Baylee Parker, Ryenne Lacher, and Micah Roldan in Mean Girls
It’s been a minute (almost eight months, but who’s counting?) since I last reviewed a theatre production for the Reader, and what better show for me to come back to than Countryside Community Theatre’s production of Mean Girls. Featuring lyrics by Nell Benjamin, a book by Tina Fey, and music by Jeff Richmond (Fey’s husband), and boasting the exemplary direction (plus choreography and costume design) by Ashley Becher, this show is sure to put a smile on your face and give you a reason to beat the heat.
Based on the 2004 film of the same name (also written by Fey), Mean Girls is all about Cady Heron (Ryenne Lacher), the new kid at school who has been home-schooled all her life and has just moved with her family to America from Kenya. Cady endures not just the shock of learning how to navigate high school, but also has to figure out how to be a teenage girl in America. She’s quickly taken under the wing of “art-freaks” Janis (Baylee Parker) and Damian (Micah Roldán), who also serve as the story's narrators. They give her a tour, explain the concept of cliques, and tell her to steer clear of “The Plastics,” a trio of girls at the top of the food chain led by the fearsome Regina George (Lily Schloss). But when Regina takes an interest in Cady, Damian and Janice quickly change their tune and encourage her to pretend to be friends with Regina because “it would be really funny.” Regina and Cady consequently become real friends, then fake friends, then enemies, and eventually end up back as friends after a whole bunch of musical shenanigans.
And while we’re in this neck of the woods, I’ll get my few gripes with the musical out of the way. Namely, its book. As far as adaptations go, this one does a pretty good job of hitting the major beats and overall tone of the movie, so fans of the latter will be able to enjoy the former. Then why is the one musical-adjacent moment in the movie – the variety show in which the titular girls do an inappropriate Christmas dance – the least musical moment in the show? Here it’s relegated to practically a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene without a note sung. There’s also an ongoing motif of teenagers being portrayed as animals that never quite worked for me or felt paid off by the material. It felt at odds with the core message of “Be kind to one another.”
The show's book isn’t Pulitzer material. But it’s also never trying to be. Mean Girls is a vehicle to deliver laughs, and in Countryside's rendition, there are many of those to be had thanks in large part to this insanely stacked cast. Featuring 39 (!) cast members and a behind-the-scenes staff of 16, there is a truly immense team of talent that has brought this show to life. And I want to commend Becher for finding a way to give what feels like every single one of those 39 performers time to shine.
Be it through a solo, comedic moment, or featured choreography, everyone gets their moment in the sun. One of the greatest joys of this production is seeing so many young performers excel and have a blast doing so. Standouts include Rebekah Riewerts’s delightfully dumb Karen, the superb dancing of Kaitlyn Rogers, and the vocals of the main trio of Parker, Lacher, and Schloss. Under Bobby Becher’s music direction, they delivered, at Friday's opening-night performance, some of the best-sounding vocals I’ve heard in quite a while. And I would be remiss if I didn’t applaud Maddux Lamb, who’s constant commitment to the bit and 12/10 energy had me in stitches during any of his always-too-brief appearances. But truly, there’s not a slouch present. The entire cast sounds incredible (a shame there weren’t enough mics for everyone), looks great in the dance numbers, and has a killer set of comedic timing to back it all up.
Ashley Becher's direction is sharp, featuring some fantastic choreography that utilizes the full cast and the expansive North Scott stage. It’s a sight to behold to watch nearly 40 actors crush a kick line in perfect unison, or bust out a surprise tap number, or simply to flood the stage at a moment’s notice. Becher keeps things moving constantly, and with only a couple of awkward scene changes in the show’s two-hour run time, there’s hardly a lull in pacing. Mean Girls' director also continually finds fresh things for the cast to do, and surprises happen time and time again.
The technical elements are also uniformly strong, albeit with some hitches here and there. Emmett Boedeker's lighting design sets the mood, and marries beautifully with the show's projection design. Now and then, the projections do get a little busy and pull focus from the actors, but they’re largely great. Kaitlyn Knepper's sound design is also solid, its pit balance never overpowering the actors. And the fact that Becher was able to find so many distinct and varied looks for so many people is a feat in and of itself.
Mean Girls is a feast for the senses. It features a slew of ridiculously talented up-and- coming artists and has more than enough laughs to keep you giggling on the drive back home.
Countryside Community Theatre's Mean Girls runs at the North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium (200 South First Street, Eldridge, IA) through August 2, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)219-7519 and visiting CountrysideQC.org.
