Mean Girls at DPAC May Be the
Best Musical That I've Ever Seen

Mean Girls stars (from left) MaryRose Brendel as Karen Smith, Maya Petropoulos as Regina George, Kristen
Amanda Smith as Gretchen Wieners, and Natalie Shaw as Cady Heron (photo by Jenny Anderson)

Mean Girls: The Musical is a 2017 Washington, DC, 2018 Broadway, and 2024 West End musical comedy, based Mark Waters' 2004 film comedy. Both the movie and the musical feature books written by Tina Fey, the head writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1997 to 2006 and creator of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006-13, 2020) and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-20), the former of which Fey also starred in. Given Fey's well-deserved notoriety, I jumped at the chance to see Mean Girls at the Durham Performing Arts Center. Having seen the movie at least a couple times, I had high expectations for the musical and, truth be told, prepared myself for at least a little disappointment -- it's hard to beat the technological advantages and inevitable retakes inherent in film productions. Turns out Mean Girls may be the best musical that I've ever seen.

After a recorded introduction by Tina Fey herself, the play begins with eccentric friends Damian Hubbard (Ethan Jih-Cook) and Janis Sarkisian's (Alexys Morera) performance of "A Cautionary Tale," which summarizes the theme and action of the production, in front of closed curtains, bearing the letters NSHS, standing for North Shore High School (Illinois).

After Jih-Cook's and Morera's apropos performance, the curtains are drawn to reveal teenager Cady Heron (Natalie Shaw), an only child who has been homeschooled in Africa by her research-zoologist parents throughout her childhood and who is now entering public school for the first time. With the first note of her introductory solo, "I Roar," it is apparent that the audience is in the presence of euphonious vocal greatness -- and "I Roar" was the least impressive song that Shaw sang. Shaw's voice is clean and clear, like the sheltered and trusting character she plays, even when she belts out the high notes, which she does with comfortable aplomb.

The scene then changes to a busy high-school hallway, where the first group dance number already showcases the talents of original director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw, tour director Casey Hushion, and tour choreographer John MacInnis -- whose playful expertise is even more apparent in the synchronistic, water-dancing-like, percussive formations, utilizing clapping cafeteria trays later in the production.

The audience is next taken into the math classroom of Ms. Norbury, played by Kristen Seggio in remarkable Tina Fey-like impersonation, including her well-timed one liners. Seggio also plays Mrs. Heron (mother to Cady) and particularly Mrs. George (the mother of Machiavellian teen queen Regina George) with well-timed comedic prowess that brings waves of laughter across the audience.

Mean Girls stars (from left) MaryRose Brendel as Karen Smith, Maya Petropoulos as Regina
George, and Kristen Amanda Smith as Gretchen Wieners (photo by Jenny Anderson)

As the play progresses, Jih-Cook's portrayal of Damian's "too gay to function" character and Jih-Cook's singing and tap-dancing abilities are affectionately front and center, as are Morera's powerful vocal talents, which are nowhere more apparent than during her solo of "I'd Rather Be Me," my favorite song in the production. Not a single performer is subpar or out of place when it comes to singing, including members of the ensemble, who belt out their short interjectory vocals with unmitigated passion. There is never any excessive vibrato (one of my pet peeves) or overmiking, kudos to Brian Ronan's sound design. Likewise, conductor Julias LaFlamme and assistant conductor Braden Chudzik's orchestra never misses a beat.

Maya Petropoulos plays the cunning, over-confident and manipulative teen queen Regina George with striking convincibility, delightfully channeling what appears to be an inner Britney Spears in her femme-fatale performance of "World Burn." By the end of the show, Regina's female cohorts, the whiny Gretchen Weiners (Kristen Amanda Smith) and ditzy Karen Smith (MaryRose Brendel) also prove that they can belt out the high notes with the best of them.

I appreciate The Lion King-like African beat to the music when Cady (Shaw) sings about her childhood home, and I was quite entranced with how she and her love interest Aaron Samuels (Joseph Torres) can mix song and dialogue in a way that alternates between melodic talking than singing. And I was somewhat relieved when their duets were harmonically in tune -- both melodically and rhythmically -- as this has not been the case in many musical performances I have seen. In fact, even the group numbers were harmonious and not the least cacophonic.

Scenic designer Scott Pask's sets -- from the hallway lockers and classrooms to the cafeteria and shopping mall equipped with escalators and stores such as Suburban Outfitters -- are all super fun and engaging, which Kenneth Posner's lighting design does nothing but enhance, particularly during the photo-copier scene, which literally takes the audience into the machine's linearly lit scanner.

I would see the performance again tonight just to hear Natalie Shaw's solos a second time, but there's so much more to the musical than her enchanting voice. It would be a shame if the house were not full for all the remaining performances, particularly given the number of angsty teenagers that we have in the Triangle who would benefit from its viewing.

Tina Fey's Mean Girls -- playing Friday-Sunday, Nov. 24-26 at DPAC -- stars (from left) Natalie Shaw,
Kristen Amanda Smith, Maya Petropoulos, and MaryRose Brendel (photo by Jenny Anderson)

Tina Fey's MEAN GIRLS: THE MUSICAL (In Person at 8 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25th and 26th), based on the 2004 film, with book by Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin; originally directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, directed on tour by Casey Hushion, and choreographed on tour by John MacInnis; presented as part of WRAL Greatest Hits of Broadway at DPAC Natalie Shaw as Cady Heron, Maya Petropoulos as Regina George, Kristen Amanda Smith as Gretchen Wieners, MaryRose Brendel as Karen Smith, Alexys Morera as Janis Sarkisian, Ethan Jih-Cook as Damian Hubbard, Kristen Seggio as Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George, Joseph Torres as Aaron Samuels, Shawn Mathews as Kevin G, Justin Phillips as Mr. Duvall, plus an Ensemble that includes Thalia Atallah, Lucas Hallauer, Mikey Corey Hassel, Tyler Jung, Reagan Kennedy, Joi D. McCoy, Oshie Mellon, Victoria Mesa, Brandon Moreno, Jonah Nash, Justin O'Brien, Mikaela Rada, and Swings that include Megan Arseneau, Darius Aushay, dance captain Emily Ann Stys, and assistant dance captain Ryan Vogt (Durham Performing Arts Center in Durham). DIGITAL PROGRAM: https://issuu.com/dpac0/docs/dpac_meangirls_digital. MEAN GIRLS TRAILERS: https://www.facebook.com/DPACNC/videos/746769810803152 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdYpmWDKdeY. MEAN GIRLS VIDEOS: https://www.youtube.com/@MeanGirlsMusical. PRESENTER/VENUE: https://www.dpacnc.com/, https://www.facebook.com/DPACNC, https://www.instagram.com/DPACNC/, https://twitter.com/DPAC, and https://www.youtube.com/user/DPACLive. WRAL GREATEST HITS OF BROADWAY AT DPAC: https://www.dpacnc.com/events/category/broadway. DIRECTIONS: https://www.dpacnc.com/plan-your-visit/directions. PARKING: https://www.dpacnc.com/plan-your-visit/parking. DPAC COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS: https://www.dpacnc.com/events/vaccination-and-covid-19-test-requirements. MEAN GIRLS (2017 Washington, DC, 2018 Broadway, and 2024 West End): https://meangirlsonbroadway.com/, https://www.networkstours.com/show/mean-girls/, https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-show/mean-girls-515810, https://www.facebook.com/MeanGirlsBway/, https://www.instagram.com/meangirlsbway/, https://twitter.com/meangirlsbway, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_Girls_(musical), and https://www.youtube.com/@MeanGirlsMusical. TOUR CAST & CREATIVE TEAM: https://meangirlsontour.com/#cast. TICKETS: $35 and up, plus taxes and fees. Click here to buy tickets. INFORMATION: 919-680-2787 or CustomerService@DPACnc.com. Nancy Gardner Rich's Triangle Review Review Permalink. Susie Potter's Triangle Arts Review Review.

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