![]() ![]() Instead, LAT’s theater critic Charles McNulty reviewed two productions in New York, one of which was about to close. The LA Times ignored “Mean Girls” at the 2700-seat Pantages, although it was easily the most popular theatrical production in LA so far in 2023. It will re-appear nearby, at Segerstrom Hall in Costa Mesa, March 7-19, in case you can’t tickets in Hollywood - but in that case, you’re not the only one who missed it in LA. When the run of “Wuthering Heights” at the Wallis was canceled because of rain damage in the theater, “Mean Girls” became the only big-deal opening in a larger LA-area theater in January. The references to casual drug use in “Mean Girls” are light-hearted, as opposed to the inter-generational problems that we saw in the aptly-named “ Jagged Little Pill. Of course, with Lorne Michaels of “Saturday Night Live” fame producing, as well as Fey’s book (is Fey a descendant of Feydeau?), “Mean Girls” is also a lot funnier than the last teen-oriented musical that played the Pantages. ![]() And in the stage design, digital devices - which spread rumors so much faster - are abundant, updating the look from the clunky communications devices of 2004. The stylized influences of Cady’s background in Kenya, where she observed socializing strategies among the wild animals, are more vividly suggested by Nicholaw’s choreography than they were in similar moments in the film. A dazzling display of images and sounds unfolds with unerring precision before our eyes, creating an inherent theatricality and a richer sense of satire than we saw in the more realistic surfaces of the film. The staged version, with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, is even more of a cartoon than the movie - but it’s also more enjoyable.ĭirector and choreographer Casey Nicholaw and his crack design team deserve much of the credit. But this is a cartoon, with a satisfying arc. Never fear - Tina Fey’s inspired narrative turns the tables again, transforming Cady from a potential Mean Girl into a “mean” mathlete and eventually a healer who points out the potential of everyone in the class to become “a star.” She unites the extremes of the school’s social divisions. Her first friends at North Shore are artsy rebels Damian (Eric Huffman) and Janis (Lindsay Heather Pearce), who inspire Cady to infiltrate the Plastics as a spy and disrupt Regina’s rule.Ĭady soon shows signs of becoming a Mean Girl herself. She’s a naive newcomer, previously home-schooled by her professorial parents while living in Kenya. īut the central character of “Mean Girls” is Cady Heron (English Bernhardt). They’re the girls at the center of the social scene at North Shore High in the Chicago area, led by the fearsome “Regina George” - as in “Queen George,” who is played by Nadina Hassan in the terrific touring cast at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, in the show’s LA debut. If you’ve seen either version, the title guides you to think first of the Plastics. The title “Mean Girls” - whether it’s attached to the 2004 movie or the 2017 stage musical adaptation - takes advantage of several meanings of the word. Jasmine Rogers, Nadina Hassan, Morgan Ashley Bryant and English Bernhardt in “Mean Girls” at the Pantages.
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