Mean Girls is open on Broadway, and the critics say it’s far from perfect, but a pretty fun homage to the beloved 2004 film favorite. With a book adapted by Tina Fey from a screenplay by Tina Fey, Mean Girls on Broadway shares much with its source material, including the plot, characters, and now-legendary one-liners, but smartly evolves to set the action in a time period we could call “now.” The brilliant design reinforces the point and gives the production a fun, young feel. But really the musical wins because of its performances. Among other strong showings, Erika Henningsen nails Cady’s journey up and down the high school social ladder, and Taylor Louderman shines as a Regina George you’ll love to hate. Where Mean Girls doesn’t quite win is in the music. With few songs that feel vital to the story and few lyrics that match Tina Fey’s snarky dialogue, the critics find less to love when the orchestra starts playing. But don’t let that stop you. All the cool kids are going, and you don’t want to be un-cool… do you?
NY TIMES REVIEW OF MEAN GIRLS
Let me say up front that if I were asked to choose among the healthy lineup of girl-power musicals now exercising their lungs on Broadway, you would have to count me on Team Regina. That’s a reference to the alpha leader of the nasty title characters of “Mean Girls,” the likable but seriously over-padded new show that opened at the August Wilson Theater on Sunday night. I hasten to add that I am in no way endorsing the crushing elitist behavior of Regina George, a teen clique queen embodied here with red- (or rather pink-) hot coolness by Taylor Louderman. I was once a public high school student myself, and writhed painfully beneath the long, glossy talons of many a…
VARIETY REVIEW OF MEAN GIRLS
Those high-school girls who laughed themselves silly at Tina Fey’s 2004 movie “Mean Girls” are now old enough to take their own teenaged daughters to this bouncy musical adaptation of that girly movie. The show’s high fun factor comes as no surprise — its undying theme of high-school-as-living-hell lends itself to the gaudy excesses of the Broadway musical form. You can’t have too much pink or too much bitchery in a show about pretty, popular “Apex Predators” (as one of the witty songs would have it) who pounce on their helpless prey and leave their victims…
HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW OF MEAN GIRLS
There’s a place on Broadway for the intimate chamber piece, but going small is generally not the preferred route for a musical comedy spun out of a popular teen movie. Writer Tina Fey and the creative team behind Mean Girls clearly understand this, as evidenced by their elevation of Regina George from imperious arbiter of high school hotness to full-blown arch villainess, a Medusa with a better hair care regimen. As played with a delectable streak of cruelty by the divine Taylor Louderman, Regina seems naturally to move in a slow-mo power strut, suffusing the air around…
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY REVIEW OF MEAN GIRLS
An ode to self-respect and the benefits of a STEM-based education, Broadway’s Mean Girls is a lively, frequently hilarious adaptation of Tina Fey’s 2004 high school comedy. Propelled by dazzling set design and several stand-out performances, the musical — written by Fey, with music by Jeff Richmond, and directed by Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon) — gives fans everything they want while bringing the saga of Regina George and the Plastics into…
DAILY NEWS REVIEW OF MEAN GIRLS
Tina Fey’s new Broadway musical “Mean Girls” delivers a fizzy blast that tickles the ears, eyes and funny bone. The queen of laughs from film, TV, books and awards shows expands her brand to the Great White Way with this show that opened Sunday night at the August Wilson Theatre. Based on Fey’s 2004 screenplay about a high school loser-turned-queen-bee, “Mean Girls” is this season’s most likely to crowd-please. That’s not the same as saying it’s a great musical — but the show surprises and impresses. Especially considering how thoroughly the adolescent genre has…
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