Mean Girls 1st National Tour Performances Thread

[DiscoCrows]

Posted: 9/21/19 at 3:20am

The first national tour of MEAN GIRLS just finished their invited dress performance in Buffalo this evening. Did anyone go? Very excited to hear about it.

Saw a few pictures on Instagram/Twitter [IMAGE], and it looks like they made the LED set paneling a bit more "flat," and added an extra leg to each side of the stage to give it more depth, akin to the ANASTASIA tour set versus it's Broadway counterpart. This isn't surprising, I suppose it's just to make touring/fitting into theaters easier. Thoughts?

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/21/19 at 4:08am

I'm going to 2nd preview. Having just seen in for the first time in NYC on Sunday it will be interesting(for me) to see the tour cast.

[h6p8gv]

Posted: 9/21/19 at 6:13am

Please report back on the differences in the broadway version vs the tour I know the act 1 ending is different

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/21/19 at 9:24am

Based on some of the pictures I saw of the stage on Instagram, it looks like the curved walls have been replaced by staggered flat walls. It still looks great, though.

[hayleyann]

Posted: 9/21/19 at 4:04pm

They changed Fearless at the end of Act One and posted the rehearsal clip on Youtube.  Better than the original IMO.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OdZesE4_yg

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/22/19 at 12:14am

Let's see if I can remember the changes. The beginning changed. There is no elephant that craps onstage and Cady doesn't shoot the lion either.

Mrs. George doesn't have the dog.

When Regina tells Aaron his hair looks better pushed back is now do his eyes look green or grey.

Fearless was changed as we know. Regina doesn't sing part of Someone Gets Hurt anymore. She just grabs the box and walks off. Also there is no tray dance.

In I See Stars Janis is up on the platform with Cady singing "you are on fire, you can rise higher, up in the sky enjoy the view" before Cady does the fall. When Cady says "it's me and you, not us and her" she goes over to Regina instead of Janis which I found weird because the whole show it's Cady and Janis against Regina. 

I'm sure I'm forgetting some.

Updated On: 9/22/19 at 12:14 AM

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 9/22/19 at 12:30am

Caught the first performance this afternoon of the show. I've listen to the cast album once or twice, but I never saw the show before.

Danielle Wade stands out as a star. You know she's comfortable with the role from being the standby on Broadway. Mary Kate Morrissey is also strong as Janice. Funny that Gretchen, Damian, and Regina were the acting roles nominated for Tony awards. Maybe their original performer is gave a lot, because the roles don't seem nomination worthy. They are kind of flat.

The score wasn't overly strong. The book is stronger but that was already discussed when the Broadway production premiered.

I thing that rubbed me the wrong was as that a lot is the fact that iconic moments or lines just fell flat. These things are quoted everyday life and there's more emotion behind them then there was in the show. It was almost as if they felt obligated to include them, but never followed through. We all know that Glen Coco will get 4 candy grams, but it was done like any other line. It was almost like they were embarrassed.

But, I am so happy I saw it. I think once they get more comfortable, and play it will run smoothly and well.

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/22/19 at 12:39am

I forget to mention there was a technical difficulty at the evening show. The door for the Plastics didn't open and they were just standing there. Voice came on saying to freeze for a tech hold. It was only like 30 seconds and they went back to the ending of Where Do You Belong. Long applause.

[IAMREADING]

Posted: 9/22/19 at 7:01pm

I hate when she shoots the lion lol thanks for your service

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 5:10am

After seeing the tour 2 more times I can say that every song other than Apex Predator and I'd Rather Be Me has lyric changes in them and every scene but those 2 have changes in them. Too numerous to mention.

I was told that the Broadway company is going to include the new ending to Fearless in the near future.

[magictodo123]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 5:36am

mailhandler777 said: "After seeing the tour 2 more times I can say that every song other than Apex Predator and I'd Rather Be Me has lyric changes in them and every scene but those 2 have changes in them. Too numerous to mention.

I was told that the Broadway company is going to include the new ending to Fearless in the near future."

I thought that once a show is “frozen”, they can’t change anything? Is that up to the creative team if they want to change something after that? 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 8:01am

A show is frozen during a certain point in previews up to opening night. After that it can be changed. Look at Miss Saigon!

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 9:14am

Waitress has changed throughout the 3yrs it's been playing too.

[alex814]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 10:38am

magictodo123 said: "mailhandler777 said: "After seeing the tour 2 more times I can say that every song other than Apex Predator and I'd Rather Be Me has lyric changes in them and every scene but those 2 have changes in them. Too numerous to mention.

I was told that the Broadway company is going to include the new ending to Fearless in the near future."

I thought that once a show is “frozen”, they can’t change anything? Is that up to the creative team if they want to change something after that?"

Wicked is an example of a show that has made changes after its opening. Changes were made for the West End version that were eventually brought over to Broadway (these are well documented here in the forums). On the technical side, I’m pretty sure the national tours used some new lighting plots that became the standard across all productions.

OT: the “Someone Gets Hurt” reprise is killer. I hope the creative team reconsiders removing it.

[wish i were here2]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 10:46am

mailhandler777 said: "Waitress has changed throughout the 3yrs it's been playing too."

Out of curiosity, what has changed in Waitress? 

[IdinaBellFoster]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 11:57am

Caught the show on Saturday night, and will be seeing it again on Friday. I was a huge fan of the Broadway production.

The tour is off to a fabulous start. Danielle Wade really knocks it out of the park as Cady, and (with the help of someone else's performance) really centers the production in a way I don't think Erika Henningsen did. Cady is firmly at the center of the story, and Wade's vocals were incredible. Much more belt than mix - unsure if it's sustainable but whenever she sang you could feel the room being drawn in.

Marah Rose Faith makes a fine Regina. She can sing her face off, and does when necessary. I think this is less a dig at Faith and more of a praise of Taylor Louderman, but Regina seems exceedingly supporting in this production. Louderman made you feel her presence even when she wasn't onstage. You never forgot about her. Faith doesn't have this quality, and because of that you really notice that Regina is absent for most of the second act. 

The supporting cast are all excellent - Mary Kate Morriessy, Jonalyn Saxer, and Eric Huffman are all terrific. There was a minor set flub that stopped the show on Saturday night, with Huffman saying "DON'T LOOK AT THEM JUST DON'T" without a Plastic in sight. They reset to the button of "Where Do You Belong" and started again.

Now on the rewrites - I did not care for most of them. The attempt to place some of the "Fearless" melody into "It Roars" comes off as clunky, and trying to throw in some of the spirit of the original opening "Wild Life" also falls flat. I'm happy the lyric about eating cake in front of women with eating disorders was removed -it always seemed in poor taste. I do like the change to the end of "Fearless". Cady should take control at the end - having Regina take focus at the end of the act is working against the narrative. There were some minor joke/line changes here or there. The "tell him his hair looks sexy pushed back" line is gone, and I understand why, but it's replacement doesn't achieve the same goal.

Minor quibbles, as the show is still more or less the same. Catch it in your city if you can - the show still has tons of heart and the cast making their own mark on the material. 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 12:15pm

The Lion King and Avenue Q also incorporated changes on Broadway, even after they won the Tony for Best Musical.

[lucas_glenn]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 1:18pm

Beauty and the Beast added an entire song for Toni Braxton.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 9/23/19 at 10:28pm

Newsies added "Letter from the Refuge" for the tour, and it ended up in the filmed production.  (By the way, they just announced that they're putting Newsies on Disney+, so that'll be nice.)

[dmwnc1959]

Posted: 9/24/19 at 4:43am

So, now that we’ve sufficiently detoured from the subject matter, what do you say let’s return this to a a tour performances thread for MEAN GIRLS as I have a friend attending this in about 6 weeks courtesy of my season ticket.

Thanks!

[JBradshaw]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 5:24pm

Mean Girls in Philly.

Code OCT3
valid today with tickets as low as $4.97

[suicidalmickeymouse]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 8:37pm

4.97?? How do I find those?

[angoradebs]

Posted: 10/3/19 at 8:46pm

JBradshaw said: "Mean Girls in Philly.

Code OCT3
valid today with tickets as low as $4.97"

Just for fun I tried this promo code for the Cincinnati leg of the tour. It gave me $60 rear orch and front balcony, and $80 rear loge ($10 discount) for the Tuesday and Wednesday performances of both weeks it will be here.