A true icon of the noughties, Mean Girls has been brought back to life on stage as a musical.
Our reviewer went to see it during its visit to Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall. It is on tour in the UK and Ireland until January 2027 (meangirlsmusical.com). She also saw it during its residency in London in 2024.
If you’re looking for November events in Nottingham, it’s playing at the Royal Concert Hall until November 7 (from £25pp, trch.co.uk). For more reviews and guides, subscribe to The Notts Edit to receive our articles in your inbox for free.
Mean Girls at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham, theatre review
★★
By Charlotte Brudenell
Photos by Paul Coltas
‘Get in, loser, we’re going shopping’? More like, ‘Get in, losers, we’re going to watch Mean Girls.’
Based on the 2004 rom-com, Mean Girls follows the new girl at North Shore High School, Cady Heron (Emily Lane), as she gets caught up in the antics of the popular clique, ‘The Plastics’.
The original Broadway production received 12 Tony Award nominations in 2018 and won Best New Musical at the What’s On Stage Awards for its London run. The show was written by Tina Fey, who played Mrs Norbury in the original film and has continued working in the show since.
The music and lyrics were written by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin, and follow a punchy pop score, blended with that traditional modern musical sound, not too dissimilar to the likes of Heathers and Dear Evan Hansen. I saw the show during its residency in London in 2024, so I was curious to see what changes the show had made compared to this production.
The clear standouts of the show were the inseparable nerdy best-friend duo of Janis and Damian, played by Georgie Buckland and Max Gill. They added some much-needed humour to the show. Though there are jokes made by other characters, I didn’t find them overly funny – but I loved the sarcastic humour and drama from this duo. Damian’s character was absolutely everything; it was so similar to the character from the 2004 movie – camp perfection.
Buckland’s rendition of I’d Rather Be Me really moved me. I feel as though secondary school/high school can be a difficult time for so many, and finding our voices is so important.
Vivian Panka played the main mean girl herself, Regina George. This fit her so well, as it wasn’t too dissimilar to her role of Heather Duke in Heathers a few years ago. You could really see the similarities and how she channeled some of this character into her portrayal of Regina.
As well as this, the costume changes were so clever. Faye Tozer, of Steps fame, played Mrs Heron, Mrs Norbury, and Mrs George. She had to switch between these characters so quickly, with less than a minute between some costume changes, and she did it so seamlessly. Alongside this, in songs such as Where Do You Belong? the ensemble had to quickly change jackets, accessories or shirts to reflect which ‘clique’ they belonged to, and it was barely noticeable they’d completely changed whilst on stage.
What I didn’t enjoy so much was the set and props. Don’t get me wrong – the props were very clever. They were minimal, the lunch tables were on wheels, and often mimicked a revolving stage but were actually operated by the ensemble. What let it down was the backdrops, which looked as though they belonged in an amateur production.
The mall backdrop really let it down for me. It felt as though it didn’t fit the tone of the show, as all the colours were muted and it looked outdated, whereas the costumes popped and the show was full of colour.
This is compared to the previous London production, which used screens and projections that made it more interesting and gave depth to the set. For example, during the song Sexy, they added animations of skeletons on the screens behind Karen in the London production instead of a blank wall. This added character, considering at the beginning of the song she is the only person on stage. I understand this is difficult for a touring production, but it really let it down and made the stage look bland.
As well as this, I do not understand why the show has removed so many songs and verses in this production and altered the lyrics to the majority of the songs. My personal favourite, Stop, was removed, which I wasn’t overly happy about. There was nothing wrong with these lyrics in the first place, so I don’t know why they were changed. For example, they changed almost the entirety of Stupid With Love and It Roars – the songs still send the same message and still tell the story, so I’m confused as to why they were changed.
What I did like was a lyric change about weight. In the Broadway production, in Meet the Plastics Regina says ‘I never weigh more than 115,’ and this was changed to ‘That filter you use looks just like me.’ This dispels any issues there may be around body image, which I appreciated. I’m aware they changed the lyrics and songs when the show transferred to the UK.
This show didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I found it a tad too cringe, but I believe that those who are more into modern musicals would really enjoy this, especially those who are fans of rom-coms, the original film, and even the 2024 movie musical. It maybe would have been better if it had stayed true to the Broadway production – or if they had adjusted the set to make the show more engaging.
Mean Girls is playing at the Royal Concert Hall until November 7 (from £25pp, trch.co.uk) and is on tour in the UK and Ireland until January 2027 (meangirlsmusical.com).
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