"Mean Girls: The Musical" by the WGHS Green and Blackfriars

This past weekend, Walnut Grove’s very own Green and Blackfriars performed their annual spring musical. This year’s show was a production of Tina Fey’s "Mean Girls: The Musical". 
by Annabelle Adams and Lauren Brandt

This past weekend, Walnut Grove’s very own Green and Blackfriars performed their annual spring musical. This year’s show was a production of Tina Fey’s "Mean Girls: The Musical". 

Show Summary
The show takes place in a high school setting as it follows a new student, Cady Heron (played by Alayna Price), through her new adventure. On her first day, she meets Janis (played by Sam McKnight) and Damian (played by Matt McClung) and happens to spark a new friendship with them. However, she is then distracted by the idea of spying on the Plastics, the most popular girls in school. These girls consisted of Regina George (played by Shannon Hayes), Gretchen Wieners (played by Charlize Smith), and Karen Smith (played by Ava Brooks).
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PreProduction Woes
The preparation for this production, however, turned out to be stressful for many of the cast members. As she recalled the process of this show, Sam McKnight reported, “We were in between directors, which was new for all of us. We’ve never done a show this technical or new before, which was interesting and a new experience.”  Along with these factors, Hayden Ross added, “We were also one of the first schools to put on this show.” 

The potential cancellation of this production added stress to the production. This show was a big moment for many members, which resulted in a lot of distress- and a lot of motivation- in the members over the potential cancellation. This potential change hit rather hard due to the fact that the cast had already fallen in love with their characters.

Shannon Hayes expressed what she loved most about her character, Regina George, “I liked her perseverance and her confidence. She didn’t let anyone tell her who she was or how she acted; she did what she wanted, and she got what she wanted. It was very inspirational.” 

Production Wows
Even though the show did come with some stress, the cast easily found some good moments throughout the production. “My favorite part was being Karen. It was great. She’s such a lovely little gal,” Ava Brooks recalled as she reminisced on her enjoyment of the show. She concluded her love for Karen by adding, “I love how funny she was. She was so funny because she was so dumb.” 

The cast worked especially hard to make sure the show went as smoothly as possible. Hayden Ross explained, “I learned my lines, especially the ones I had last minute… [make sure you] know your choreography, know your lines, know your blocking…” Through long rehearsals and many obstacles, the show ended up being a hit! Ross added, “We expected a lot more people to be there because we raised so much awareness, so we wanted to really put on our best performance.”
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Behind the Scenes
Most of the audience only recognizes the hard work of the performers on stage, however, most of the work is done behind the scenes.

Ryley Baker, the production's choreographer, noted that her favorite part was the physical aspects of the plan and “how different every single song was.” She added, “With choreography, I wasn’t limited to just one type of dance; I got to do tap, jazz, hip-hop, and there was even a little bit of ballet in there. I was able to work through every single type of dance that I liked.” 

Tech crew member, Bran Johnson, describes his work on the tech team by saying, “It’s pretty interesting to be behind the scenes of a show that goes on that everybody likes and that hundreds of people see.” Johnson does all kinds of tech work, both before and during the show. “I play the soundtrack that they sing to, and I control the microphones that they sing into. Everything you hear goes through me,” Johnson revealed.

​The musical’s overall theme was “Even the people you don’t like are still people. You just have to be nice to people, because everyone is still a person,” according to McKnight. The message can relate to anyone, but it is very important when looking at the social climate in many high schools, even our own.

​"Calling someone stupid, doesn’t make you smarter. Calling someone ugly, doesn’t make you better looking."

~Macie McDuffie, revealing a main theme within the musical

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Even though the show had many up-and-down moments, the cast walked out of with proud smiles on their faces and happy tears in their eyes. “I loved it. It was stressful, but it was a really good cast and crew; we were all just very close,” Shannon Hayes recalled as she looked back at what it meant to her.

With one more show completed, the Green and Blackfriars look forward to their next production, Metamorphoses. The play will be performed April 26th, 27th, and 28th.