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IIt’s been 20 years since Tina Fey’s gritty tale of plastics, mathematicians and irregular mothers laid bare the high school jungle. The musical version – previously staged on Broadwaythen filmed – updated story with Ozempic jokes, smartphone filters and social media. What it doesn’t have is a killer tune like Dead Girl Walking by Heathers: The Musical or Everything happens from Turn it on – or, indeed, the elegant choreography of these shows.
A few songs almost go there, like Stupid With Love, performed by North Shore High freshman Cady (Charlie Burn), in a “calculus” combo with Aaron (Daniel Bravo) from her math class. Each of the school clique of flawless plastic gets a solo. Georgina Castle, as the fearsome and revered Regina, arrives armed with an evil glare and lip gloss as a weapon, spelling out her name as if relishing the taste of it. Her revenge belt Someone Gets Hurt, performed in the glow of the school photocopier as she distributes her infamous Burn Book, is a highlight of Finn Ross and Adam Young’s video design. Depth is given not to Cady but to Gretchen (Elena Gyasi), whose desperate fragility makes her feel “like an iPhone without a case,” while Grace Mouat as the delightfully dim-witted Karen perfects a dazed gait similar to Amanda Seyfried’s blankness as screen.
The musical is framed as a cautionary tale and is narrated not by Kady but by her new art-loving friends Janice (Elena Skye) and Damian (Tom Xander), who quickly give away the ending – even though tonight’s audience knows the film by heart, judging by the applause that greeted his ultra-quotable lines. Skye and Xander make for a charming double act – and Skye sings a superb bird-turning anthem I’d Rather Be Me – but while their shared narrative reinforces the message of friendship, it also unnecessarily repeats plot points and becomes clunky.
Fay’s book adds some poignancy, but also sanitizes some of the script, and the overall effect—with Jeff Richmond’s music and Nell Benjamin’s lyrics—is less caustic from the start and drags on toward the end. Fresh off being homeschooled in Kenya, Kady walks the halls of North Shore High in Illinois, surrounded by mostly cheerful students in a joyous opening, instead of being drenched in terror to the sound of Rip Her to Shreds as in the film. Cady’s path from naïve to plastic clone is less carefully mapped out and, oddly, Fay’s character in the film, Mrs. Norbury, is underwritten. Zoe Rainey, playing this role, gets better lines, doubling as Regina’s mother, who of course is now all over social media.
Within a pink proscenium arch, Scott Pask’s vivid scenic design features desks and benches on wheels that create a brisk pace, but too many routines are efficient rather than euphoric. A pristine school environment and a few boring songs lead to a sometimes flat production directed and choreographed by Casey Nicolau that lacks the odd casualness of Be More Chill. Some of the lyrics just don’t sound like they would be sung by teenagers.
Katrina Lindsay’s costumes include a palette of pink for the Plastics, a glittery ice queen costume, and a lion mascot costume masking some tumultuous activity. It’s often funny, has a good cast and impressive acting, but just needs an extra dose of sparkle and acidity.
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