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

This article was published by Triangle Review on 30 November 2023.

Mean Girls is a Broadway musical comedy based on Mark Waters's 2004 comedy film, both 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 (2006–2013, 2020) and the Netflix sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015–2020), 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 I’ve ever seen.

After a recorded introduction by Tina Fey, herself, the play begins with eccentric friends Damian Hubbard’s (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 choreographer Casey Nicholaw 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.

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’s 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 escalatars and stores like 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 we have in the Triangle who would benefit from its viewing.