Mean Girls @ The National in DC - Reactions- Page 4

[ForB4]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:10am

Some quick thoughts

- Audience was LIVING for this. At the stage door the cast kept telling us how they weren't expecting such a response. 

- The choreography was really well done, very hard-hitting

- The cast was great - standouts to me were Kate Rockwell (Karen), Grey Henson (Damian), and Erika Henningson (Cady)

 

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:11am

A little worried that nobody's said that Louderman's Regina was a highlight, considering the whole world is supposed to revolve around Regina George. Is she good in the role?

[ForB4]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:12am

jacobsnchz14 said: "What all is entailed with Kevin G’s role in this?"

Kevin G can dance! The actor was perfect for the role and its pretty similar to the movie. Only difference is he's paired up with Gretchen in the end.

[222disneyland]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:18am

so come tony time this will get nominated 

[ForB4]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:29am

BroadwayConcierge said: "A little worried that nobody's said that Louderman's Regina was a highlight, considering the whole world is supposed to revolve around Regina George.Is she good in the role?"

I thought she was great in the role! It was just compared with some of the other characters, she didn't standout as much, imo.

 

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 12:29 AM

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:46am

ForB4 said: "BroadwayConcierge said: "A little worried that nobody's said that Louderman's Regina was a highlight, considering the whole world is supposed to revolve around Regina George.Is she good in the role?"

I thought she was great in the role! It was just compared with some of the other characters, she didn't standout as much, imo.

"



Agreed. She’s great in this but not writing a tony nomination right now. I thought the plastics were just okay vocally. At some points, I was thinking “they are gonna need to replace her for bway cast.”

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 12:46 AM

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:48am

222disneyland said: "so come tony time this will get nominated"

Choreography
Best book
Score, With some work, maybe.
Best musical, again maybe
I loved loved loved the set design but Won’t get nominated.

[GreatWhiteGay]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:56am

The new jingle bell song was definitely just a plot device to avoid copyright issues, and very quick. Still funny, but not super notable like in the movie.

If the curtain call is any indicator, the show sees Cady and Regina as the leads, though I don't think Regina gets any more stage time / lines than Gretchen or Karen. Each gets a big song (Karen's was a showstopper, best of the night).

Out of 10, I would agree with around a 7.5 or 8, definitely a good time and has a lot of easy ways to improve.

Kevin is pretty much a carbon copy from the movie, actor is well-cast.

I think the problem with Regina is she doesn't get a big moment, just lots of great one-liners sprinkled throughout. Her songs (with reprises) were sorta lackluster and I think her mic was having issues - pit was overwhelming her. Every other core character except Aaron (and arguably Gretchen) gets a showstopper.

Kerry Butler was amazing as Norbury, and pretty good as the other female adults. Gives very different performances - the friend I went with didn't realize they were the same actress.

I haven't seen any of the other shows headed to / in NY this season, but generally it seems like Kate Rockwell and Grey Henson are the possible Tony contenders here, maybe throw Kerry Butler in there. Choreography and book are worthy, as is lighting design I think. But definitely early goings, lots of possibilities for improvements.

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 12:56 AM

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 1:01am

Also, dear Evan Hansen and a bunch of other shows show up in one of the big numbers. I think is “Where Do You Belong?” They are all wearing a diff broadway tee.

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 1:05am

GreatWhiteGay said: "The new jingle bell song was definitely just a plot device to avoid copyright issues, and very quick. Still funny, but not super notable like in the movie.

If the curtain callisany indicator, the show sees Cady and Regina as the leads, though I don't think Regina gets any more stage time / lines than Gretchen or Karen. Each gets a big song (Karen's was a showstopper, best of the night).

Out of 10, I would agree with around a 7.5 or 8, definitely a good time and has a lot of easy ways to improve.

Kevin is pretty much a carbon copy from the movie, actor is well-cast.

I think the problem with Regina is she doesn't get a big moment, just lots of great one-liners sprinkled throughout. Her songs (with reprises weresorta lackluster and I think her mic was having issues - pit was overwhelming her. Every other core character except Aaron (and arguably Gretchen) gets a showstopper.

Kerry Butler was amazing as Norbury, and pretty good as the other female adults. Gives very different performances - the friend I went with didn't realize they were the same actress.

I haven't seen any of the other shows headed to/ in NY this season, but generally it seems like Kate Rockwell and Grey Henson are the possible Tony contenders here, maybe throw Kerry Butler in there. Choreography and book are worthy, as is lighting design I think. But definitely early goings, lots of possibilities for improvements."

Agree. I did think the lyrics were better than the compositions at many times. Like the music and rhythms didn’t quite match or felt awkward. I’d say Regina’s showstopper was “Watch the World Burn.” She even levitated. LOL

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 1:09am

Last thought for the evening. As awesome as the cafeteria choreography was, I know Ben Cook had to feel some kind of way since the tray break was clearly inspired by the “Seize the Day” newspaper break.

[ace33]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 1:41am

show was enjoyable but needs work

Music was catchy but blends together and none of the songs can stand on their own. It's messy in the first act and opening number but its high energy and the choero is great. The second act is smoother as it focuses on the main feuds and is able to deliver the heartfelt messages well. One prob is that there are too many key characters and they each need their moment. The cast was great, Erika as Cady was spot on, and Gretchen and Karen's characters were well fleshed and had direction. Taylors role needs a lot of work as her only great moment is her revenge villain song in the 2nd act. They need to cut her other solo at the Halloween party and give her something else. Barret and Grey kill it as Janis and Damien and Tina Fey uses Damiens character to deliver most of the updated jokes (musical takes place in present day). Kerry Buter does a great ms norbury but they need to just give her a song as norbury and cut her other two roles, the cool mom is iconic in the movie but the added regina/mom relationship storyline feels forced.

The musical is very much a direct stage adaptation and not some creative interpretation. It succeeds in what its trying to do but ultimately limits it to its current fanbase (which is huge so im sure it will be successful). I'm not in a rush to see it again aside from being curious as to what small changes they make.

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 01:41 AM

[Clyde15]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 2:14am

Im sure the show will improve drastically between now and Broadway. Tina Fey loves this movie and show so I'm sure they will make all the necessary changes. Glad it's already in good shape though.

[Cdayspring2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 3:24am

Just got back from the show. I talked to Nell Benjamin and got a picture with Barrett Wilbert Weed (AHHH). I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend people see it. While there is room for improvement (wouldn't be surprised if some of the songs are cut or reworked), I have no doubt it will be even better by the end of the run. I have a lot of thoughts but since people are curious about a song list, here is my unofficial one with guesses/stand-ins for the titles. Some of them have more than one. This is what happens when a writer is also a musical theatre nerd...


Act 1

*Song about Cady in Africa/moving to Chicago (I was too in awe of the cast to make guesses for this one).
*Here’s Where You Belong - Damien singing about the lunchroom cliques
*Stupid With Love - Cady in math class
*Apex Predator - Janice/Cady/entire cast (mall scene)
*What’s Wrong With Me - Gretchen (Regina’s bedroom scene)
*Stupid with Love reprise - Cady
*I Can Be - Karen/ensemble (before and during Halloween party)
*When You Were Mine or Till Someone Gets Hurt - Aaron/Regina at Halloween party
*Revenge Party - Janice/Cady/Damien/ensemble (goes through how they ruin Regina’s life)
*Stupid With Love again - Aaron/Cady talking about Regina
*Justice - Taking down Regina and Cady becoming the leader (the “you can’t sit with us” scene, basically)

Act 2

*Bossed Up - Cady/ensemble about her transformation as the Plastics’ leader
*Stay With Mother - Regina/her mother
*Whose House Is This? - ensemble (party scene at Cady’s house)
*More Is Always Better or More - Cady/Aaron (scene in Cady's bedroom)
*Fine - Janice after she finds out Cady lied about not being able to go to her art show (only a few lines, very short song)
*Watch the World Burn - Regina plotting against Cady with the burn book. Moves into girl fight scene.
*I’d Rather Be or Raise Your Right Finger - Janice after the confessions/meeting scene
*Justice reprise - Cady
*Do Your Thing - Mathletes scenes
*Here - Prom scene

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 03:24 AM

[antonijan]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 4:41am

Can someone do a Live BBW update like a live tweet

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 6:48am

Oh man oh man, I’m extremely excited now!!!!

[hairspraydude1962]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 7:26am

Sounds great! Can't wait to see it!

[thebookofwhizzer]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 9:04am

I'm now SO excited to see it the second to last day of the run! I'm assuming some stuff will change by then. Question does anyone know if the cast comes to the stage door after matinees? I'm a huge Ben Cook fan as well as Ashley, Barrett and Erika. I would love to meet them! 

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 9:33am

Here's my lengthier take on the show. Posted on my Facebook page.

So Mean Girls on Broadway needs some work. It has a lot of potential to be something really great, but it needs work. Tina Fey's book is incredibly smart and absolutely hysterical. Most of her jokes land and land well. The show takes place in today's world, so there's lots of new jokes that have either completely replaced the old ones or have been meshed together. One of the cafeteria cliques is the "Woke Freshmen." There's enough nuggets from the film to satisfy the fans, but the content is about 75% new. 

Casey Nicholaw's choreography is absolutely stunning, especially in the cafeteria introduction to the cliques, "Where Do You Belong?" (guessing title here as no song list was in program) There's double meaning here as the ensemble are all wearing t-shirts from different Broadway shows like Dear Evan Hansen and Phantom. Nicholaw slightly borrows inspiration from the Newsies "Seize the Day" newspaper break, but uses lunch trays instead. It's very brief, but I couldn't help but think of Newsies there especially since Ben Cook is in the ensemble. My other favorite Nicholaw choreography is in the fight scene after the Burn Book goes viral. 

Nell Benjamin's lyrics are great, but sometimes don't match up with Jeff Richmond's music, which needs the most work for this to really be something when it gets to Broadway. I didn't love the tribal orchestrations, and felt they were overdone. The two numbers they worked were the opening number and the scene at the mall. During many songs, some of the words feel awkward with the orchestrations and just don't seem to fit the rhythms. 

The scenic design is astounding, and is a mashup of old school rolling sets and modern digital sets. The projections are very, very well done, especially when transitioning to new scenes. Most memorable is the transformation to the mall. Seamless. There are some projections that need a little work to be less cartoonish, but otherwise the set design is superb.

While Act 2 is in pretty great shape, Act I needs some cutting as the show currently clocks in at around 2:45. While the scenes with Regina's mother worked well in the movie, I think these scenes can be scrapped for the show. It's not important to the plot of the show, and the jokes (especially with the dog and the fake breasts) don't work on stage. I'd rather them write more for Kerry Butler's Ms. Norbury. She needs a good song. Right now Butler only has a song as Regina's mom, and the song is just OK. 

The plastics give decent performances across the board, but Kate Rockwell's Karen stands out. Her song is absolutely hysterical. Erika Henningsen is great as Cady and makes the role hers. The standouts however are Grey Henson's Damien and Kate Rockwell's Karen. Barrett Wilbert Weed is also very good as Janis. Kerry Butler plays multiple roles, but shines as Ms. Norbury. Spot on. At times, I swore Tina Fey was on stage. Ms. Fey, if you are listening: Give Ms. Norbury more! 

The show has so much potential. Right now, I'd say it's easily a contender for best choreography, best book of a musical, and potentially best supporting actor for Grey Henson. 

Overall, I'd give Mean Girls a 7/10 right now, but it has the potential to be really great. Look forward to seeing what changes are made when it gets to Broadway.

P.S. - I loved the transitions from class to class. The students becoming teachers was very seamless and well done.

 

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 09:33 AM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 10:19am

Any Tony nominations/wins for the actors?

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 10:21am

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "Any Tony nominations/wins for the actors?"

As the show stands right now, MAYBE for Grey Henson's Damien as best supporting. He stole a lot of the show.

 

[JPeterman]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 10:34am

For anyone that has already seen it, is there anything glaringly inappropriate for kids?  If so, any general age recommendations?  I have daughters of varying ages and would love to know if I can bring all of them or just the oldest to see it because I know they would all love it.  Thanks!

[theatretenor2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 10:49am

JPeterman said: "For anyone that has already seen it, is there anything glaringlyinappropriate for kids? If so, any general age recommendations? I have daughters of varying ages and would love to know if I can bring all of them or just the oldest to see it because I know they would all love it. Thanks!"

The show is definitely a hard PG-13. There's some language, actually less than I thought, but the sexual innuendo is pretty vulgar.******* SPOILER ALERT*******They've replaced the scenes of Regina cheating on Aaron in the room above the gymnasium with her cheating with him inside the Lion mascot, so there are some graphic movements that involve the lion mascot as both are allegedly inside the costume. Aside from this, which is hilarious, it's pretty tame.

[Cdayspring2]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 12:01pm

Here are my thoughts in no particular order. Lots of spoilers.

*Yes, Barrett Wilbert Weed is amazing and she has blonde/black hair. I enjoyed her portrayal of Janice, and the realization she comes to by the end of the show.

*Most of the characters have more development compared to the movie.

*As much as I adore Lindsay Lohan in the movie, Erika Henningsen is so damn charming as Cady. She brings more nuance to the character.

*Kate Rockwell has a gorgeous voice and is absolutely hilarious as Karen. She gets more development in the musical, and I like the direction they take her. Instead of going for the weather gag, they present Karen as much more insightful than she appears. She’s not book smart, though, and is still presented as dumb.

*Had some problems with Regina. I don’t think it’s necessarily Taylor’s portrayal of her, but, rather, the writing. Regina felt flat in the 1st act compared to the other characters. Either needs to be more terrifying or needs bigger moments where the audience gets to know more about her outside of her stereotype. She comes together by the end of the 2nd act, thankfully, and feels pretty fleshed out.

*Also love Ashley’s portrayal of Gretchen. She gets a kickass song in the 1st Act, and her relationship with Regina is presented as very desperate and co-dependent (yes, even more so than in the movie).

*Aaron has a bigger backstory than in the movie. The show doesn’t spend too much time on it but it helps flesh out his character.

*Kerry Butler is freaking amazing. All three characters she played were so different and there were a few people in the audience who had no idea it was the same actress.

*Grey Hensen as Damian is absolutely hilarious. One of my favorites.

*Janice/Damien are pseudo-narrators. They pop in a few times throughout the show to set the scene, give context, and provide some narrative relief to the audience.

*Couple of spots where I was reminded of Heathers. The big one being when the Plastics are first introduced.

*I felt the parallels between Janice and Cady A LOT more in the musical. There’s a beautiful part towards the end of the mall scene where Janice is standing above Cady as the stage changes to Regina’s bedroom. Janice senses the danger of encouraging Cady to be “friends” with Regina and, for me, she felt very protective of Cady in that moment (even though the characters aren’t directly interacting in this particular scene).

*Lots of lines from the movie.

*Quite a few references to other musicals. During the lunchroom scene, half of the cast on stage were wearing shirts from different Broadway shows.

*Shoutout to Jonalyn Saxer and Riza Takahashi in the ensemble. They killed it.

*The ending was very feel good and hit hard on feminism/social media/high school drama. I enjoyed the themes.

*1st act dragged in some parts. Wouldn’t be surprised if they cut one or two songs. 2nd act was great.

*Lighting design and choreography were on point.

*Book and lyrics were on point, mostly, and will be amazing with some tweaks and revisions.

*Shoutout to the audience. We had a lot of fun and so many people dressed up for Halloween.

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 12:01 PM

[Brooks Gray]

Posted: 11/1/17 at 1:47pm

I saw Mean Girls the musical last night and here are my thought :) (I'm just gonna run it through from the top, though I may not get the order of when things happen exactly right)

I liked that Janis and Damien narrate the show, I think they were both awesome. I liked the opening number, Wildlife, it was cute and a nice pop song. I think it was a solid opening number though I wished it had like a big note for Cady to hit, but that's kinda picky. I thought Damien's song was okay, but it got kind of repetitive at a certain point. The introduction of the plastics was great. I think, as many have said, that Taylor was good as Regina but I just couldn't hear her all the time. I think her mic volume should be raised because she's singing it very pop diva-ish and so she's singing soft and sultry and gets blown out sometimes by the pit. Karen and Gretchen were great. Cady has a song abut math and Aaron. It was cute, a solid lil pop love ballad.

One of my top fav songs, Apex Predator, followed that. Can I just say there has not been enough love towards Barrett who played Janis! I thought she was freaking great! (In my opinion she stole the show, I was really impressed with her) Later they go back to the Regina's house and we get Gretchen's song and honestly I loved it. Ashley park did a great job at acting out her emotions, I really hope they add a reprise to her song because I needed it lol. Next we have Karen's song which was amazing. Kate Rockwell nailed it. She sung, acted, and even stood as Karen. She was so funny! Regina's song with Aaron is in my opinion the worst in the show. It's not bad, I'd give it a 6.5, but compared to the other songs that I'd rank at 8 and up it felt unnecessary. I think they need to switch it with a more Regina song. Taylor was good but in my opinion they kinda made the show less about her. I think we need one more regina song somewhere as well as this song being redone.

Revenge party was a great song. Again I though Barrett killed it! Grey was good too! Cady's song after Regina's fall was good. It was a solid act closer, but again I wish there was a big note for her to hit. The actress was great but she wasn't ever given a truly stand out blow me away moment.

I can't really remember everything. Kevin G's song was funny, I also loved Karen in his number. Cady and Aaron's song was sweet but again it didn't blow me away. I liked Regina's  mom's song. It was ditzy and sweet, and shows that she cares. Also a side note, Kerry was amazing as all three women. Her portrayal of the teacher was so Tina Fey and I loved it! Regina's standout moment came from her song about putting herself in the burn book. AGAIN she had some belts in this but the song was not super impressive. Regina George is the best of the best, and I think Taylor played her well, but I just think that they need to give Taylor some harder notes/songs to show how awesome Regina is. I loved the last song. It was a really sweet one. It wrapped up the whole musical and just made me happy.

Overall I thought it was a great show, a solid 8-8.5, and if they change stuff (hopefully for the better) it could be a high nine for sure. I was really impressed with it. In a world with Heathers the musical, Dear Evan Hansen, Be More Chill, Grease, etc. I wasn't sure if it would live up to its hype or be original and it certainly did that. I was so happy to have seen it, and I think if you liked the movie you'll like the show. Right now it's nowhere near the best show ever but I think it's pretty ****ing great lol. <3 

Also btw the way Regina gets hit by the bus made me scream with laughter! 

Updated On: 11/1/17 at 01:47 PM