The Regent Theatre
Hanley
Fresh from the West End, the award-winning “Mean Girls” musical pulled in a packed house at the Regent on Monday for its opening night.
Based on the hit 2000s comedy, the stage version is a riot of rumours, cliques and teenage drama with the clever script and songwriting positioning this as a cult musical in the same vein as the original film.
Featuring all the favourite characters from the film, the stage show is narrated by arty outsiders Damian Hubbard, played by Max Gill, and Janis Sarkisian, played on the night by Sadie Levett. This formidable duo set the energy, pace and humour from the start with their cutting insights and social observations.
In their line of sight is “The Plastics” – the classic mean girls – image-obsessed, exclusionist, and well, slightly ridiculous. And it is this element that makes “Mean Girls” so successful; it never takes itself too seriously, if at all.
There is a compelling message in there about staying true to yourself, how ridiculous is the need to conform for no reason other than to fit in, and how easy it is to lose sight of yourself and become a worse person – just to please people that aren’t worth it.
This is where main character Cady Heron, played by Emily Lane, finds herself. Fresh from being home-schooled in Kenya, her journey to an American high school is fraught with social missteps and naivety.
Nevertheless, both the arty group and The Plastics sense potential in Cady and she gets caught in a game to unravel the mean girls.
In telling this story, the musical draws in highly choreographed dance routines to represent the high school chaos, along with bitingly humorous songs and punchy, humour-laden dialogue. The song writing is excellent and keeps the pace high, with never a dull moment.
The cast is excellent, leaning fully into the tongue-in-cheek script, while delivering strong vocal performances.
The Plastics are all fantastic – Vivian Panka as Regina George is brilliant, she is funny, plays the top mean girl role with panache and has a great voice; Kiara Dario as Gretchen Wieners puts in a highlight performance as the mean girl with a heart, while Sophie Pourret delivers a masterclass in understated comedic excellence as the intellectually-challenged Karen Smith.
Emily Lane covers the transition from nerdy outsider to popular high school monster and back again with aplomb. Her voice and delivery are perfect, and she genuinely embodies the character to give the script the impact it deserves. Likewise, Max Gill and Sadie Levett anchor the show with their emotionally engaging yet deeply humorous portrayal of Damian and Janis respectively.
Fay Tozer of Steps fame appears in a trio of noteworthy performances, almost unrecognisable in each – with wonderful character performances as Mrs Heron, Mrs George and Ms Norbury.
The entire cast is excellent bringing energy and humour to the script in a lively, fun-filled performance. The show has proved to be a cross-generational cult classic, and this stage show has the potential to replicate that success with members of the audience dressed up, lots of pink to be seen – and even The Regent aglow in the Plastics’ favourite colour.
Genuinely funny and engaging, “Mean Girls” is a great night out. Catch it at The Regent Theatre until Saturday – book tickets online.
CNM
