"Really, it's a love letter to theatre," Benjamin told Playbill.com exclusively. "We're all theatre kids who found our sense of belonging when we found theatre, so we've made it very clear that we don't want to make it — we don't want to just [transplant] the movie to a stage. We want to make it a love letter to musicals in particular."
She added that the score would feature "all kinds" of music.
"We're working on the second act," continued Benjamin. "Ms. Fey is a very busy lady as is Mr. Richmond because they're doing 'Kimmy Schmidt' and all these amazing other things."
Benjamin's husband, fellow composer and lyricist Laurence O'Keefe, added that he had attended the latest reading and that it was "hilarious." He added, "I was privileged to attend a reading, and it's f*cking fantastic. I'm biased, but I also laughed my ass off."
"If Mean Girls doesn't turn out funny, you're doing something wrong," responded Benjamin. The two were in attendance at the Dramatists Guild Fund, Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars on Oct. 26
Read Playbill.com's earlier scoop on the Mean Girls musical.
The showbiz couple attended the Dramatists Guild Fund's Great Writers Thank Their Lucky Stars gala Oct. 26 at New York City's Gotham Hall. The two were there to honor Primetime Emmy winner Mo Rocca ("The Daily Show," The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), who O'Keefe described as "one of America's treasures."