By MITCHELL PEARL
Otter Valley’s Award-winning Walking Stick Theatre Company is presenting the Broadway Musical “Mean Girls” this weekend. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:00, and Sunday afternoon at 2:30.
“Mean Girls” is a rock musical with a book by actress and comedian Tina Fey, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and music by Jeff Richmond. It is based on the 2004 film of the same name—not a musical—that was also written by Tina Fey. The musical played on Broadway from 2018 to early 2020, when it (and all of Broadway) closed due to COVID. It was then adapted into a new film musical that was released in January 2024. The Mean Girls musical film has become a pop culture phenomenon, which has inspired significant activity on social media and is considered one of the most quotable films of all time. According to Tina Fey, adults find it funny while “young people watch it like a reality show.”
The musical focuses on Cady Heron, played at OV by Elyse Singh, a teenage girl who grew up in Africa where she was homeschooled by her biologist parents. When they move to the Chicago area, she enrolls in a public high school and wonders how she will fit in. She befriends outsiders Janis Sarkasian (played by Jordan Bertrand) and Damian Hubbard (played by Calvin Ladd). Her new friends persuade her to infiltrate the “Plastics,” a clique consisting of wealthy but insecure Gretchen Wieners (Miley Lape), sweet but dimwitted Karen Smith (Kaylee Maloy), and “queen bee” Regina George (Sophie Moore).
The Walking Stick actors are very much aware that many people in the community have seen the movie, or the musical play—as the Broadway touring company performed it at Burlington’s Flynn Theatre last year. They are very excited to bring these iconic characters to life.
Tina Fey grew up in the Chicago area and was inspired to write “Mean Girls” after reading the 2002 self-help book by Rosalind Wiseman, “Queen Bees and Wannabes.” Fey named many characters after real-life friends. This show was fast-tracked to high school by Tina Fey as she believed it important for schools to be able to produce it, and it is currently the most-produced high school play in the country. With its messages about bullying, over-sexualization, and the traps of popularity, it is a story that anyone alive who went to high school can relate to.
Although the current production is billed as the “high school version,” Otter Valley is presenting the show as it was originally written. Theatre Director Jeffrey Hull, in consultation with the school’s administration, believed that some of the softening of language suggested would have taken away from the impact of the production. “This is a better representation of high school students and I believe that theatre should at its core reflect the world as it is.” Director Hull feels that the show will allow the cast and the audience to learn some important lessons. He writes in the program:
“The high school student characters act inappropriately older than their age, making them look immature – contrary to their desire to appear sophisticated and powerful. If, as an audience member you are offended by anything in the show, you are right to feel so. Social satire is meant to use humor as a tool for change. We are made uncomfortable on purpose.”
The student actors recognize that the show has quite a bit of rough language and mature themes, but they feel it is worthwhile, challenging, and relevant. “It’s a funny show, but with a message.” In this regard, they contrast this year’s musical with last year’s—“Sponge Bob”—which was a very funny show, but with perhaps less of a message. Rehearsals for “Mean Girls” have been going well, and the show opens this Thursday evening.
Tickets are $11 for students and seniors, $13 for adults and are available at www.onthestage.tickets/show/otter-valley-union-high-school-rnesu or at the door if not sold out. The production contains mature themes and language.
