Can’t wait for Mean Girls to arrive on Broadway? Pass the time with these fun facts about the musical’s journey from screen to stage—and then maybe wash that pink shirt while you’re at it.
An Unbreakable Theatre Geek
While Mean Girls is Jeff Richmond's first musical, he's a self-proclaimed musical theatre geek with extensive knowledge of musical composers and their individual sounds. He's no stranger to musical comedy either, showing off his skills and theatre know-how on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt with hilarious parodies like the Annie spoof, "Just Go On" from Gangly Orphan Jeff; fake movie musical, Daddy's Boy; the theme from “Stephen Sondheim's Pinocchio;” the Rodgers and Hammerstein-esque, "A Glorious Morning" from Alabama!; "Stoop Crone" from Croon, Crone, Croon!; and "Ordinary Gay" from We Three Marionettes of 1971.
The Sample That Stuck
Lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) was incredibly nervous before meeting with her future collaborator Tina Fey. She admitted that it took quite a bit of effort just to “act normal” heading into her meeting. Whatever she did, it obviously worked! In fact, when Nell first met with Tina and Jeff she brought along a sample song for the show, “Stupid With Love,” that they loved so much it appears in the Broadway show!
The Man With a Plan (& Experience!)
Mean Girls is producer Lorne Michaels' third Broadway show. He first worked on Gilda Radner: Live from New York which he wrote, directed, and produced in 1979, and then went on to produce Colin Quinn—An Irish Wake in 1998.
Make It Snappy
It’s been nearly 14 years since the release of the Mean Girls film and a lot has changed since 2004—especially technologically. So, Tina Fey had to do some serious research on the modern ways girls can be mean to each other. She asked a number of teenagers about their take on the meanest social media platform and the answer was unanimous: Snapchat. These new findings all make their way into the modernized musical story.
Meant to Bestie
Destined to share a lunch table? These Mean Girls’ stars were classmates onstage and off! Taylor Louderman, Ashley Park, and Erika Henningsen all attended the same program at University of Michigan together. They may wear a lot of pink but...go blue!
Mean Girls begins Broadway previews on March 12, 2018. For tickets and more information visit meangirlsonbroadway.com.
