★★★★ Mean Girls The Musical: fun, feel good and fetch
Based on the 2004 movie of the same name, Mean Girls the Musical tells the story of teen Cady Heron navigating an American high school after being homeschooled her entire life. She befriends outcasts Janis and Damian, who convince her to infiltrate the “Plastics” - a trio led by queen bee, Regina George and her entourage, Gretchen and Karen. In this story of prom politics and peer pressure, Cady learns that being true to yourself is more important than plastic popularity.
It makes sense for touring productions to be more stripped back than the West End versions, however the production value was really lacking. After the brilliant projections and screens we saw in Burlesque the Musical a couple of weeks ago, the Mean Girls set and lighting felt like a high school production with a fraction of the budget.
Luckily, the cast carried the show. Emily Lane was delightful as Cady Heron. She has a gorgeous voice and gave the character a charming dorky quality and made the transition to “plastic” feel a lot more gradual than it does in the movie.
In place of Vivian Panka, Lillia Squires stepped in to play Regina George. She gave a realness to her character, dropping movie-Regina’s one-dimensional villain characteristics for a truer popular girl persona, with admirable vocals to boot. She is definitely one to watch out for in future shows.
The other plastics were equally brilliant. Karen was portrayed by Sophie Pourret who was utterly hilarious. “Sexy” was an audience favourite, made even funnier when Pourret drew out the faux-start over at the beginning of the song, walking off stage as slowly as possible with the audience in stitches. Kiara Dario played Gretchen and gave one of the show’s strongest character performances. Both women were excellent performers and were real highlights of the show.
Janis and Damian were portrayed by Georgie Buckland and Max Gill, who had brilliant comedic chemistry. Buckland delivered some strong vocals, particularly in the poignant “I’d Rather Be Me”. Sometimes stage versions of movies can rely on nostalgia bait, but Gill delivered Damian’s iconic lines naturally, which made them even funnier, and served up brilliant vocal runs.
The costuming was done very well. The plastics’ outfits felt like 2026 versions of what the girls wore in the 2004 movie, which the 2024 movie musical was heavily criticized for not achieving. Cady’s outfits were equally realistic, showing the gradual transition into plastic territory. Additionally, the dancing and vocals in Mean Girls were absolutely brilliant and made up for the lack of showbiz scenery.
Mean Girls the Musical is playing at the Lyceum Theatre until Saturday 14 November. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/mean-girls-2026
