Mean Girls won't reopen on Broadway
© Joan Marcus
Mean Girls will not return to Broadway when venues reopen, it has been announced.
The production's final performance was Wednesday evening March 11, 2020, having played 805 performances and 29 previews in a record-setting run at the August Wilson Theatre. It features a book by Tina Fey, with direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw.
The Mean Girls North American tour, which had been playing to sold out houses across the country pre-shutdown since it launched in 2019, plans to relaunch this summer or as soon as performances can resume.
A year ago, the show confirmed plans for London (reportedly set for 2021) as well as for an anticipated new film (based on the stage show, which is, in turn, based on a film, which is, in part, based on a book). In that time, the pandemic has played havoc with plans – we await further updates on the London run.
However, the film is firmly going ahead, with Paramount Pictures backing the project. Paramount also recently acquired the rights to a new Spamalot film.
Based on Fey's 2004 film (which itself was inspired by Rosalind Weissman's 2002 self-help book Queen Bees and Wannabes), Mean Girls takes place in perhaps the world's most insidious jungle: high school. After her parents' research funding runs out, Cady Heron (Erika Henningsen) moves back to Illinois from Kenya, where she was raised among the animals, and must assimilate herself into a vicious landscape unlike anything she experienced on the Serengeti.
The opening night cast was led by Henningsen as Cady Heron, Taylor Louderman as Regina George, Ashley Park as Gretchen Wieners, and Kate Rockwell as Karen Smith, along with Kerry Butler (Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George), Grey Henson (Damian Hubbard), Cheech Manohar (Kevin Gnapoor), Kyle Selig (Aaron Samuels), Barrett Wilbert Weed (Janis Sarkisian), and Rick Younger (Mr. Duvall). The production also features scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Brian Ronan, and an original score by Jeff Richmond, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin.
