Right after The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Mean Girls is one of my favourite movies. I love the clever jokes, the message and the comfort it brings me whenever I watch Lindsay Lohan’s character plot to bring down the Queen Bee alongside her friends. Not to mention, I’m a huge fan of all things musical theatre. So, when I learned that the national tour stops of Mean Girls the Musical included Canadian cities, I bought my tickets ASAP. Ottawa doesn’t get a whole lot: concerts, shows, fancy restaurants – you name it. So when I saw the show was coming to our city I knew I had to jump on the chance to see this classic movie-turned-musical.
I’ve been listening to the musical soundtrack for years, but I hadn’t been able to see it in person because of the tour’s COVID-19 delays and cancellations. Finally, this October I found myself at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre (and later Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre, because – spoiler! – I had to see it a second time), and was so excited to finally see these beloved songs performed on stage.
In the past, I’ve been critical of musicals being adapted into movies (I’m looking at you, Dear Evan Hansen), so I was skeptical when the reverse occurred for Mean Girls. However, Tina Fey was the screenwriter for the movie and also wrote the script for the musical. As well, Tina Fey’s husband, Jeff Richmond, was the original music composer for the movie, and he came back to compose the music for the musical. Overall, the theme, tone and atmosphere of the musical stayed true to the movie, and I have no doubt that this was largely due to Fey and Richmond’s return.
That being said, the musical had a lot of competing strengths and weaknesses. It didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the show, but I do think that some fixes could have been made to bring North Shore High to life even more.
THE SCORE
I’m getting this out of the way early: the lyrics for this show aren’t great. (Though, any lyrics compared to songs from the disaster that was Diana the Musical absolutely shine). In my opinion, the lyrics were one of the show’s biggest downfalls. Let’s look at the chorus of “Revenge Party,” a song sung by Cady, Janis and Damian when they decide to take down Regina:
It’s a revenge party
With your two best friends
It’s like a party with revenge it’s what it’s like
That last line especially, to me, is lazy writing. Is that really the best they could come up with? I get that they’re teenagers in high school and they’re not exactly supposed to be the most eloquent, but this problem comes up again in other songs, like “I’d Rather Be Me,” which is sung when Janis makes her speech to all the girls in the gym:
I won’t twist in knots to join your game
I will say, “You make me mad”
And if you treat me bad
I’ll say, “You’re bad”
Seriously, these lyrics read like a children’s book. Wow, you’ve rhymed “mad” with “bad”! How impressive. There are other musicals like Dear Evan Hansen or Heathers the Musical, that also have high school settings and don’t have this issue. So there’s really no excuse for this poor writing. However, I do love the performance of this song and how hyped everyone gets while watching it, and it does invoke a truly IDGAF feeling as Janis falls into all the girls’ arms. Super fun and very true to Janis’ character!
The lyrics aren’t the only weak part of the score. Some of the songs themselves did not need to be included. Damian and the ensemble sing “Stop” in response to Cady’s growing obsession with Aaron. However, to me, this just seemed like an opportunity for Damian to have his own solo song, and it didn’t actually add anything to the plot. Another song that didn’t seem necessary was “Whose House is This?” which is performed by the ensemble at Cady’s house party. This was a straight-up knockoff of “Big Fun” from Heathers the Musical, and again, didn’t add much to the story. Other major songs, like “Fearless,” “More is Better” and “I See Stars” were simply unremarkable.
There were other songs I really enjoyed. “It Roars” is one of my favourites because it briefly shows Cady’s life in Africa and her transition to high school in Chicago, and alongside the choreography, it does a good job of capturing her fears and excitement. “Stupid With Love” also does an amazing job of characterizing high school infatuation, with a touch of corny math jokes. As well, Regina’s major songs, “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn” both did an incredible job of showcasing Regina’s mastermind manipulation.
Ultimately, all of the songs were catchy and I enjoyed hearing them performed IRL. But there are some I’ll still be skipping on Spotify.
THE SET
The set is one of the show’s strongest points – even though it mostly relied on on-screen displays, which I know old-school musical theatre lovers hate. North Shore High’s desks and bathroom stalls are masterfully created with clever props, and I loved the sound effects used to transition to each classroom. Regina’s pink, lavish bedroom and the mall where they go shopping also have a ton of tiny details that lovers of the movies will notice and appreciate! It was clear that no expense was spared in creating the atmosphere.
What was cool was that before the show began, the set’s screens displayed snapshots of the Burn Book, with funny comments and rude photos. Some of the comments were honestly hilarious and they were super fun to read while waiting for the lights to dim.
THE PLOT
As I mentioned, for the most part, the show stays true to the movie. The major scenes, like the first cafeteria scene, the mall scene, the mathletes competition and the spring fling were all included. As well, a ton of the quotes from the movie were also used in the show – essentially, every iconic line from the movie, from “Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries” to “She doesn’t even go here!” were used, much to every Mean Girls fan’s delight.
Sprinkled throughout the musical are momentary transitions to Africa, which is also done in the movie. For example, when Cady pictures safari animals at the watering hole, the mall transforms into a savanna during “Apex Predator.” I liked this a lot as it shows how Cady sees the high school world as just as wild as, well, the wild.
Overall, the humour in the musical’s storyline shines: every other line will have you laughing, guaranteed. It’s Fey’s witty script with the contribution of the musical’s live comedic timing that becomes one of this show’s strongest parts.
But, of course, there were some major changes from the movie to the musical and not all of them were good. One of the biggest changes is that the musical is set in the modern day… which means social media was a huge part of the plot. Major key elements to the musical’s story are that Cady gains a huge social media following after the winter talent show, and she becomes obsessed with her online image.
In general, I’m not a fan of musicals using social media as a plot device (again, I’m looking at you, Dear Evan Hansen!). The concept of “going viral” has changed drastically over the past ten or even five years, and it gets cheesy and outdated super quickly. I honestly think that they could’ve conveyed the rumour mill of North Shore High School without using social media – it totally missed any nuance that could have been captured by having secrets spread without screens. In fact, I don’t think Mean Girls the Musical had to be set in the modern day. It could have worked by staying in the early 2000s, or not having any particular time period at all.
One of the worst parts of this musical is the winter talent show. In the movie, Gretchen accidentally kicks and breaks the boombox and the Plastics are stuck on stage during their performance until Cady starts singing acapella. In the musical, because of the weight she’s gained from the Kalteen bars, Regina’s skirt falls off in the middle of the song and she runs away screaming while everyone posts it on social media. Honestly, I hated this. It was weird to see Regina wearing a literal fat suit on stage for comedy, especially in the modern day. I think it was in poor taste and, like many parts of this show, not needed. If I could change this, I would have found a way for the music to mess up, and have Cady break the fourth wall and have the actual audience in the theatre sing along to the music. I think it would have been fun for the audience to have an interactive element without relying on social media or poorly-chosen tropes.
Final thoughts
Is this musical worthy of Tony awards? No. Could this musical rival Hamilton or Heathers? Definitely no. Will this musical have you laughing every ten seconds? Yes!
While this show has its flaws, Mean Girls the Musical is a fun experience that I think any fan of the movie will enjoy and appreciate. The music, while cheesy and sometimes lazy, is still very catchy and true to the characters, and the takeaway from the plot is the same as the movie: stay true to yourself and don’t put down other women. It’s easy to point out all the things that could be improved in this musical, but at the same time, I can’t deny that this show had me buying another ticket to see it again.
In other words: Mean Girls the Musical is a fun show and if you’re in the mood to be personally victimized by Regina George, I recommend it!