Local teens sommon spirit of Lindsay Lohan for Mean Girls
A couple decades ago the movie-going public was introduced to Mean Girls, a flick from actor/producer/ writer Tina Fey that took direct aim at the cliquey normality of modern-day high school life.
It was funny, it was maddening, and for many it was triggering.
But who knew it would be just the beginning of a Mean Girls revolution? By the mid-2010s, Fey was crafting a musical adaptation of her original work that hit Broadway in 2018. And this year there was a film adaptation of the musical.
It’s clearly a Mean Girls world.
And that’s just one of the reasons “Mean Girls: The Musical (High School Edition)” has become the show of choice for Penticton Secondary’s annual musical, running May 29 to June 1 at Cleland Theatre.
“We looked at it a couple of times, but the rights (to use it) just came out this year,” said Pen-Hi director Andrew Knudsen while presiding over a recent rehearsal.
“And that was a big draw. We wanted to do a show that hadn’t been done by Summerland, by Maggie or by Oliver yet. And we have a great cast for it. There are lots of strong female characters and we have lots of strong female actors.
“And the film musical just came out. That’s another reason. It’s very in the culture right now.”
Knudsen believes audiences will be transported “back to high school, in all the best and worst ways possible.”
“It’s very similar to the original Mean Girls,” he said. “Cady Heron comes in from Africa -- a 16-year-old junior who’s never experienced a high school setting before. And you get all the jocks, all the nerds, the art freaks and the Mathletics. And of course the Plastics -- Regina George and her minions.”
There’ll be song too, and lots of it. “There’s some hiphop and some more pop-style music,” he said. “There’s a classic ‘Singin’ in the Rain’style tap dance number in the middle. It has some wonderful songs, and it really traverses all ranges of musical theatre music.”
Knudsen also points to celebrated jazz pianist Justin Glibbery, who directs the music and will conduct the pit band during each of the half-dozen performances.
“Justin organized our kids to sing with Foreigner when they were in town earlier this month,” he said. “They were up on stage singing in the choir bit at the end of the show. It was pretty awesome.”
The Pen-Hi iteration of Mean Girls will also feature two completely different casts. The 20 actors in Cast 1 will handle three of the six performances, the 20 in Cast 2 will strut their stuff in the other three. That’s the way it often is in the school’s biggest productions.
“We have multiple reasons,” said Knudsen. “One, it allows more opportunities for our kids. And the show will be slightly different. We direct and play them differently because they’re different kids. It’s also a safety net because you never know.”
We chatted with four members of Cast 1, including long-time singer/actor Aleena Proteau, who plays the lead role of Cady Heron.
She thinks audiences will be “blown away.”
“When you think of the movie, you think of this over-the-top teenage rendition of characters,” she said. “The musical is so much more than the movie because you see their emotions put into song form and see how they think through dance.”
For Luci Serandquist, who’s been singing from the age of four and plays head “Plastic” Regina George, Mean Girls is a chance to portray and interact with characters her own age.
“In the past two years we’ve done Chicago and Mamma Mia where we played older characters we haven’t quite faced yet,” she said. “So this is really cool because we get to be characters that are our own age and have experiences we’ve really been through.”
Brenna Kindel ideally wanted the Regina role but wound up playing associate Plastic Karen Smith, who she laughingly calls “the dumbest one in the whole musical.”
“You can expect tap shoes and tap dance,” said Kindel when asked about potential surprises. “And a bunch of hidden jokes for the adults. Lots of pink, too.”
Chey Pieters, playing Regina George’s second-in-command Gretchen Wieners, who she says will have “much more depth of character than in the (original) movie,” believes this version of Mean Girls is “relatable.”
“It’s really relatable to teenagers and younger people,” she said, “as it’s something everyone has had to go through. It shows all the bad sides, and also teaches you really good life lessons.”
All four agreed that “theater is what makes school cool.”
There’ll be six individual performances of Mean Girls: The Musical (High School Edition), all at Cleland Theatre. The first is May 29 at 7 p.m. (Cast 2), followed by May 30 at 7 p.m. (Cast 1), May 31 at noon (Cast 1), May 31 at 7 p.m. (Cast 2), June 1 at noon (Cast 2) and June 1 at 7 p.m. (Cast 1). Tickets are $15. They can be purchased through the school’s website. Alternately, call Penticton Secondary at 250-770-7750 or drop by the school at 158 Eckhardt Ave. E.