Mean Girls: The Musical – A Familiar yet Unsatisfying Adaptation

Minor updates are made to reflect the changing times, ensuring that the story remains relevant to today’s audience.

Embracing Musical Numbers

Mean Girls: The Musical introduces musical numbers to enhance the storytelling. While this provides new avenues for creativity, it does mean that some of the more controversial and racy lines from the original film are omitted.

While the incorporation of music may disappoint fans who enjoyed the edgier humor of Mean Girls, it allows for a fresh take on the story.

Talented Cast

The cast of Mean Girls: The Musical showcases talent, with Angourie Rice shining as the sweet and naive Cady Heron. However, her vocal talents are limited to spoken word, leaving her songs somewhat lacking.

Auli’i Cravalho and Reneé Rapp impress with their musical performances as Janis and Regina, respectively. While the rest of the cast delivers solid performances, nothing particularly outstanding stands out.

Visual Appeal

Mean Girls: The Musical is visually appealing, particularly in its well-shot and directed party scenes. However, it lacks a standout element that sets it apart from its predecessors.

While the jokes from the original film still land, there is a sense of familiarity that leaves us questioning the necessity of this adaptation.

Questionable Choices

One puzzling aspect of Mean Girls: The Musical is Regina’s wardrobe. While Reneé Rapp captures the essence of the character, her choice of cargo pants for the queen bee of the school seems out of place.

Additionally, Karen’s character portrayal borders on being braindead rather than endearingly ditzy. These changes may not resonate with fans of the original film.

Missed Opportunities

One significant change in this adaptation is the absence of fathers in the story, with both Cady and Regina having single mothers. While this may have been an attempt at modernization, it feels odd and lacks any clear rationale.

This decision doesn’t contribute to the overall narrative and feels unnecessary, missing an opportunity to explore the dynamics of father-daughter relationships.

Conclusion

Mean Girls: The Musical, while showcasing a talented cast and incorporating musical numbers, ultimately falls short of delivering a truly satisfying adaptation.

With the original film already offering a fun and clever comedy on teen culture, and other high school musicals like Grease and High School Musical available, this adaptation feels unnecessary.

While it may entertain fans of the original Mean Girls, it lacks the special qualities that would make it stand out on its own.