Manchester Opera House is currently playing host to Broadway and West Hit, Mean Girls the Musical on its first UK tour. Being a massive fan of the film, to the point where I quote it regularly, I was incredibly excited to see how it translated onto stage.
The musical follows the story of the massively popular 2004 film starring Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Seyfried and a whole host of other stars. It follows Cady Heron on her move from Kenya to very unfamiliar territory – a US high school. What follows is Cady’s journey to navigate her new life – trying her best to integrate into high school society and ‘fit in’. Her journey is quickly steered by meeting 2 high school outcasts, Janis and Damien, who quickly become her close friends. However, it’s only when she falls into the grasp of the popular group, headed up by the infamous Regina George, she learns what it’s really like to be a ‘plastic’. What follows is the pursuit of romance, friendship and fitting in. All wrapped up in a hilarious script written by the award-winning Tina Fey.
The storyline of the film was seamlessly merged with incredible showstoppers, singing and dancing of the highest calibre to the point where you can’t help but appreciate the talent you are witnessing. What I loved most, was how the modern dance routines (which I was a massive fan of) blended in the scene changes and made them part of the numbers. I’ve never seen so many wheels on stage, but the use of the mobile classroom desks and canteen tables added to the innovative musical numbers. Some standouts to me were ‘World Burn, which showcased some of the strongest vocals in a show, and ‘Revenge Party’ which closed Act 1 in such an upbeat way. This number was particularly standout as it followed months in duration within the storyline, all whilst keeping the audience engaged and entertained. It’s comparable to ‘Chip on my Shoulder’ from Legally Blonde if you are familiar, but in my opinion ‘Revenge Party’ is superior here.
The cast was headed up by Emily Lane as Cady Heron. Her powerhouse vocals blended perfectly with her acting ability and Cady’s journey from shy new girl, to top of the food high school food chain. Vivian Panka took on challenge of one of the most iconic characters in early 2000 pop culture films, Regina George. She showcased Regina’s power and hold on the North Shore High School community perfectly and the crowd felt her presence to the very back row. Matched with some incredible vocals on songs such as ‘World Burn’ and ‘Someone will get hurt’, I think she was perfectly cast. However, for me, no-one will top Rachel McAdams as Regina. A shout out has to go to Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith and Max Gill as Damian Hubbard who both had some of the standout moments of the show. Whenever they were on stage you could guarantee the crowd would be laughing.
As if the above wasn’t enough, Steps’ very own Faye Tozer join the cast playing both Cady’s and Regina’s mum and the iconic Tina Fey character, Ms Norbury. Faye was incredible! Each character was clearly distinguishable, and you could tell she didn’t sit down once during the show’s run. At one point, she played all 3 characters, including full costume and wig changes, within 3 minutes. My favourite was the ‘not a regular mom but a cool mom’ vibes she showcased as Mrs George. Hilariously funny.
There was not a weak link in the entire cast, and in my opinion, this is really an ensemble musical with every cast member, all working in tandem to produce a real stand out show. If you’re a fan of the movie, or even if you’ve never seen it (like my viewing partner), this musical is definitely one to watch. I can understand why this was so well received when it came to the West End from Broadway a few years ago, and I’m so glad crowds across the UK will get to enjoy it on this tour.
It’s only in Manchester for a short time and so grab those tickets quick!
https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/mean-girls/opera-house-manchester/
