By Emma Lewis

The 2004 movie Mean Girls, written by Tina Fey and directed by Mark Waters, is a cult classic for its witty, satirical take on the relationship dynamics of teenage girls. A musical adaptation of the movie, written by Fey, composed by Jeff Richmond, and directed by Casey Nicholaw, premiered in late 2017 at the National Theater in Washington, DC, and opened on Broadway in early 2018. For the most part, critics agreed that the musical retains the cleverly funny nature of the film, but that the musical numbers don’t quite fit the theme. 

A film adaptation of the musical was announced in January 2021. It premiered January 8, 2024 in theaters, and has grossed approximately $104 million. The response to the film, as is often the case with remakes of classic films, has been generally negative.

Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

I thought the film captured a glimpse of the essence of the original film but missed the mark on so many artistic choices. For instance, casting. Most of the cast was fine, with standouts like Renee Rapp, who played Regina George, which she had done on Broadway prior to the film; Auli’i Cravalho, who played Janice ‘Imi’ike; Jaquel Spivey, who played Damien Hubbard; and Avantika, who played Karen Shetty. There were also a few short cameos from cast members of the original film and musical productions, like Lindsay Lohan, John Hamm, and Ashley Park, who worked alongside Fey and Tim Meadows, who reprised their original movie roles. 

Angourie Rice and Christopher Briney played Cady Heron and Aaron Samuels. Their characters had many original musical songs cut entirely, which many speculate could be due to their lack of musical theater talent and/or training. Briney actually stated in an interview that he only accepted the role of Samuels after all of his songs had been cut. 

The songs cut were “It Roars,” “Where Do You Belong?,” “Fearless,” “Stop,” “What’s Wrong with Me? (Reprise),” “Whose House is This?,” “More is Better,” “Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise),” and “Do This Thing,” A new track, “What Ifs” was written to replace “It Roars.” 

I felt that most of the remaining songs in the movie were lackluster. In particular, Rice’s songs were toned down in energy and range, which I thought really diminished Cady’s character and personality. Some of her parts in songs were transferred to her costars; her part in the song “Apex Predator” was taken over by Cravalho and Spivey, and, although both remaining voices were very impressive, I believe it did take away from the intention behind the song. 

Gregg Barnes designed the costumes for the movie, which also received criticism from fans. Regina George’s costume, in particular, was described online as looking “cheap” and “Shein-core.” People also claimed The Plastics’ costumes weren’t feminine enough. I somewhat agree with these sentiments, and I definitely wish the costumes reflected their characters a bit more, but I also think that critics expected the characters to be dressed the same as their 2000’s counterparts, which is unrealistic. I thought some costumes were great, notably those for Janice ‘Imi’ike and Cady Heron. Janice’s costumes, although less grunge-y and alternative than in the prior production, reflected her artistic and eccentric personality really well. Additionally, Cady’s costumes made her position as a socially-underdeveloped new-kid more clear.

I participated in Collegiate’s fall production of the Mean Girls musical last fall, and when asked, several cast members shared their opinions on the new movie. Kyla Williams (‘26), who played Cady Heron, said that “While I was a little upset that they cut out some of the bigger musical numbers in the movie… I found the way the directors placed a relevant twist while keeping the classic charm and humor of the original movie…really well done.” Ava Stevens (‘27), who played Janice Ian, had a different take: “I didn’t feel any of the excitement that Cady feels being the new student… It feels like the musical directors on this were trying to make all the characters sound lifeless…The Mean Girls musical is so vibrant and full of life, and they completely missed the mark.”

Overall, I think that while the movie was fun and did a decent job modernizing the iconic film, but I do not think they adapted the musical element quite as well. I think casting musical theater actors for the lead roles is important to maintain the vitality of the musical numbers, so the movie was a bit disappointing.