Welcome to High School! Get in, losers— we’re going to The Kennedy Center! Because their production of Mean Girls the musical, Directed and Choreographed by Casey Nicholaw is just so FETCH! And they are absolutely making FETCH happen!!! Based on the Paramount Pictures film from 2004 with book by Tina Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, this high-octane, high-quality Broadway musical is a trip down memory lane for some and a totally relevant look at the uncivilized jungle that is American public high school.
Scenic Designer Scott Pask, Lighting Designer Kenneth Posner, and Video Designers Finn Ross & Adam Young are the literal aesthetic dream team when it comes to this production. Pask’s scenic structure is simple, creating digital paneled walls onto which all of the projections— which are the most flawlessly executed projections in the history of musical scenery projections— are displayed. But this combination of simple, stable structure, Posner’s perfect lighting, and Ross & Young’s imaginative video projection work is what makes for a jaw-dropping set that star-washes, fades into and out of, or snaps into place. There aren’t enough words to describe the utterly mesmerizing perfection that dazzles through these digital scene changes. If every scenic change that was handled with projections was handled on the caliber that Pask, Posner, Ross & Young have set forth for Mean Girls this technology would be wholeheartedly embraced by touring companies and Broadway alike. The way the craft the walls of North Shore High School— electrifying those garish bricks so many of us remember from our own school days, and yet instantly they melt away into dreamlike scenes— with full sky star-scapes or calculus equations and little hearts. The vibrant poppy detail that goes into the neon-gem-tone tiling of the ‘Yo! Fro!’ shop or all of the clever nuances featured in the mall scene— you’re completely transported and forget that it’s a digital splash rather than physical scenery. And every time one of the scenes slides down the projection panels into place or explodes its way into place, the audience is right along for the ride, gasping in awe at how flawless and authentically real it all looks and feels.
Costume Designer Gregg Barnes captures the essence of Mean Girls in all of the sartorial selections he prepares for this show. Whether it’s the iconic pink— we wear pink on Wednesdays— or the vast array of ‘sexy historical figures’ costumes displayed during “Sexy”, Barnes is bringing high school realness to each and every outfit. There’s something to be said for the way the outfits perfectly replicate the sense of the movie, which was— gasp nearly 20 years ago— and still exude present-day vibes. All of the shoes are every girl’s dream in this production and they’re as important and have as much attention drawn to them as the Mathlete jackets or the perfectly posh outfits everyone’s wearing at Cady’s not-so-small intimate party. Costuming this show, Barnes rounds out the aesthetic perfection that Pask, Posner, and Ross & Young are bringing with scenery, lights, and video projections.
Director and Choreographer Casey Nicholaw is bringing the A-game when it comes to being the guiding force of the talent on stage. The ensemble is roaring— rearing to go— and for every knockout performance given by a principle or supporting character, they re blasting and matching that energy, that sound, and that feeling right back at them. Nicholaw’s choreography should be the talk of the town as he weaves a colorful dancing tapestry of styles and moves, rhythms and feelings into one sensational show. There are urban routines loaded with hip-hop moves and acrobatic-gymnastic style tricks as well as tap numbers and big splashy whole-ensemble numbers that are the hallmarks of any big Broadway show. There’s even a pinwheel move— during “Where Do You Belong”— created with the students spinning on their cafeteria tables. Nicholaw brings semaphore into that number as well with the ensemble flashing their shiny red plastic cafeteria trays around like colorful flags. There is such an indefatigable energy roaring out of the ensemble in every group number, every dance routine, that your heartbeat is constantly jumping and pumping to the beat.
April Josephine is triple-timing her stage roles as Mrs. Heron, that’s Cady’s mom, Ms. Norbury, that’s Cady’s teacher, and Mrs. George, that’s Regina’s mom. Each of these characters is vastly distinct from the other, showcasing Josephine’s impressive acting capabilities. When she’s toddling around on those too-high heels as Mrs. George and trying to be the ‘hip mom’ it’s hilarious. She’s grounded and levelheaded as Mrs. Heron, but we see her most as Ms. Norbury. Ironically enough it’s the reprise of “What’s Wrong With Me” where we get to hear Josephine’s stellar singing voice as she’s trying to dissect her parenting skills as Mrs. George (though we get to hear her singing as Ms. Norbury during “Do This Thing” as well.) Josephine’s portrayal as Ms. Norbury is both real and humorous; we can all relate to that self-depreciating teacher who has to laugh at her own jokes and Josephine captures that person perfectly.
Whose house is this? It’s Kevin G (Kabir Bery) and he is bringing the house down with his super fly patter-rap skills and hip-hop moves and vocals. While the Kevin G character is definitely a bigger role in the film, Bery is not throwing away his shot in this production, as he smashes lead vocals on “Whose House Is This?” and again as part of the group singing “Do This Thing.” With good comic timing, his appearances are memorable.
You can’t have a queen of the plastics without two plastic pillars to stand upon and for Mean Girls that’s Gretchen Wieners (Megan Masako Haley) and Karen Smith (Jonalyn Saxer.) The pair are hilarious together but established as their own unique individuals right from the word go. Saxer, as the wind-tunnel-blonde Karen, has the flawless comic timing of someone who is meant to be the stereotype supreme when it comes to stupidity. Saxer’s understanding of how to make her pauses between thoughts just the perfect length is potent and it creates the exacting balance needed to keep the character from being a caricature but still making the audience laugh and enjoy her. And when she belts her face off, in that nasally high-sounding voice she’s crafted for the character during “Sexy”, you really get a feel for what Saxer is bringing to the production.
Megan Masako Haley, as the ever-dependable and truly-psychotically-devoted Gretchen Wieners, is giving the most powerful supporting-player torch song in recent musical theatre history. Her number, “What’s Wrong With Me?” (and it’s reprise, a duet shared with the Mrs. George character) starts off as this cute and comic song but quickly evolves into the anthem torch song of every girl or person in high school who has ever doubted themselves, ever experienced low-self-esteem, and ever truly wondered if they’re worth it. When Haley belts that song out from a place deep in her heart, she isn’t just singing about herself, she’s singing to every single person who has ever survived high school and it becomes this deep, meaningful, clarifying moment in what is otherwise a really light and fabulous show, giving the production both heart and happiness. When she delivers that line— “Sometimes I feel like an iPhone without a case. Like, I know I’m worth a lot and have a lot of good functions, but at any time I could just shatter”— there is this moment where the audience almost laughs and then collectively has this gasp of empathy and direct relatability. Haley makes that moment so striking and profound.
As mentioned, the two plastic pillars must support their Queen Bee, but don’t be fooled by the pink! Nadina Hassan, as Regina George, is 100% the apex predator of North Shore High School and she is playing to slay in this production of Mean Girls. Totally embodying that high school ‘too cool total bitch’ personality, Hassan is Plastic Queen incarnate from the moment she is rolled out on her lunch table to launch “Meet the Plastics.” Oozing sexuality, confidence, arrogance, and everything that type of character is known for, Hassan is wearing Regina George— both screen Regina and stage Regina— like a second skin. Both of her rooftop exploding solo numbers, “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn” are devastatingly divine and put her vocals in another class entirely. The sheer exhilaration and terror that she exudes during “World Burn” could easily melt the audience to a puddle. But there’s a tiny bit of humanity twinkling under all of that shiny, shiny plastic and Hassan does an fantastic job of bringing that forward just a bit, near the end of production.
It’s Cady’s story— homeschool jungle girl and her two actual friends and the chaos that evolves when the plot to infiltrate the plastics blows up in her face? And those two friends— Janis (Mary Kate Morrissey) and Damien (Eric Huffman) are hands down two of the best components of this production. The pair start off and close the show as narrative forces who then insert themselves into the events as they unfurl because— well— duh! They were there! Huffman is a musical theatre master, working wonders on the stage as he sashays, slays, swishes, and swans all over the place. Living up to the character’s ironic label (which is good-natured when given by Janis and burned against him once the vicious bitches of the school get ahold of it) ‘too gay to function’ he is sassy and delivers every line with panache and flare. Think of Huffman as the Mean Girls’ Fred Astaire, if Fred Astaire were a narrating Fairy Godmother. He taps, he sings, he belts, he leads dance numbers, he delivers zappy and zingy punch lines and iconic screen one-liners that leave the audience loving him every minute he’s on stage. His two big bust-out numbers, “Where Do You Belong?” and “Stop” both receive well-deserved ovations.
Mary Kate Morrissey, having to play in the shadowy light of co-star Eric Huffman, holds her own and then some when it comes to bringing a vibrant and resilient life to the Janis character. There is an undeniable fire burning in that girl’s belly from the moment she starts the show. “Apex Predator” gives the audience their first taste of Janis’ undeniable ferocity and just how ready Morrissey to keep that eternal flame of ferocity burning. When she strikes up the matches again in “Revenge Party” you can feel the pulse of the song radiating through her booming vocals. But the true crowning glory moment for Morrissey as Janis is when she lets lose an inferno of feeling and truth and raw passion, blazing up a conflagration to burn down the school as she belts out “I’d Rather Be Me” and gets the whole of the female student body chanting, dancing, and singing along with her. You go, Mary Kate Morrissey!
You will hear Danielle Wade roar and not just when Cady Heron is singing the song “It Roars.” Watching Wade transform this character from a quirky, earnest and simple, homeschool girl into a raging, rigid plastic— and yet still somehow managing to maintain just a kernel of her true self as she spirals down the misguided high-school path of popularity, is a real treat. Getting to see her flirt with Aaron Samuels (Adante Carter, who is delightful on stage, has a wonderful voice, but just isn’t featured as heavily in this musical as one might expect!) during “Stupid With Love” sends all the butterflies giggling in your stomach. When Wade and Carter come together for their love-imbalanced duet “More is Better” there is some beautiful vocal chemistry in that number as well as emotional chemistry between the pair as they sit and marvel up in that impressively elevated bedroom set. (Even more kudos to Scenic Designer Scott Pask!) With a versatile voice that portrays both a pureness of heart, a terror of changing, and the honesty of what it’s like to be caught up in the hells of hormones in high school, Wade really delivers with these amazing sounds and feelings during “I See Stars”, “Fearless (Repirse)” and of course her half of “Apex Predator.” Danielle Wade is bringing Cady Heron to radiant life and there is just no stopping her.
The show is so FETCH! But this is a cautionary tale— and not just in the way it is brought forward to subtly remind people that social media is not the world, the world is the world— throw caution to the wind and get your tickets while you still can! Mean Girls is going to graduate on out of the Kennedy Center at the end of this month and you definitely do not want to be lumped into that group of people who missed out.
Running Time: Approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes with one intermission
Mean Girls in the Opera House Theatre at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC. For tickets call the box office at (202) 467-4600 or purchase them online.
