MEAN GIRLS Reviews- Page 5

[singer234]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 4:40pm

Because not being enjoyable = worse than death and this one musical has irrevocably changed the landscape of theatre, so that no composer will ever wish to compose again. Mean Girls killed it. Someone shut down BMI, the Graduate Writing program at NYU, The Musical Theatre Factory, NAMT, NYMF...it’s done.

See, lots of people can use hyperbole.

[singer234]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 4:42pm

If you think musical theatre is dead maybe you need to see more than what’s on Broadway.

Posted: 5/19/18 at 4:46pm

It's a big step towards it. The musical COMEDY is in trouble and this is a big example of why. Yes, art is subjective, but there is a level quality and talent that takes to be considered good....this is not it. It wouldn't even have made the BMI workshop as a stand alone.  Hairspray, thats an example of a quality musical comedy. great music (every song is a winner), an apparent melody, actual wit in the lyrics. Mean Girls is garbage

[singer234]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 4:53pm

Were you alive for Brooklyn or Glory Days? Or The Pirate Queen? Lestat? Opinions are fine, but this is far from the worst musical to hit Broadway in the past decade. 

Updated On: 5/19/18 at 04:53 PM

[Miles2Go2]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 5:12pm

In the last six years, we’ve had these musical comedies (depends on how liberally you interpret that term): The Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots, Matilda, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Something Rotten!, The School of Rock, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Waitress. It’s no secret that this last 2017-2018 was not a good year for new Broadway musicals and the next year looks possibly even less promising, but I firmly believe this is just a glitch. After all, the last three years have brought us Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, The Band’s Visit, and Fun Home. There is nothing that pervents more shows of this quality from being produced again. I do agree that when lesser quality musicals occupy theaters for years, they limit the houses that new shows can move into. But that is a slightly different issue. I’ll also agree that there is a seemingly increasing move toward using well-known brands to adapt into musicals. Sometimes that produces shows of merit: Kinky Boots, Matilda, The School of Rock, Waitress, Beautiful, Newsies, Once, An American in Paris, Billy Elliot...and sometimes not.

[Oak2]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 5:47pm

So what if you think Mean Girls is garbage? That doesn't mean theatre is dead, because guess what - there are plenty of people who DO find it enjoyable, which validates its existence. There are plenty of other comedies on Broadway you can enjoy instead, and other musicals are still being made. I agree that Mean Girls has a very weak score and lyrics that I personally find just completely stupid (and not even in a fun campy way, because I adore camp and kitsch). But I still would never say that just because I don't find it enjoyable or worth buying a ticket that it shouldn't exist period. That would just be evil.

Also if we do decide to go by your remarks, then doesn't that mean if anything is found "not enjoyable" by someone else, then it shouldn't exist? I find Sunday in the Park With George unenjoyable, so does that mean Sondheim is the death of theatre? Positive impacts always trump negative impacts. It doesn't matter if 100 people don't enjoy something if even ONE person enjoys it - that one person's enjoyment validates its existence. Of course with an industry like this there's also the commercial aspect, where it instead becomes - as long as it finds its audience, it's going to exist. And Mean Girls seems to have at least found its audience, and it will continue to thrive, no matter how much snobs cry about it.

Updated On: 5/19/18 at 05:47 PM

[robskynyc]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 6:21pm

Oak2 said: "So what if you think Mean Girls is garbage? That doesn't mean theatre is dead, because guess what - there are plenty of people who DO find it enjoyable, which validates its existence. There are plenty of other comedies on Broadway you can enjoy instead, and other musicals are still being made. I agree that Mean Girls has a very weak score and lyrics that I personally find just completely stupid (and not even in a fun campy way, because I adore camp and kitsch). But I still would never say that just because I don't find it enjoyable or worth buying a ticket that it shouldn't exist period. That would just be evil.

Also if we do decide to go by your remarks, then doesn't that mean if anything is found "not enjoyable" by someone else, then it shouldn't exist? I find Sunday in the Park With George unenjoyable, so does that mean Sondheim is the death of theatre? Positive impacts always trump negative impacts. It doesn't matter if 100 people don't enjoy something if even ONE person enjoys it - that one person's enjoyment validates its existence. Of course with an industry like this there's also the commercial aspect, where it instead becomes - as long as it finds its audience, it's going to exist. And Mean Girls seems to have at least found its audience, and it will continue to thrive, no matter how much snobs cry about it."

Beautifully said! <3

[broadwaysfguy]

Posted: 5/19/18 at 6:53pm

i agree with those saying we have been blessed with and spoiled by some incredible new shows over the 2010s and even though shows like marguaritaville and donna are not good or great, that we did get bands visit and two excellent revivals in my fair lady and carousel....lots in the pipeline for the next few seasons and im optimistic for future musicals
i think mean girls could have been incredible and ended up being good to very good, depending on what type of shows you like. for me mean girls was worth seeing just for grey hensons performance and tina acript.. he was fantastic and the dialogue was smart and funny

Posted: 5/19/18 at 6:54pm

Come on you guys, snobbery? There is such a thing as plain old bad...mean girls is bad. And considering many shows are in line to get into each bway house, It’s not right.

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 5/20/18 at 1:40pm

Does anyone know why they cut Wildlife and Bossed Up?? I've seen multiple say they preferred those opening numbers to It Roars, and Stop. 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 12:28am

I revisited the show with a friend who had an extra ticket. After hating the show the first time I saw it (and I mean, viscerally hating it)...I have to say it grew on me a lot more during round 2. I might... actually... like Mean Girls now?

The biggest problem that plagues the production can be summed up in one phrase: "lack of restraint." The show would be eons better if they had an assistant director or somebody who could've stepped in and pulled in the reins here and there. Every single song does not need to end with a high, long belt. Every scene does not need to have the ensemble in an utter frenzy setting the Wilson stage afire. Everybody knows, loves, and relates to these characters...so why not give us more intimate book scenes with them and less belting and movement and mania? (Also, while the score is mostly okay, the lyrics remain embarrassingly pedestrian.)

And yet... I still enjoyed myself, for whatever reason. I think it might be because I went in with such a low bar this time. The cast really sells the show, particularly the three Plastics. Regina George gets the best material, and Louderman really nails every scene. Regina is also clearly the role with which they exercised the most restraint. Look at "World Burn," for example, easily one of the show's best moments. The first 2-3 minutes of the scene are just Regina, alone, standing menacingly over a copy machine ready to wreak havoc on the world. Excellently staged, and the song builds to a true climax. Genuinely good drama. There's just too much happening in every other scene (along with the show-long projections) that gives me a real headache.     

Park's solo is heartbreaking, and Rockwell is really hysterical. I feel a little bad for Henningsen, whose role is really a beast (on stage for pretty much the entire show), and hasn't gotten much recognition this awards season. She's great and her voice is beautiful (even if she overdoes Cady's eagerness a little bit).

Glad I went back. The return trip really changed my opinion on it. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 1:18am

broadwayboy223 said: "Does anyone know why they cut Wildlife and Bossed Up?? I've seen multiple say they preferred those opening numbers to It Roars, and Stop."

Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin did a track by track commentary of the cast album and explain reasons why Bossed Up and Wild Life were cut. 

http://www.playbill.com/article/meet-the-plastics-and-the-rest-with-a-deep-dive-into-the-mean-girls-cast-album

I personally loved Wild Life and Bossed Up a lot, but It Roars has grown on me and Stop is a great Damian number and Grey kills it, but I do miss them. 

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 1:21am

standingovation79 said: "Come on you guys, snobbery? There is such a thing as plain old bad...mean girls is bad. And considering many shows are in line to get into each bway house, It’s not right. "

Who died and made you the Broadway Real Estate Police? Whether you like something or not, if it’s making money and bringing in audiences, that’s good business for Broadway in general. Everyone is entitled to their own thoughts and feelings, but this is just ridiculous to straight up Big Brother a show and evict it because you personally don’t like it. I know a White House that could use an eviction notice though. 

Updated On: 6/6/18 at 01:21 AM

[EllieRose2]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 4:21am

It's not "right"?  You're adorable, dear.  Tell that to their box office, and their Tony nominations.  

"This = the death of musical theater"

Take a seat, sweetie.  Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 9:53am

EllieRose2 said: "It's not "right"? You're adorable, dear. Tell that to their box office,and their Tony nominations.

"This = the death of musical theater"

Take a seat, sweetie. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

[lemiz1862]

Posted: 6/6/18 at 10:57am

^ seriously. 

And I'd like to add, with shows like this that hit the "fandom" universe (just take a look at the Mean Girls covers on Youtube), parents and kids buy tickets to unrelated plays and musicals. It is a statistical fact. We should be glad that some of broadway is dedicated to cultivating the audiences of tomorrow. 

[binau]

Posted: 4/24/19 at 12:21pm

Do we still all hate this musical or have we warmed up to it, kind of like Legally Blonde? Personally, I found that script to be hilarious, the staging and projections to be impressive (not like the cheap junk at Anastasia, for example), the characters to be likeable and the score to be catchy and at least somewhat appropriate for the characters, time and place that have stuck with me after the show (It Roars; Where Do You Belong?; Meet the Plastics; Stupid With Love; Apex Predator; What's Wrong With Me; Stop; More is Better; I See Stars). Far, far better than say Bring It On and almost (but not quite) as on par with Legally Blonde. 

Maybe it's a race to the bottom but after the negative comments here about the score I was expecting something truly, truly generic and boring like the Pretty Woman score. 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/24/19 at 12:27pm

It's nowhere near as good as the film, but it was entertaining enough with a good cast, decent choreography and great staging.

The music was all generically horrible though and once was enough.

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 4/24/19 at 2:51pm

I LOVED this show.

[broadway86]

Posted: 4/24/19 at 3:24pm

I like it less now than it did when I saw it last summer  The cast, the choreography, and stagecraft in general was so impressive. But the intangibles, the score and the adaptation, just didn't measure up imho.

[magictodo123]

Posted: 4/25/19 at 10:28am

“Garbage”....”eviction notice”...

you know, people could say the same thing about shows that have actually won Tony awards (also, this show received a record number of awards so....step back). Not everyone has to love shows that received critical acclaim. It’s how they talk about those shows. I personally did not enjoy The Bands Visit at all. Did I trash talk it? Absolutely not. That’s what’s beautiful about theater- everyone can have their own opinion. This musical is selling out performances week after week. It’s not going anywhere any time soon, and no opinion of anyone’s will change that.