It’s October 3, and in honor of Mean Girls Day, Playbill is looking back at opening night of the Tony-nominated musical.
Based on Tina Fey’s hit film, Mean Girls opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre April 8, 2018, where it had played 21 previews and 801 performances before the coronavirus pandemic. Directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, the production earned 12 Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical.
Mean Girls tells the story of a homeschooled student who enters the dangerous jungle known as high school, falling into the orbit of a trio of frenemies known as the Plastics. The musical features music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and book by Tina Fey.
Upon opening, the musical starred Erika Henningsen as Cady Heron, Taylor Louderman as Regina George, Ashley Park as Gretchen Wieners, Kate Rockwell as Karen Smith, Barrett Wilbert Weed as Janis Sarkisian, Grey Henson as Damian Hubbard, Kerry Butler as Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George, Kyle Selig as Aaron Samuels, Cheech Manohar as Kevin Gnapoor, and Rick Younger as Mr. Duvall. Rounding out the cast were Stephanie Lynn Bissonnette, Collins Conley, Ben Cook, DeMarius R. Copes, Kevin Csolak, Devon Hadsell, Curtis Holland, Myles McHale, Nihil Saboo, Jonalyn Saxer, Brendon Stimson, Riza Takahashi, Kamille Upshaw, Zurin Villanueva, and Gianna Yanelli with Tee Boyich, Chris Medlin, Brittany Nicholas, and Becca Petersen as swings.
Mean Girls features scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Keneth Posner, co-video design by Finn Ross and Adam Young, and sound design by Brian Ronan with stage management by Holly Coombs, McKenzie Murphy, and Lauren Juengel. For the complete cast and creative team, visit PlaybillVault.com/MeanGirls.
The current cast of Mean Girls stars Sabrina Carpenter as Cady Heron, Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Kyrstina Alabado as Gretchen Wieners, Laura Leigh Turner as Karen Smith, Olivia Kaufmann as Janis Sarkisian, Chad Burris as Damian Hubbard, Catherine Brunell as Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George, Kyle Selig as Aaron Samuels, Kevin Gnapoor as Cheech Manohar, and Mr. Duvall.
