Hollywood has regularly cranked out teenage comedies for decades and every once in a while one of them becomes a classic. “Mean Girls” stands among the winners.
Inspired by Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 book “Queen Bees and Wannabes,” Tina Fey wrote the script during the tail end of her “Saturday Night Live” era and did a terrific job of capturing the spirit of John Hughes’ classic ’80s films. It’s witty, campy, a bit naughty and ultimately empathetic.
In 2016, Fey announced she had written a musical version of the film, with music from her husband, Jeff Richmond (who also composed the tunes heard in Fey’s sitcom “30 Rock”), and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (“Legally Blonde: The Musical,” “The Explorers Club”). It opened on Broadway in April 2018, earned a dozen Tony nominations and has enjoyed a successful run.
The first national tour of “Mean Girls” opened last month and makes its second stop on the tour in Minneapolis, where it’s playing for two weeks at the Orpheum Theatre.
Both devoted fans of the film and “Mean Girls” newcomers will find much to enjoy about the musical, which isn’t perfect but offers plenty of laughs.
The script follows most of the beats of the film, which centers on Cady Heron (Danielle Wade), a teenager who grew up in Kenya with biologist parents who homeschooled her. Her mom lands a new job that forces the family to move to suburban Chicago, where Cady’s parents decide to enroll her in a public high school. She needs socializing, as she had few peers back in Africa.
Brooding artist Janis Sarkisian (Mary Kate Morrissey) and her flamboyantly gay buddy Damian Hubbard (Eric Huffman) are two misfits who also serve as the show’s narrators. They quickly befriend Cady and introduce her to all of the school’s cliques, most importantly “The Plastics,” a trio of ultra-popular girls who rule the school: Queen bee Regina George (Mariah Rose Faith), her secretly insecure sidekick Gretchen Wieners (Megan Masako Haley) and the seemingly dimwitted Karen Smith (Jonalyn Saxer).
Regina takes an unexpected interest in Cady and invites her into her exclusive circle, to the initial horror of Janis and Damian. But Cady doesn’t think Regina and company are all that bad … until she falls for Regina’s ex, Aaron Samuels (Adante Carter), and Regina reignites the relationship mainly to spite Cady. That’s when Cady, Janis and Damian cook up a plan for revenge. But along the way, Cady slowly becomes every bit as shallow and hateful as Regina.
Fey follows the film’s major beats and has updated it with some contemporary gags and a focus on social media and its dominant role in teenage life. She also extends the metaphor that high school isn’t that much different from the African wild.
The first act of “Mean Girls” hits the ground running and gives each main character the chance to introduce themselves through song. Fey packs the dialogue with laugh-out-loud moments and offers plenty of visual gags as well. The actors perform in front of a versatile LED backdrop that gives the show extra pop and sparkle.
All of the leads are well cast and charismatic and the hard-working ensemble is a delight to watch. The songs are run of the mill Broadway fare, but still get the job done.
The main issue with “Mean Girls” is that it’s too long and adds about an hour to the 97-minute running time of the film. The first act is fun, but starts to drag as it goes along, while the second act rushes to jam far too much story into its final moments.
Still, “Mean Girls” will resonate with anyone who’s been to high school and Fey does an admirable job of wrapping an evening of teen treachery with the welcome message that, in the end, we’re all humans and it’s a lot easier to be nice to each other than it may first appear.
“Mean Girls” at the Orpheum Theatre
- When: Through Oct. 13
- Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis
- Tickets: $146-$40; 800-982-2787 or hennepintheatretrust.org
- Capsule: A funny, if a bit long, update of the classic teen film.
