade to the original film, but the characters are more fleshed out in the stage version. Through songs and added dialogue and scenes, Gretchen and Karen are given more depth. In Gretchen’s solo “What’s Wrong with Me”, we get insight into why she’s such a minion to Regina, and Karen is given some really nice moments that humanize her. In fact, there’s even a touching scene late in the show where we gain deeper insight into Regina.
On top of all that, the show is a musical-theatre spectacle. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, who also did Book of Mormon, the staging is supercharged from start to finish with high-energy dance and sharp humour. Nicholaw’s inventive choreography ranges from hip-hop and jazz to classic Broadway tap sequences. Highlights include “Sexy”, where Karen leads a number that pokes fun at stereotypical Halloween costumes, and “Stop”, where Damian headlines a fantastic tap number that also addresses some relevant teen issues underneath the laughs.
On opening night, understudy Megan Arseneau stepped in for the role of Cady and seamlessly delivered a performance that glowed with authenticity. In the original film, the audience is let in on Cady’s thoughts by Lindsay Lohan’s voiceovers. In the stage show, Cady has moments where she looks at the audience in direct address. Arseneau is so sincere in these sequences, you can see the wheels turning in her head, and it’s not hard to see why her character makes the choices she does. A highlight is “Stupid with Love”, where, through song and dialogue, you see Arseneau’s Cady fall for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels.
Arseneau wasn’t the only understudy to step in on opening night, as Mikey Corey Hassel took on the role of Aaron, infusing his portrayal of Cady’s love interest with intelligence and vulnerability. As the infamous Regina George, Maya Petropoulos is a force to be reckoned with. Armed with an ice-cold demeanour and an explosive voice, she has queen-bee confidence to the max. She mixes these qualities with an unapologetic deviousness, showing Regina’s cunning persuasive capabilities in “Someone Gets Hurt”, and later threatening to set the stage ablaze with her sensational “World Burn”.
Kristen Amanda Smith portrays Gretchen with such a painful amount of self-consciousness, her character seems always on the verge of being unhinged. MaryRose Brendel is delightfully quirky, sweet, and hilarious as Karen. Ethan Jih-Cook’s Damian is full of colourful personality and energy, as well as powerful vocal chops, all of which are highlighted by his rousing tap number “Stop”.
And speaking of powerful vocals, Alexys Morera, who plays Janis, has a voice that threatens to blow the Queen E. roof off. Amid the sassy teenage girl personas throughout the show, Morera’s sarcastic, down-to-earth attitude nicely balances things, and when she unleashes her dynamite vocals in numbers like “I’d Rather Be Me”, she creates a sense of freedom from the confines of teenage world. And among the wonderfully talented ensemble, Victoria Mesa and Ryan Vogt hand in some standout dancing and characterizations.
The show delivers on what fans have always loved about Mean Girls—its humour is packed with punch, attitude, and wit, always with elements of truth that really resonate. Let’s face it, society is obsessed with high school culture. The heart of the show is its message of letting your true self shine, whether in high school or not—and preferably without having to throw anyone under the bus. As Regina says, “Never apologize for being a boss.” Now and hopefully always, that message is fetch.
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