Mean Girls the Musical

January 12, 2024, the new Mean Girls musical was released in theaters. According to billboard magazine, “The Paramount release, adapted from the Broadway musical and the 2004 Tina Fey movie, earned $28 million in its first three days[Jan. 12 – Jan. 14] in theaters according to studio estimates Sunday.” Although that’s not as high as the other “preppy pink” movie, Barbie, that was released in 2023, the Mean Girls musical is all over social media platforms. So, what do viewers think of the new musical compared to the original movie? Are they team Regina or team Cady?

Looking at the demographic of the new 2024 musical, most only rate it a two or two and three out of five. Given that information we can see that the new Mean Girls musical is, according to student Grace Nunley, “mid.” Another student, Tori Schaublin “[Mean Girls the musical]It’s okay, I feel like as a musical it was pretty bland…and they took out some of the best parts of the original movie.”

I, as well, think the musical was just okay. For all of the marketing the producers pushed, the trailers did not clearly state that the new Mean Girls movie was a musical. In an interview, Cassidy Maillaird stated “I wasn’t really expecting it to be a musical.”

Aside from the uninformative trailer, many viewers had mixed feelings toward the musical. One user on reddit said, “Auli’i Cravalho is a GREAT Janis!! Her voice is crazy good and her acting terrific!!… Angourie Rice was terribly mis-cast. Her singing is terrible. I mean, wince-inducingly terrible…” This particular viewer loves some parts of the musical and strongly dislikes parts. I also agree with rottentomatoes.com, “As long as you can avoid comparing it to the original — and you don’t mind musicals — Mean Girls is a fun watch with some strong performances.” I caught myself referring back to the original movie so much.

2 out of 3 SDHS students prefer the original movie over the musical and are for team Cady over team Regina.

Have you seen the new Mean Girls musical? Are you team Regina or team Cady?