Get in loser, Mean Girls is Playing at Sunderland Empire!

So you agree? You can’t believe it’s been 22 years since the iconic movie Mean Girls was released. Neither can Spark. The beloved film-turned-musical (eight years ago now) is making Sunderland Empire its home until April 11.

MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL. Georgie Buckland (Janis Sarkisian), Max Gill (Damian Hubbard) and Emily Lane (Cady Heron). Photo by Paul Coltas

The musical follows Cady Heron (Emily Lane) as she transitions from her life in Africa to surviving high school girls in America.

At North Shore High School, Cady meets Damian Hubbard (Max Gill) and Janis Sarkisian (Georgie Buckland), who take her in and teach her how to find her clique.

Then she meets The Plastics, the titular Mean Girls, who rule the school.

The leader, Regina George (Lillia Squires), and her best friends – more accurately, her followers – Gretchen Wieners (Kiara Dario) and Karen Smith (Rebekah Bryant) lure Cady into their group with their domineering personalities.

MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL. Kiara Dario (Gretchen Wieners), Vivian Panka (Regina George) and Sophie Pourret (Karen Smith). Photo by Paul Coltas

Everyone played their roles well. They were all vibrant, bold personalities; no one felt bland or like they were blending into another character also on stage. They all roared.

But none roared louder than Faye Tozer, who played Ms Heron (Cady’s mother), Mrs George (Regina’s mother) and Mr Norbury (Cady’s calculus teacher), while managing to keep each character distinct.

When playing multiple characters like that, it would be hard to not accidentally blend them at some point (emphasising words the way Ms Heron would when playing Mrs George, for instance), but she keeps each character apart and played them perfectly.

MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL. Faye Tozer (Mrs George). Photo by Paul Coltas

Mean Girls iconic phrases have become part of many people’s vocabulary since the movie came out, and everyone’s favourite words – like fetch – are sprinkled throughout the show and fun to spot when they appear.

Some of the songs and jokes were rewritten from the original Broadway production, to stay contemporary. The movie and musical both have a lot of comments and lines about pop culture, so some changes are probably to keep up with pop culture changes in the past 22 (and eight) years.

With it being pop culture-focused and such a massive part of pop culture itself, the score is very … erm, poppy. It does give the show a different feeling than most musicals, as sometimes the songs just feel like a small concert in the middle of a musical, rather than a musical piece to portray the feelings of the characters and move the storyline along.

While the songs do have memorable lines in them, there wasn’t one that will stick in the audience’s head and be a sort of memory trigger – like Dead Girl Walking in Heathers: The Musical.

Mean Girls just didn’t have their one song. However, I feel they had their one line in Sexy, a musical number, where Karen speaks about her dream of making it Hallowe’en every day – and also have world peace – where she sings “This is modern feminism talking, I expect to run the world in shoes I cannot walk in”. It’s a memorable line, in a fun but otherwise not too noteworthy song.

The song that probably is closest to being the musical’s ‘it song’ is World Burn, sung by Regina George, as it portrays how she’s feeling while also pushing the storyline forward and being very … poppy. It also did a great job at showing off Lillia Squires’ amazing vocals.

That being said, the songs are amazing and fun to listen to on the soundtrack as you go on about your day, but bring your mind back to the show.

MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL. Georgie Buckland (Janis Sarkisian) and Company. Photo by Paul Coltas

Overall, it is a fun musical. It’s bright and bold, it’s exactly what Mean Girls musical should be: the show, the songs, nothing takes itself seriously, it’s just Mean Girls The Musical.

Now remember Plastics, on Wednesdays we wear pink, so go and book your tickets here to see Mean Girls at Sunderland Empire until 11 April.