The LGBTQ community embraced the 2004 Mean Girls film, written by Tina Fey, since it hit theatres in 2004. What gay person hasn’t shared a meme on October 3^rd or sarcastically said She Doesn’t Even Go Here! Rejoice, as Regina George, Cady Heron, Damian Hubbard and the rest of the North Shore High crew is live on stage in Calgary until January 21^st at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.

The Musical debuted on Broadway in 2018 but fell victim to the Broadway shutdown in 2020 and did not reopen. It was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and the new tour started in September. The cast is stellar – especially considering that many are recent drama school graduates on their first tour. It’s a bright, flashy show that is a treat to watch.

Running nearly an hour longer than the movie, there are 25 songs crammed into the show. This takes away from some of what made the film a classic. Some of the famous lines are excluded, others are delivered so rapidly that the audience doesn’t have a chance to process them before it’s on to a new song or set piece. The Santa number from the film has a different purpose to the story and is over in a matter of seconds. It feels like watching the movie on fast-forward.

The story is modernized with focus on Social Media and the impact it has, students run around with smartphones, and it is somewhat alarming that 20 years later many of the themes that the film explored about bullying, ego, cliques and humans ability to inflict pain through words, actions, and burn books, are arguably worse now.

Fans of the original movie, or the new film that also came out this week, will enjoy the show. Much like seeing a Disney Musical, or a Jukebox/Biography musical, there is a familiarity and connection to the source material that brings out the laughs and bring us back to another time and place in life. The show is definitely grool, and you can sit with them. Fetch your tickets at Ticketmaster or the Jubilee Auditorium, before these Mean Girls Spring Fling their way to Vancouver for the next tour stop.

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Contributor Jason Clevett |

Locale Calgary |

Topic Broadway Across Canada | Theatre |