Sunday on the Pod with.... Mean Girls the Musical

Transcript

Speaker: Hello and welcome to You Sunday on the Pod with... Casey.

Speaker: Flo.

Speaker: And Rosa.

Speaker: Sunday on the Pod is a podcast all about musical theatre.

Speaker: However, this podcast isn't just for performers, but it's for anyone who loves musical theatre.

Speaker: Each episode, we cover musicals that some of you might love, some of you might hate, or maybe you've never heard of them before.

Speaker: Either way, we'll be singing and dancing about them.

Speaker: If you didn't already know, we pick a musical and discuss its plot, the show creators dissecting specific songs lyrically, musically, delving into any juicy gossip in our brand new segment called Stage Door Secrets, and my personal favourite, putting on our very own casting director hats and choosing a fantasy cast with our another brand new segment, the Mega Mix Casting.

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Speaker: So, this episode we are covering Mean Girls the Musical.

Speaker: We are so in trend.

Speaker: We are so in trend right now.

Speaker: So very excited for Mean Girls Musical.

Speaker: Obviously very timely with the film just having recently come out.

Speaker: I hope all of you at home have watched it.

Speaker: I know that there was some controversy around the kind of advertising not having music in it, but it seems to have done pretty well despite that, which is quite exciting.

Speaker: Have you girls seen the film?

Speaker: Yeah, I've seen it like four times.

Speaker: Is that because Renee Rapp is in it?

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: So intense.

Speaker: She is an icon.

Speaker: She is an icon.

Speaker: And Casey, did you not go and see Renee Rapp?

Speaker: Yes, I went to see her in February.

Speaker: She was in Manchester.

Speaker: um it was amazing it was such a good show I've never actually because most of the singers I listen to are dead so it's really nice that that I got to go to a concert for once but I'm just yeah I've realized that I don't think I'm a really a concert girly because I was fighting with like 17 year olds to get to the barricade oh no oh were you standing

Speaker: Yeah, because we had VIPs.

Speaker: Oh, so that was another thing.

Speaker: I was convinced we had meet and greet.

Speaker: So me and my girlfriend thought we had meet and greet until the day of the concert.

Speaker: She texted me halfway through and she just got like, she got the time that we need to go to get in early for VIP.

Speaker: And she was like, oh, we've only got early entry VIP.

Speaker: We don't have meet and greet.

Speaker: I was so upset.

Speaker: Did you manage, though, to push to the front, though, like, at all?

Speaker: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker: So that was another thing.

Speaker: We got there and there was, like, 50 17-year-olds that had been waiting there since 6am in the morning.

Speaker: Bloody hell.

Speaker: No, no, no, no, no.

Speaker: Surely not.

Speaker: Surely not.

Speaker: Yeah, no joke.

Speaker: Like girls, girls have been queuing up since six o'clock in the morning.

Speaker: They all had like numbers, wrote an eyeliner on the back of the hands to show that they were in the queue.

Speaker: And then they kept, which I didn't think was fair because I sent Sarah in early.

Speaker: I was at work and I said, Sarah, you're going early because people are crazy and they are already lined up.

Speaker: This was at like eight o'clock in the morning.

Speaker: So I was at work and sent Sarah to go stand in the queue.

Speaker: And these girls had wrote the numbers on the back of the hands and were coming and going as they pleased.

Speaker: But Sarah had been stood there for like five hours.

Speaker: And that is really annoying.

Speaker: It is really annoying.

Speaker: And then when it came, like she may have been like 33rd in the queue, but they had been like coming and going and going to get like Costa and McDonald's and things.

Speaker: And then when it came into actually letting us into the venue, our tickets were bought online.

Speaker: from like Ticketmaster I think but loads of people had done it through gigs and tours and the gigs and tours tickets weren't scanning so they scanned ours and we went through we were the first two people into the venue and everyone else's tickets weren't scanning so we were stood at the doors and there was loads of girls trying to like squeeze past being like respect the number system and I was like no oh my god 1975 cue debacle from a couple of months ago where the 1975 I think it was their London concerts

Speaker: they had people that were queuing like from three days before the concert like they set up tents but then they were just like making up they were like oh we're the queue um i can't remember the term that they used but like they basically tweeted being like the queues now started for the 1975 as if they were arbiters of the queue come to us for a queue number so then they like people were going to these like random girls

Speaker: getting a queue number and then like as casey we're saying we're like obviously leaving to go to their hotel rooms and stuff but like it's like this thing that they just made themselves the arbiter of the queue it was so weird it's such a weird thing that like i would never go and see the 1975 i would never queue for a concert like i'm just not that bothered about getting barry or anything like that but it made me so angry it makes me irrationally angry when people just like put themselves in charge of something that they have no right to be in charge of like what do you mean number what are you talking about

Speaker: This would only happen, this would only happen in the UK though.

Speaker: Like we take our cues very, very seriously.

Speaker: Like we will make a cue for the sake of making a cue, like about anything.

Speaker: It's extraordinary.

Speaker: I had to, I had to remind myself that I was 20, well I was 26 at the time.

Speaker: I'm really holding on to that.

Speaker: I had to remind myself that I'm 26 because there was a girl a girl like just came and stood right in front of me like just like literally I was stood in the queue and she and I went excuse me I went and she went I was here before you I went well I've been stood here for three hours and you weren't it's the gas lighting as well it's like it's weird mind games that people play you're like why why are you pretending I

Speaker: But then she was crying and texting a friend like, people don't believe me.

Speaker: And then I literally was looking at her face and I was like, oh, she's about 16.

Speaker: I'm literally bullying a child.

Speaker: You know what I mean?

Speaker: And then I felt really bad.

Speaker: I was like, I've just made her cry.

Speaker: But it was just so annoying because so many people were just like, it's just a really horrible atmosphere when you're like queuing up.

Speaker: Once we got into the venue, then I was stood at the barrier and some girl like tapped on my shoulder and went, do you mind if I squeeze in front of you?

Speaker: No, no, absolutely not.

Speaker: Obviously not.

Speaker: Of course.

Speaker: Yeah, no bother, just go in front.

Speaker: But yeah, it was really fun.

Speaker: It was not my first concert.

Speaker: I have been to some, but it was like my first like intense.

Speaker: I'm a fan concert.

Speaker: and I decided that the theatre is more me but I really enjoyed it yeah people are no one's queuing at the theatre you've got an assigned seat yeah exactly yeah it's much more civilised I would say well speaking of which

Speaker: I think it's time we get into our very fetch episode.

Speaker: Someone had to say it.

Speaker: I was waiting.

Speaker: I was like, well, I'm going to be the one to say it.

Speaker: So I guess the best way to kind of start it off is really just talk about kind of the history of Mean Girls, which probably a lot of people didn't know.

Speaker: And I had no idea until I looked into it.

Speaker: It's very interesting.

Speaker: But in terms of Mean Girls, the musical, it first premiered at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Speaker: in 2017.

Speaker: And then the show opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theatre in 2018.

Speaker: But guess what shot it down?

Speaker: Covid.

Speaker: That bloody Panny D. Classic.

Speaker: I know, the Panny D. The Panny D shot it down in March in 2020.

Speaker: The original production starred Erica Henningsen, Taylor Loudman, Ashley Park, Kate Rockwell, Barrett Wilbert Weed.

Speaker: That's a fun name.

Speaker: Barrett Wilbert Weed, Grey Henson and Kyle.

Speaker: I love his last name is Weed.

Speaker: And Kyle.

Speaker: It's a girl.

Speaker: She originated Veronica and Heather's as well.

Speaker: Yeah, she's like Janice.

Speaker: Because I was like, why do I really know this name?

Speaker: And then I was like, who else has a last name with weed?

Speaker: Well, that's fun.

Speaker: So yeah, so it had a brilliant cast and it was directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, not Casey that we know on the pod, sadly.

Speaker: So that was kind of like the Broadway show in a nutshell.

Speaker: And then it first began its US tour in September 2019, opening in Buffalo, New York, and then it finished in Fort Lauderdale in Florida in 2023.

Speaker: And guess what's about to hit us ladies in London?

Speaker: We've got Mean Girls coming.

Speaker: If you didn't know at home, I mean, you probably do.

Speaker: If you're a big musical theatre nerd, you probably know that Mean Girls is literally coming.

Speaker: Is it to the Savoy?

Speaker: I think it's the Savoy, yeah.

Speaker: Savoy.

Speaker: Stunning where Sunset Boulevard just was, which by the way, swept the Olivier Awards.

Speaker: Yeah, which my mum texts me actually and she was like, oh, did you see it?

Speaker: And I was like, yeah, I saw it.

Speaker: And this is my opinion on Sunset Boulevard.

Speaker: I think the musical is, and I'm going to be really controversial, dog shit.

Speaker: I think the story is interesting.

Speaker: The story is very compelling, obviously, like the original film is very compelling.

Speaker: The music is shit.

Speaker: I think the lyrics are shit.

Speaker: But did I think that was a really fantastic production?

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: So in that way, I thought it deserved those awards because I thought it was directed brilliantly.

Speaker: Loved the act two opener.

Speaker: I thought it was like so insanely well acted.

Speaker: So I am pleased, but I'm also like, if you've ever listened to the lyrics of Sunset Boulevard, you're like, how has this man got away with it for so long?

Speaker: It's so bad.

Speaker: and also i've gotta say nicole scherzinger she's got my heart like she is very good yeah she can sing no wrong she is just she's a powerhouse and i remember seeing her at the savoy and just crying my eyes out when

Speaker: Because I genuinely wasn't, I didn't really know what to expect.

Speaker: And then just her voice is so powerful that you actually feel pushed back in your seat.

Speaker: That's how good she was.

Speaker: So I think it was well-deserved.

Speaker: But I digress with my obsession on Nicole Scherzinger.

Speaker: As you may also know, we had a very, very recent movie version of Mean Girls.

Speaker: which was starring the gorgeous Renee Rapp, who we just talked about quite a lot at the very beginning, and Gauri Rice, Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their roles as Miss Norby and Prince Duval respectively.

Speaker: So yeah, a real knockout cast again.

Speaker: Mean Girls, the musical, was nominated for 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Speaker: And Miss Tina Fey won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of Musical, which she deserved because she is a queen.

Speaker: um i thought this was like a fun quote about the movie which again is so naff of me to say but it's from cosmopolitan so i think it matches the movie very rightly so um and back in 2019 they just said about the movie it's so rare for a movie especially one of a comedy genre predominantly aimed at a female audience to carry such longevity um

Speaker: preach I love the 2004 movie if ever I'm feeling down and I want something to pick me up I will watch that happily and it's so funny it's so funny yeah it's aged like well in some respect hasn't aged

Speaker: Well, in like some of, there's like a few problematic areas, which I actually think what they do with the musical is they almost rectify it for like a modern audience, which I think is so cool.

Speaker: But the funniness just holds up.

Speaker: Like the comedy really holds up.

Speaker: It's always funny.

Speaker: But I didn't know this.

Speaker: So I'm going to take us all back to the 2004 movie where it all began.

Speaker: And I didn't know that Mean Girls was actually based on a self-help parenting book called Queen Bees and Wannabes Helping Your Daughter Survive

Speaker: Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman.

Speaker: I had no idea that it was based on that book.

Speaker: I only found out when I was doing the research for this, which it really makes me laugh because if you actually go on to like the Amazon reviews for the book, it's, you can just tell it's like,

Speaker: upper class like American families being like help my daughter's slamming her door what happened to my little girl it's all that I really want to connect with her oh god but it's just isn't it odd though that they've written this about daughters and like where's okay so you've written one about daughters what about sons like why there's been a lot of parenting books about how to parent problem sons

Speaker: Really?

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: I mean, I don't know because I don't have any children, but it's just, it's very, it's just reading that title.

Speaker: I was like, that is bizarre.

Speaker: I would never pick up that book, but.

Speaker: But you don't have a problem, does it?

Speaker: Yet.

Speaker: Not that I've known Hoffman.

Speaker: So, sorry, we've massively digressed.

Speaker: But the original script was written by Miss Tina Fey, who I didn't know this.

Speaker: She was a writer of the US primetime show Saturday Night Live.

Speaker: which I didn't know.

Speaker: And the film was produced by SNL's producer and creator Lorne Michaels and directed by Waters, which I, again, had no idea.

Speaker: So in an interview, the director, Mark Waters, he said, I had just finished shooting Freaky Friday and my agent called me and said, there's a script that you need to read and it's called Homeschool.

Speaker: And it's hilarious, but it's set in a high school.

Speaker: I just finished making a movie that was predominantly set in a high school, so I told them that I wanted to read it.

Speaker: So that was him.

Speaker: Okay, first of all, Freaky Friday is a fantastic movie, but that was obviously, that homeschool, I'm guessing, is probably the original title of Mean Girls, which just, yeah, again, it's just...

Speaker: Why?

Speaker: Why is it... Yeah.

Speaker: I mean, thank God they changed it to Mean Girls.

Speaker: I don't think homeschools would have the same... Cheers.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Um...

Speaker: But also, I think what's also really interesting was the original script apparently was a lot cruder than the actual script they used.

Speaker: And there was a line which was obviously cut that apparently was like, it ain't no trick, I am this slick, all the ninth grade ladies wanna suck my what?

Speaker: And like, apparently that was like just normal.

Speaker: Like a lot of the lines were just really- Is that like an original Kevin rap or something?

Speaker: Yeah, it was, it was a Kevin rap, yeah.

Speaker: Um, so yeah, it's just, it's very, very interesting.

Speaker: And like, there was also, there were other moments that I think were just cut just because it just wasn't appropriate.

Speaker: Like, for example, they had a line where Damien is seen smoking cigarettes.

Speaker: And Katie says a line like, you shouldn't really smoke that.

Speaker: And Damien replies like, it keeps me thin.

Speaker: And obviously, for a teen movie, they were like, that's probably not appropriate.

Speaker: We should probably...

Speaker: cut that and the director even said he was like I made it really really clear that we weren't gonna release an R-rated movie it needs to be PG-13 um so again which I had no idea that they had like you know a different version of the script before that which was a lot darker I kind of want to read it just to know like what was what was actually in the original original yeah it was I mean I think it works

Speaker: to have like like obviously lines like that are just a bit silly like it's it's stupid um but it works like that it is a lot of this stuff is kind of age appropriate because they are meant to be what like 16 17 in it yeah and like that stuff in high school is so juvenile but it is so cutting so do you know what i mean like it works i think quite well that actually they kept it like quite lowbrow it's not

Speaker: someone's screaming the c word at another person because that's not how like teenagers interact yeah well i don't know i grew up in scotland so teenagers did interact like that but

Speaker: I think they probably hit the nail on the head where they created a movie that was about teens, but also commercially, I think they probably were like, we can't make it this crude thing.

Speaker: It has to be something that commercially, worldwide, people would be like, this is a genuinely really funny movie, and it doesn't need all that crude stuff to make it good.

Speaker: Yeah and part of the whole thing and I imagine this is what the self-help book maybe comes into it is like the whole thing is archetypes.

Speaker: It's like not meant to be like this is a an accurate depiction of what an average high schooler's experience is.

Speaker: It's archetypes of the people that can occur and the cliques that can occur in high school obviously massively massively warped

Speaker: for dramatic effect and that's i'm imagining it could be wrong the self-help book is more around the archetypes that we see in high school and how to help your children navigate those yeah i'm sure there's like a chapter called like queen bee and things it's exactly yeah so it's less about like

Speaker: actually those are people that you're going to encounter.

Speaker: It's more like these are the types of relationships that your child might encounter in a high school and here's how they can kind of help navigate those rather than being like they're going to meet Regina George around the corner.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Okay, so looking more into the cast and creatives, I

Speaker: there there are some crossovers funnily enough so as tina faye wrote the script for the original movie it felt only fitting that she came back on board for the mean girls musical and wrote the book for the production so she was very very heavily involved from the beginning um she was joined by her husband jeff richmond who composed the music for the show

Speaker: which I didn't know.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: So I didn't know that.

Speaker: It was very cute.

Speaker: And then he was partnered with Nell Benjamin, who was a lyricist and the musical was directed by Casey Nicholaw, who also did the choreography as well.

Speaker: Um,

Speaker: And then the show was also produced by Lorne Michaels with Stuart Thompson.

Speaker: So Lorne Michaels produced the original movie and then went on to produce the show, which makes a lot of sense because, as we said, Tina Fey got her big comedy star on SNL, so has a really good relationship with him.

Speaker: So that was nice that he came back on board for that.

Speaker: The show made its stage premiere in October 2017 and then transferred over to Broadway in March 2018 and then of course was shut down by the Pani D.

Speaker: But Tina Fey admitted and quoted saying that the original script didn't age too well.

Speaker: And so she was thrilled to go back and reopen the script and change some things.

Speaker: And then she was also very heavily involved with the making of the movie as well.

Speaker: So she felt it was nice to kind of reopen that book and go in and make like necessary changes or add things in that maybe she thought felt better and

Speaker: um because she started uh Mean Girls very early on in like a writing career so she said that she was just kind of she dipped her toe into the pond and wanted to go back and rectify things or add things in that she maybe wouldn't have been brave enough to put in back in the day which I thought was really nice it must be nice like going back to a project after 20 years and kind of knowing what you know having 20 years worth of knowledge and

Speaker: Yeah, and I kind of think, like, I'm not a big fan of, I don't know, like, a movie to musical adaption, or even, like,

Speaker: a revival of something or a remake of something unless it has a purpose but I think this is absolutely how you do it because it does lend itself so well to stage like there's just kind of natural character progression moments that we would want to see through song that works well for stage but also they're not just doing a direct translation like as you say they've had that chance to go and kind of make amends to a script that hasn't aged well I don't think things are particularly meant to age well nothing's ever going to age well

Speaker: But I think that's how you do it when you do a remake is you get, you have the chance to be like, okay, how does this work now work for a modern audience?

Speaker: And what can we do to kind of bring it up to a modern audience and make sure that it has that kind of longevity there.

Speaker: So I think it's like, it's the perfect way to do an adaption really.

Speaker: I think it's also kind of nice that she's had 20 years to watch the success of the show and like see the massive cult following.

Speaker: And then from that,

Speaker: kind of be like, great, let's develop it even further and add music to it.

Speaker: Yeah, she's gotten to see who the audience likes.

Speaker: And particularly Damien was such a fan favorite.

Speaker: It doesn't actually have that much to do in the original movie.

Speaker: So they managed to beef up his part in the show as well.

Speaker: So it's also, you've got that kind of, like that market research almost of like, how is it performing?

Speaker: What are the quotes that people take away?

Speaker: What are the bits that people really like?

Speaker: What are the bits that they don't so much like?

Speaker: And you've got a chance to reform that.

Speaker: I think it's really cool.

Speaker: I think it's really nice as well that I couldn't find much on the, it's all very wishy-washy on who actually had the original idea to bring it to the stage.

Speaker: I'm guessing it was Tina Fey considering that she, you know, started writing the book, but I just think it's really sweet that maybe she was talking with her husband and she's going to do what, we should do a Mean Girls musical and you should write the music and I should write the book.

Speaker: And I bet that was really lovely.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: I bet that was a really lovely experience for them to create something together.

Speaker: He's quite bashful as well.

Speaker: I watched an interview with him before this episode.

Speaker: And he's very, very cute.

Speaker: He's just very... He seems really happy with the... It was a really good genius interview with him and Barrett Wilbert Weed where they were talking through some of the lyrics for one of the songs and she's kind of analysing it and he looks so happy that she's...

Speaker: like taking what he's obviously written and like because she's talking about like the feminist portions of it and he's just like basically staring at her and nodding and he looks so happy it's really sweet so what is the show about then well I think we all know I'm guessing that there's gonna be no audience members listening who don't

Speaker: hasn't seen the original film it is such a cultural phenomenon but just in case I'm going to run through the plot of the musical and then I will go through the kind of major and minor changes that occur from the plot of the original movie the 2004 movie to the stage show so act one the show opens with a fourth wall break with two high school social outcasts Janice and Damien Janice who's an anti-authoritarian punk and Damien who's a kind of camp gay man

Speaker: introducing the audience to Katie Heron, a new arrival at their high school who's just arrived from Kenya where she was homeschooled by her parents.

Speaker: Katie, who is kind of friendly and fairly agreeable, has a bad start in her high school journey, realizing that her classmates can be cliquey, cruel, and unaccepting of outsiders.

Speaker: Janice and Damien, well versed in the tribulations of being a teenager, bring Katie into their circle and introduce her to the many cliques that exist within the social hierarchy of high school.

Speaker: Most importantly, the plastics.

Speaker: The plastics rule the school and are made up of kind of preened middle-class mean girls.

Speaker: We have Regina George, the school's queen bee, retching wieners, Regina's kind of second-in-command, who's a bit of a suck-up, and then we have Karen, who's the archetypal dumb blonde.

Speaker: After a chance meeting, Regina, who's somewhat intrigued by Katie, invites her to eat lunch with them for the rest of the week.

Speaker: Janice and Damien, with their own sneaky agendas, ask Katie to spy on the plastics and relay the information to the pair without disclosing the reason for their interest.

Speaker: separately in a math class katie meets the boy of her dreams aaron samuels who the actor from the original movie just as an fyi i believe now is a baker and has his own baking show which is very very sweet look it up on youtube he loves to make cupcakes do you know what the name of it is

Speaker: No, but I will pop a link on the socials.

Speaker: I also believe he's gay, which is, there's nothing else there apart from love that for him.

Speaker: It is love at first sight.

Speaker: She is also invited by a kind of nerdy classmate, Kevin, to join the math leads, which she rejects after being advised by the Plastics that it would kill her social credit.

Speaker: Katie takes this as a sign that the Plastics, Regina in particular, actually has a vested interest in protecting her and her loyalty begins to shift from Janice and Damien to the Queen Bee despite their warnings.

Speaker: Katie confides in Crutchin her feelings for Aaron but to her shock finds out that Aaron is Regina's ex-boyfriend and is therefore off limits because of girl code.

Speaker: Hanging out at Regina's house, the plastics show Katie their burn book, where they write embarrassing and cruel comments about their classmates.

Speaker: After Katie finds Janice's picture in the book, Regina tells her that the pair used to be friends until Janice had a breakdown when she wasn't invited to Regina's 13th birthday.

Speaker: Katie gets closer to Aaron, who reveals he's no longer interested in dating after his breakup with Regina.

Speaker: She basically made him feel quite undermined and worthless.

Speaker: Katie realizes that Aaron likes helping her with her homework and begins to kind of feign ignorance when it comes to math so that he can choose her.

Speaker: After spending more time together, she attends his Halloween party where she experiences a classic high school humiliation moment.

Speaker: She turns up in a traditional scary Halloween costume instead of a sexy one, social norms that no one explained to her.

Speaker: Meanwhile, Gretchen lets slip about Katie's crush on Aaron and Regina, out of jealousy and spite, kisses Aaron at the party and they get back together.

Speaker: Fleeing an axe, Katie goes back to Damien and Janice, who reveal the real reason why Janice and Regina stop being friends.

Speaker: Regina spread a rumour that Janice was a lesbian, leading to mass bullying from her classmates.

Speaker: The three then plot revenge against Regina, planning the Queen Bee's downfall.

Speaker: Some of the cruel things that they do include giving her bars that make her gain weight, tricking Gretchen into revealing an affair Regina's having with another classmate, sabotaging a school dance that the group take part in.

Speaker: Finally, after Regina's spirit is somewhat broken, Katie notices that she's missed a clothing roll that the plastics abide by and banishes her from the table.

Speaker: On Wednesdays, we wear pink.

Speaker: Despite Katie's apology, Regina swears revenge.

Speaker: So, act two.

Speaker: School's back after winter break and Katie is unrecognisable, transforming herself into the new Queen Bee ruling over Karen and Gretchen, who's anxious that she's replaced her toxic relationship with Regina with a new one with Katie.

Speaker: Katie secretly throws a party whilst her parents are out of town and drunkenly reveals to Aaron that she's been acting stupid on purpose so that he will pay attention to her.

Speaker: Upset, he leaves, proclaiming that he preferred Katie the way she was, not who she has now become.

Speaker: Janice, Katie and Damien fall out after Katie fails to attend Janice's art show and they confront Katie with her growing self-obsession.

Speaker: Katie responds cruelly, accusing Janice, just as Regina did, of being a lesbian and that her upset with Katie's behaviour is a reflection of her being in love with Katie.

Speaker: Furious, Janice and Damien throw the painting of the three of them that Janice had displayed at the art show at her, which is such a gutting moment.

Speaker: That always makes me so sad when she's like, it was the three of us.

Speaker: Oh, gutting.

Speaker: Regina finds out about the tricks that Katie has been pulling on her.

Speaker: And after finding out about the party without an invite, she amends the burn book with cruel comments about herself and releases it to the school.

Speaker: So in the movie,

Speaker: This used to be the iconic line.

Speaker: Regina George is a fugly slut.

Speaker: Obviously, slut is quite a strong word and one that we don't like to be using when referring to women.

Speaker: So they changed this in the musical to Fugly Cow, which I will say doesn't quite have the same ring.

Speaker: I don't think... I think...

Speaker: it's saying fugly slut would have been fine because the whole point is that it's a mean thing to say it's not like it's not like a throwaway line in the middle of a show where they're like oh don't mind her she's a slut like that I could understand taking that out but this is supposed to be mean and to grab your so I think that changing it was strange and they've also they changed the de-slur for Janice they've changed that in the musical to pyroles

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Which, that doesn't have the same, like, I think the whole point... From the D-word used against lesbians.

Speaker: Oh, I see.

Speaker: Four letter D-word.

Speaker: Which, I don't know.

Speaker: I wouldn't have been pissed if they'd put that into the film.

Speaker: Because the whole point is it's... It's mean.

Speaker: I think she understands, like, active slurs not being used.

Speaker: I can completely... Yeah, yeah.

Speaker: I think slut, they had a real moment.

Speaker: If you'd have used that, then you could have had a real moment where they actually confront the meaning of that word.

Speaker: Yeah, exactly.

Speaker: Especially with there's a kind of a point where kind of revenge porn happens, where there's a picture of Regina taken that spread around the school.

Speaker: They really could have analysed that, I think.

Speaker: But maybe they thought it's easier that we don't have to, if we don't put it in, we don't have to confront it.

Speaker: So let's just leave it.

Speaker: It might have just been an easier thing.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: And I think there could have been... I don't know.

Speaker: Pyroles, for me, isn't mean enough.

Speaker: It's not mean enough.

Speaker: You know what I mean?

Speaker: There could have been something else.

Speaker: They didn't have to go in and put a slur that would probably maybe offend some people.

Speaker: But...

Speaker: I think something meaner, definitely.

Speaker: Because, I don't know, it didn't have that same, like, if you really... I've never heard the term pyrolairs in my life, and I've had a lot of gay slayers thrown my way at me.

Speaker: Yeah, like, it's, yeah, I don't, I think there could have been something better, or they could have made a bigger moment out of that.

Speaker: Because if somebody had wrote that about me, I'd be like, what?

Speaker: Okay.

Speaker: You know what I mean?

Speaker: It wouldn't have that same, like,

Speaker: You know that.

Speaker: I quite like Powerless to be honest.

Speaker: It feels like a cool title to have.

Speaker: So anyway, Regina, she obviously amends the Burn book with cruel comments about herself and then she releases it to the school and she kind of makes it look like the book was created by Katie.

Speaker: The school erupts in fights with girls scrapping over spilled secrets and insults.

Speaker: Ms.

Speaker: Norbury, who is a kind of empathetic, stoic teacher who supported Katie,

Speaker: calls an assembly to try and bring the women of the high school together and to reprimand them for their cruelness to one another.

Speaker: Janice stands up to speak and she's empowered and she speaks on her experience with female friendships, encouraging the students to be true to themselves instead of trying to fit in.

Speaker: When Katie, quite moved by Janice's words, tries to apologise to Regina, Regina storms out the school and is hit by a bus.

Speaker: Katie's pretty spooked after Regina's accident and reverts to the person that she used to be, seeking amends with those she has hurt, taking responsibility for the burn book and joining the Mathletes to make up extra credit.

Speaker: The Mathletes win their state championships and Katie goes to the Spring Fling Dance where she reconnects with Aaron and makes amends with Regina.

Speaker: After being voted Spring-Cling Queen, Katie takes off her crown, breaking off the pieces and handing them to all the girls at the dance, telling them that they are all worthy no matter who they are.

Speaker: She apologises and reconciles with Janice and Damien, and the Plastics and the Outcasts all make amends, accepting each other and going forward as friends.

Speaker: So, as you can see, it pulls a very similar plot to the original film.

Speaker: But there are a few key differences from the 2004 film to the stage adaption, which I think brings it up for a modern age.

Speaker: So the first major one is that Damien and Janice act as narrators, breaking the fourth wall to audiences, which is just quite cool.

Speaker: It's quite a cool musical theatre trope.

Speaker: Coach Carr, who's the gym teacher slash inappropriate sex ed teacher, in the original film, he's the one that's like, don't have sex because you'll get an STD and you'll die.

Speaker: Please.

Speaker: He only has a cameo in the stage play.

Speaker: His role is just so problematic for a modern stage adaption.

Speaker: In the film he had like affairs with, I don't want to use the word affairs, but he had inappropriate relationships with some students.

Speaker: He's so gross.

Speaker: So I think they made a right call and they just kind of removed his agency from the stage play.

Speaker: Instead of the girls dancing to Jingle Bell Rock, they dance to a new song called Rockin' Around the Pole.

Speaker: And instead of the boombox being kicked into Kevin's face, Regina's skirt gets torn off and pictures of her are shared around the skull, which acts as a kind of revenge porn plot point.

Speaker: They develop Damien's character more.

Speaker: In the film, he was used as light comedic relief.

Speaker: In the musical, he gets a backstory and is inserted more into the plot.

Speaker: He warns Katie about the dangers of obsessing over a crush.

Speaker: In a similar vein, we see Gretchen more developed.

Speaker: She has more inner turmoil about swapping out one Queen Bee for another and whether Katie is really any different to Regina.

Speaker: Karen also gets a bit more depth to her, though her delivery is often just as deadpan.

Speaker: She posits important revelations to the other characters, one being that the photo of Regina that is shared all around the school is ultimately the boy's responsibility, not Regina's fault.

Speaker: they change a lot for the new film as well.

Speaker: So it's almost like there's like those two steps to it being a bit more progressive in terms of

Speaker: they removed because in the I'm sure in the show they still use the D slur to refer to Janice and then that got definitely got changed for the film because I think there was some backlash from that and then the whole revenge porn thing doesn't happen at all in the film

Speaker: that instead of it's so interesting because that feels like one of the more interesting yeah aspects of it do you know that is a problem that a lot of young women in high school face it's i mean so in the film version during which i just really can't i don't like that they change like rocking around the pole wasn't what it wasn't a necessary change just keep jingle bell rock

Speaker: But maybe they couldn't get their licence for it.

Speaker: Well, maybe, yeah.

Speaker: But I just was a bit like, hmm?

Speaker: And they keep rocking around the pole in the film.

Speaker: But instead of... So at that point, it's kind of...

Speaker: Regina's been gaining weight from the calteen bars that she's been given and they haven't practiced the lift that they do in the dance.

Speaker: So she goes to do a cartwheel over Karen's knees and then Karen can't take the weight from above her and kind of collapses and Regina falls and everyone films it but it's got nothing to do with...

Speaker: it doesn't it isn't played in like a revenge porn kind of way it's just she's fell over and everyone's laughing at her that's how it's played more of which i think the whole calteen bar thing is like that's like another criticism i have of like adaption to stage is like oh girl like oh what's the worst thing that we can do to someone to to like begin their downfall oh let's make her put on weight like like again it's just like weaponizing fatness

Speaker: It's so frustrating like I know I always go on about it like as a fact with myself but I'm just like such low hanging fruit and really like that would have been a great change that they could have made because obviously I understand I'm not saying that like weight people putting on weight is like inherently a positive thing I just think it's neither a positive or a negative thing for some people.

Speaker: that is going to have a detriment, like, as in, I can imagine it would be uncomfortable if you, like, put on a few pounds and that's not how you were comfortable, but that's a personal thing.

Speaker: It's not just a blanket statement that all people, when they put on a couple pounds, is like, well, this is the worst thing that's happened to me.

Speaker: Like, I completely understand how many people it would be and that's a personal thing to you, but, like, by putting it out there as, like, what's the worst thing that we can do to someone and, like, she's fallen over because she's put on weight.

Speaker: Like, it just, it's, like, no different from, like,

Speaker: watching a show on the 19th.

Speaker: It's no different from Monica and her fat suit to me.

Speaker: And it's just- Yeah.

Speaker: I think, I think I can understand why they kept it in, in terms of for that character, that probably is the worst thing that could happen to her.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: In that-

Speaker: image like her image and being perfect is kind of everything but then it is kind of reinforcing it but then you're saying but but even by saying that you're establishing that being perfect is not being fat exactly yeah so so that's that was where the yeah the disconnect is the disconnect is because then it's kind of like

Speaker: She's being like, oh, I don't want to be fat because being fat is bad.

Speaker: But because someone else does it to her, it basically means everyone's inclusion by saying, yes, being fat is the worst thing.

Speaker: You know, that's where I think the issue is.

Speaker: Ugh, it's frustrating.

Speaker: Anyway, read Fat Girl Best Friend for a more in-depth, like, fat women portrayals in New Deal.

Speaker: Small plug.

Speaker: So I guess now is the time to bring us into the world of the music.

Speaker: And one of my favorite songs from the musical is World Burn, which is sang by Queen Bee, Regina herself.

Speaker: I think it's a kind of a nice moment in the musical because it echoes the earlier song where

Speaker: Katie first meets the plastics in the song, Meet the Plastics, literally what it says on the tin.

Speaker: And it's basically the moment where Regina discovers that she wasn't invited to Katie's party, shock, and that these bars have basically made her cause weight.

Speaker: So she decides to get revenge on releasing the burn book.

Speaker: And she adds in it the famous quote, Regina is a fubby cow, in order to basically get herself out of being kind of like the one who made the burn book herself.

Speaker: Which, sorry, sidebar, that is such a great moment.

Speaker: I mean, obviously, we've seen the film 100 times.

Speaker: But that moment where she gets out the burn book, and you're like, oh, yeah, Katie's going straight in there.

Speaker: And then you see Regina's face, you are like, oh, it's such a gag.

Speaker: Like, it's really, really great.

Speaker: And Rachel McAdams when she's like Regina George is like her voice is like so good in that film.

Speaker: She is a bugly slut.

Speaker: So the song itself is, this is me being a muso again.

Speaker: The song is in F minor.

Speaker: Not that interesting to be honest, but it's in full full timing.

Speaker: I think Tina Fey's husband would beg to differ.

Speaker: No, but I mean musically, it doesn't really change or alter the song drastically.

Speaker: It doesn't mean that from a musical perspective you're like, oh my God, it's an F minor, what?

Speaker: This changes everything.

Speaker: um so and it's what's interesting is that the music itself is uh quoted that it needs to be uh played dark stormy and lusty which is again i've never seen that quoted above a musical thing before which i was like okay i know it was sexy i guess um but i think what's kind of interesting is the kind of the first opening l ine i remember the first time i heard the song

Speaker: I thought that it was sung wrong because I was like, that just sounds so clashy.

Speaker: Her first one is like, my name is Regina George.

Speaker: And it sounds so clashy against the notes actually underneath because it kind of opens with this very like simple two chorded kind of structure.

Speaker: And it's so dissonant.

Speaker: And for me, it kind of, it mirrors Regina's world around her clashing and like the kind of dissonance that,

Speaker: that high school has and how just like her perfect world that she built is so messy and messed up now and what's also kind of fun is that she goes completely against the standard F minor key signature and when you read her vocal line she just adds like sharps flats whatever she likes and she just completely makes that key signature her own

Speaker: And it goes completely against like, what, yeah, like the typical F1 scale.

Speaker: Basically, like Regina is like, I still, I still rule, I still rule the roost.

Speaker: Even in musical terms, I still write my own notes.

Speaker: And it is just like a classic, the reason why I love this song is because it's like, it's a classic villain revenge song.

Speaker: And it's so like, there's so many moments that sound like Kelly Clarkson or like Avril Lavigne, like this like grungy pop princess, which I live for.

Speaker: which is why I love this song.

Speaker: So yeah, so it opens with a slight mysterious, almost like mysterious two chord note.

Speaker: You're like, where's this gonna be going?

Speaker: And it stays very, very simple while she sings this kind of distant vocal line up until kind of midway through her second verse.

Speaker: And it still stays pretty slow and kind of steady.

Speaker: And it kind of, it's quite unsettling for an audience member because you're like, I know what you're capable of, where is this song gonna go?

Speaker: And then it gets a little bit more kind of drive, a few more kind of instruments kind of get added in, like you get the sexy drums coming in, you get this really, really sexy like rock guitar line coming in, it's like ew, like it's really like, it sounds like they're really like adding lots of kind of like lusty, lusty musical instruments in.

Speaker: um and it builds this like sexiness around her but she is she she is idolized as this like sexy like queen bee i guess um and then suddenly the music builds in volume to when she sings how do you like me now and the now is like a belt basically um and it's like i feel like that's like regina's anger like finally coming out onto the surface on like

Speaker: how she's going to get Katie back.

Speaker: And then she sings, my name is Regina George.

Speaker: Regina is a fuddy cow.

Speaker: Hey, Katie, how do you like me now?

Speaker: And so it's like, it is, that's kind of like,

Speaker: I feel like that's the moment where the audience is like, right, this is what she's going to do.

Speaker: Like, she's going to flip it back on her.

Speaker: It's like that moment in the movie where you're like, oh my God, she's sticking herself in.

Speaker: So then it suddenly kind of, then it pulls back to a very simple vocal line again.

Speaker: Like, this is what's interesting about this song.

Speaker: Is it like, you feel like it's building, then it pulls back.

Speaker: It builds and it pulls back.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: So yeah, it goes back to quite like a simple instrumental line for kind of her next, actually I'd probably call this the chorus where she sings, I want to watch the world burn.

Speaker: But again, it's nothing kind of crazy.

Speaker: She's not kind of unleashing it, but then she sings the chorus again.

Speaker: And she repeats what she basically says, but a lot louder with a much fuller instrumental line.

Speaker: And it's really pressing like her true anger about how she feels.

Speaker: And again, I feel like it's a really clever way of almost mirroring how teenagers are when they're angry, where like a teenager will be like, I hate you so much, and then like run away and they'll be like, oh my God.

Speaker: And it's that weird thing of like going from like a high to a low very, very quickly.

Speaker: which I think they mirror very well in like the anger of a teenager.

Speaker: And then again, it pulls back, surprise, surprise, leading into kind of what, again, I'm going to call this the bridge.

Speaker: I'm not really sure if this is the bridge, but it's the bit where she kind of sings like, Katie, time to watch your back.

Speaker: It feels like a new kind of moment where again, kind of the sound and the vocals gradually build.

Speaker: And you almost hear this like rolling drum, drum line starts to build in.

Speaker: Then suddenly when she sings, but you didn't finish.

Speaker: So she says, Katie time, Katie time to watch your back.

Speaker: Katie time to turn and cough because you took me down, but you didn't finish me off.

Speaker: And then on that off again, she like belts her heart out.

Speaker: And again, it's like that thing of her being like, I'm reclaiming my status.

Speaker: I reminded the audience of my control over this high school and what she's actually capable of.

Speaker: And basically that she's been made to look a fool because of KD.

Speaker: And she's like, no, um,

Speaker: And then again, she sings, my name is Regina George, just in case you forgot.

Speaker: And then the music then kind of transitions into this really, I love it when a musical theatre does this.

Speaker: It transitions into this like fun call and response moment with Regina and the chorus, where clearly she's like dumped the burn book and the high school are like, oh my God, have you read this?

Speaker: And she kind of layers her like, I want to watch the Wild Burn chorus with...

Speaker: um with like high school students like reading out with their finding out like miss norby's a drug pusher like all this like really funny stuff that you're like that is so ridiculous oh yeah i want to watch the world and it's like it's really fun all that like fun like it's so it's almost like mirrors like

Speaker: like stereotypical high school like band practice, you know where they're like ba ba ba ba, like they kind of have that in the background.

Speaker: And then she has like the best part of the song, which is so Christina Aguilera, I love it, where like her last two final choruses,

Speaker: she has a sexy key change again one of like my favorite things about musical theater when they add in a key change I live for it where again it's like she's upping the stakes and people are really starting to get like on Regina's side now which we haven't seen up in since you know the what's what was what did they change it to instead of rocking around the Christmas tree they changed it to rocking around the pole

Speaker: That does not carry the same weight.

Speaker: But after her downfall from that song, it's like the first time the high school is like, yeah, I'm now back on Regina's side.

Speaker: And I think Regina is starting to feel this because she is like riffing her heart out.

Speaker: She's belting her heart out.

Speaker: And it really feels like by the end of the song, Regina is like, I know who I am.

Speaker: The audience know who I am.

Speaker: Like, do not double cross me.

Speaker: And it's just like, it's just a really great villain song.

Speaker: And there's a really great... What I loved... I keep going back to the movie.

Speaker: But what I really liked in the movie was during World Burn.

Speaker: I mean, there's the moment in the movie where she comes out of Mr. Duvall's office after she's handed in the burn book.

Speaker: And she comes out of Mr. Duvall's office and she locks eyes with Katie.

Speaker: And it's kind of this, like, I've just done what you think I've done moment.

Speaker: in the movie like during obviously it's happening in song in the film and like Katie's looking into the office and Regina just stares out and then all of the lights like start flickering down the hallway it just gives me goosebumps I loved that all right

Speaker: So I'm going to be breaking down the iconic number from the show, I'd Rather Be Be.

Speaker: The song is sang by Janice and it comes towards the end of act two during the Burn Book Assembly held by Ms Norbury.

Speaker: I see it as a kind of like self-defining war cry for Janice where she reflects on the difficulty she's found in her female friendships with Katie and Regina and how her unique personality and nature can stand in the way of her fitting into the hierarchies of high school.

Speaker: So your best friend screwed you over, acted nice when she not nice, which

Speaker: I can understand why they use that term.

Speaker: I watched an interview with the lyricist where apparently he heard, I think a high schooler used that term.

Speaker: So he was like, yoink, I'm going to pitch her.

Speaker: She acted nice when she not nice, but it does something grammatically to me that I just, it makes me not.

Speaker: Janice begins, well, I have some advice because it's happened to me twice.

Speaker: Here's my secret strategy.

Speaker: It always works because the world doesn't end.

Speaker: It just feels like it does.

Speaker: Janice's advice isn't particularly revolutionary, but it's a very centering and staunch position.

Speaker: Raise your right finger.

Speaker: Interesting, they don't actually ever specify the middle, but we all take that as that's what that means.

Speaker: And solemnly swear, whatever they say about me, I don't care.

Speaker: She cries out with her middle finger high, if I eat alone from this moment on, that's just what I'll do.

Speaker: I'd rather be me than be with you.

Speaker: It's an awe-inspiring, confident stance for a young person to take on.

Speaker: And I would say one that most human beings take

Speaker: quite a lot of time and a lot of therapy to arrive to and it's essentially the sentiment to thine own self be true even if it comes at the cost of kind of fitting in obviously it's advice that's been echoed by like Shakespeare himself many prolific thinkers

Speaker: But it's just sound advice.

Speaker: It's just sound, sound advice.

Speaker: But what I will say is it doesn't feel like it's advice that's easy to action when you're 16 and you feel alone and you're being cornered in a bathroom by some mean girls or you're eating lunch with a kind of sad teacher in a classroom.

Speaker: But I can imagine for those who kind of see it on stage,

Speaker: If they are feeling like that in high school, it does feel like a battle cry, but definitely one that I would say that they may listen to in private and kind of use to get through the school bells.

Speaker: The song continues, as scathing as it is empowering, as Janice bemoans the impossible standards expected of young women.

Speaker: We're supposed to all be ladies and be nurturing in care.

Speaker: Is that really fair?

Speaker: Boys get to fight, we have to share.

Speaker: Here's the way that that turns out, we always understand.

Speaker: How to slap someone down with our underhand.

Speaker: So that is just a great critique on the unique savagery of teenagers.

Speaker: I would say a blend of kind of toxic masculinity and testosterone often lead young men to bully with their fists, whereas kind of archaic notions of soft girlhood and patriarchal structures can lead girls to bully with their words.

Speaker: Often, I would say pretty cutting words.

Speaker: I'm just, I'm putting it out there.

Speaker: I don't think there's a single woman in the Western world who hasn't fallen prey to kind of that trap of being nasty before, being like catty and cutting.

Speaker: I think there's, I think everyone has probably reflected on behaviors towards friends when they were younger that they're just completely not proud of.

Speaker: And I would say like most people have that or like maybe I'm just talking to me and my friends, but like most women I think in their mid twenties reflect on that behavior and then kind of make sure that in their adult female friendships that they're not kind of replicating that.

Speaker: Because I think everyone, I think any young girl in the Western world, especially in the UK was nasty in high school.

Speaker: I think you were the victim of some form of bullying and you were nasty.

Speaker: Maybe other people had like a wonderful high school experience.

Speaker: Maybe I'm just talking about like public kind of high schools.

Speaker: But yeah.

Speaker: No, but think about the pressure that women have just like inherently.

Speaker: It feeds down to girls.

Speaker: I don't think it is just a public school thing.

Speaker: I think it happens to like all girls where like we're just told that like from a very young age that we've got to look a certain way, we've got to dress a certain way, we've got to talk a certain way.

Speaker: and like even in magazines like we see images of like women who thankfully now it's a lot more that well it's not amazing but they're getting better at being more diverse I think um especially when I was kind of growing up all you'd see is like

Speaker: you know, really stick skinny women with like bleached blonde hair or something and like incredible jawlines, which again, like they have their place in society, don't get me wrong, but that's all we were told was the right thing to do.

Speaker: So I think then when you're in an environment with other girls, they all just like feed on each other, I think.

Speaker: yeah definitely it's just like a cesspit it's that's that's what I think the biggest change so I should get really deep here but like from going to like from being a teenager into like an adult like navigating the female world is so different because at school I'd see a type of girl and I'd go okay she's the pretty girl

Speaker: she's the pretty girl and like that's what you have to do to be a pretty girl you have to wear that and you have to wear this makeup which was dream map mousse for me back in that day oh my god if you weren't wearing dream map mousse no no no it definitely it was disgusting and it was orange and it was that and it was it was that and it was the um maybelline colossus um mascara the yellow one that everyone had

Speaker: And the baby lips.

Speaker: Baby lips.

Speaker: Oh my God.

Speaker: The baby lips.

Speaker: Remember when the baby lips came out?

Speaker: Oh my God.

Speaker: And then like a Jack Wills, a Jack Wills gilet, Uggs, Gap hoodie.

Speaker: And it was just, it was just, I, it was so tunnel vision for me for what this idea of like being, like being pretty or being beautiful was.

Speaker: And I think what's really lovely about becoming like, and like navigating the world of like females is just going like, oh my gosh, like there is so many different kinds of beautiful, like,

Speaker: like some women are just so gorgeous and look so different from someone else, but they are also so beautiful.

Speaker: And it's really, it's such a nice experience to kind of move from that tunnel vision of this is what pretty is.

Speaker: And I think that that pressure is so on young girls that this is why it kind of forces nastiness and things like that.

Speaker: Because I was jealous of so many people when I was a teenager.

Speaker: And then in order to make myself feel better, I probably did say things like nasty things.

Speaker: Like when I look back and I'm like,

Speaker: That's really quite awful to think that you could do that to someone just to make yourself feel better.

Speaker: But I guess it was like a vicious cycle of teenage girls just... Really, that's the power of Mean Girls.

Speaker: Because I think it forces you to confront the ways in which you've been the victim, the ways in which you've been the bully.

Speaker: And at times, Cade is all of those different characters.

Speaker: And I think that's the power that kind of Tina Fey wields in Mean Girls is she uses those archetypes not to kind of point out and say, this is this type of person, this is this type of person.

Speaker: It's actually to say we all have that within us.

Speaker: Like we all at different points will be those people.

Speaker: At times we've been a Katie, at times we've been a Regina, at times we felt like a Janice.

Speaker: Like I don't think it's about saying these are the different types of people.

Speaker: It's these are the different types of attitudes that can exist in one person at any given time.

Speaker: And I think what's so empowering about I'd Rather Be Me is not that it's like Janice.

Speaker: It's not that it's like the Janices of the world rejecting the Reginas.

Speaker: It's actually that Janice is rejecting the entire system itself.

Speaker: She isn't saying, she's not like calling upon her fellow students to become like her.

Speaker: She's calling on them to reject that system and be true to who they are.

Speaker: Not the architects and the kind of clique culture that happens in high school.

Speaker: So she says, here's my right finger to how girls should behave.

Speaker: Sometimes what's meant to break you makes you brave.

Speaker: So I think like the surface level of the song appears to be like a lone wolf turning away from the pack and forging her own path.

Speaker: But I think kind of halfway through, it begins to morph into more of like an evangelical manifesto.

Speaker: So she says, let's call her damage even, clean the slate till it's like new.

Speaker: And I think with this, Janice almost kind of like welcomes any reformed plastics.

Speaker: She says, and when they drag you down, like they inevitably do, I will not laugh along with them and approve their palace coup.

Speaker: And I think that's so sweet.

Speaker: Like, she's like, I'm not going to engage in this kind of petty hierarchical, like games and bullying.

Speaker: But, and you know what, you go ahead and you do that.

Speaker: And when you...

Speaker: decide that you actually just want to be yourself and you're going to reject that I'll be here for you you can come and join me and I just think that's so sweet that she's like welcoming any reformers despite them maybe rejecting her and it's just really radical I think as she kind of proclaims she would rather be me and I actually think she would rather you are the best version of you as well so I think it's a great number and I thought there was this really interesting quote from Barrett Wilbert Weed who originally played Janice on Broadway

Speaker: she said that one of her friends pointed out after she even watched the show for the first time, this is one of the only times in musical theatre history where there's a woman standing on a table talking to all women about something that has nothing to do with men.

Speaker: And I think that is so cool.

Speaker: And that is, like, it summarises, it absolutely summarises the power of Mean Girls and why it has such longevity.

Speaker: Because it is a film for the girlies, about the girlies,

Speaker: analyzing female behavior towards one another it definitely passes the bechdel test yeah exactly um so just a last little bit then um i want you to do a little bit on the placement of the song as i think it's quite interesting um as i said the song comes towards the end of act two and it kind of acts as the musical's 11 o'clock number

Speaker: So for anyone who doesn't know what an 11 o'clock number is, it's essentially a production's showstopper song, a song that engages really powerful vocals, orchestral swells, and heightened emotion to literally stop the show.

Speaker: It often comes at a pivotal moment for a central character and offers a moment of clarity or decision

Speaker: that will move them, kind of propel them to the show's conclusion.

Speaker: So 11 o'clock numbers were often used as a kind of showcase for the original stars, like vocal chops.

Speaker: So when Gypsy first came out and Ethel Merman was the star, Rose's Turn was used to be like, this is Ethel Merman, Rose's Turn.

Speaker: And it's kind of delivered to provoke a standing ovation and have audiences like leaving the show with that memory of that like number solidified in their minds.

Speaker: It was a bit more popular in the times of legit musical theater and the name 11 o'clock comes from the time the song used to appear in shows.

Speaker: So in the mid 20th century, musicals actually began a lot later at night.

Speaker: Obviously, traditionally now it's 7, 7.30 that show will begin.

Speaker: They used to begin at like 8.39.

Speaker: So the show stopper would occur, you know, towards the end of act two around 11pm, hence the name 11 o'clock number.

Speaker: So some examples then of famous 11 o'clock numbers that you will definitely recognise is of course the majestic, probably the, I would say the best 11 o'clock number of all time, Rose's Turn from Gypsy.

Speaker: Outstanding.

Speaker: So good.

Speaker: Love you Sondheim.

Speaker: But we also have for more fun, Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat from Guys and Dolls.

Speaker: Memory from Cats is another 11 o'clock number.

Speaker: And then more modern examples is She Used to Be Mine from Waitress and Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen.

Speaker: So what qualifies a number to be an 11 o'clock number?

Speaker: So the term is fairly ambiguous as showstoppers can vary in theme, musical style and content, but it's kind of agreed if they contain any of the three following characteristics, then they're usually regarded as an 11 o'clock number.

Speaker: So I'm going to read the five characteristics out to you guys, and I want you to think of the three criteria that the song covers, and it might be more than three.

Speaker: So one, it has to be a showstopping showcase for the star.

Speaker: Two, it's the second to last sequence in the show.

Speaker: Three, it's a moment of great dramatic realization or revelation.

Speaker: Four, it's the energetic summit of the evening to which the entire show had been leading.

Speaker: And five, it's a song that could, with minor adjustments, be performed out of context by recording and cabaret artists.

Speaker: So I have down what I think I'd rather be me covers of those.

Speaker: I've got three that I think it covers, but I would be so interested to know what you guys think.

Speaker: I think probably like one, three and five.

Speaker: So, show-stopping showcase for the star, moment of great dramatic realisation or revelation, and then a cabaret song, or a recording of a cabaret song.

Speaker: Yeah, I think I'd Rather Be Me could stand on its own without being in context of the show.

Speaker: It would still make a lot of sense if it was performed at 54 Below as a standalone musical song and it still gets the same message across without directly referring to things that have happened in the show.

Speaker: Yeah, completely.

Speaker: I'm not sure if it's the second to last song, but it's pretty close to it, if not.

Speaker: I think it is one of the... I'm sure it's the second to last number in the show.

Speaker: And I think, for me, it is the entire climax of the point of Mean Girls.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: The building of the structure and then the rejection of it.

Speaker: And that's what they all do at the end.

Speaker: They all reject it and they all become friends.

Speaker: I think that's a really nice change from the original as well, because I think in the original, although it's kind of iconic when Janice is like...

Speaker: oh yeah, you know my friend Katie, we gave her, we gave, we ruined Regina George's life.

Speaker: We gave her a foot cream instead of a foot.

Speaker: And she goes on that monologue about how, yep, we've done all this stuff to Regina and it's just like a great big F you to Regina.

Speaker: And then kind of everybody is like cheering Janice.

Speaker: That for me, even though I love that scene, that is kind of like, well, you know, actually this whole time Janice has also been a mean girl and has been a mean girl this whole time.

Speaker: And at the end is reveling in that rather than rejecting it.

Speaker: Like at the end of it is Janice kind of going, you know what?

Speaker: I'll just be mean as well, rather than going, why don't we just dismantle this whole system?

Speaker: And then nobody gets upset.

Speaker: Like that's, I think is a really great change.

Speaker: Yeah, I completely agree.

Speaker: And what's interesting is it essentially replaces that monologue that you were talking about.

Speaker: And the bit where she says, I guess I've just got a big fat lesbian crush on you.

Speaker: Which I think is such a good change.

Speaker: I think it's such a good change because obviously that is an iconic moment and we all love quoting it.

Speaker: But as you say, it's more in tune with her character arc that actually she reflects on her behaviour and then she rejects it and leads the others to as well.

Speaker: But also...

Speaker: I quite like that she doesn't like weaponize the homophobia.

Speaker: Obviously, like, I don't think they ever specifically say in the original film whether Janice is or isn't a lesbian.

Speaker: No, it's hinted at that she's straight.

Speaker: Yes, because she gets with Kevin at the end of the... Yeah, which is always a madness.

Speaker: so strange but she's like obviously a queer coded character but i quite like that she chooses in the musical to not weaponize that homophobia that's pitted towards her and actually she just completely dismisses it and she's like and then obviously it kind of gives it less power and to be honest she just has something that's much more interesting to say

Speaker: So this is kind of my time where I'm just going to absolutely go ham on the movie.

Speaker: What I liked about it, what I didn't like about it.

Speaker: Feel free, you guys, to chime in.

Speaker: So firstly, just starting off with what Tina Fey said about why she thought about bringing it into...

Speaker: The theatres, movie theatres that is.

Speaker: So when asked why she decided to bring the Sage production to the screen, she said that there was more joy to be had as the Broadway production of Mean Girls only closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker: She felt that there was much more that Mean Girls had to give and obviously a lot of audiences hadn't seen it.

Speaker: It had a respectable run obviously before it was shut down like prematurely but

Speaker: That could have gone on for a long time, I think, if it hadn't have been for COVID.

Speaker: So it is kind of bringing it to a new audience almost.

Speaker: Right, on to casting, which I think...

Speaker: is quite controversial in some ways.

Speaker: So when asked about casting, Faye said she knew from the get-go that they wanted Renee Rapp for Regina.

Speaker: So Renee previously had taken over from Taylor Louderman, who originated Regina on Broadway.

Speaker: And Renee Rapp was still playing Regina when the show closed in 2020.

Speaker: I think, personally, I think it was a great choice, but also it was just great for what they did with the movie version.

Speaker: I think they kind of pandered a lot of the music to Renee Rapp's song style and voice type.

Speaker: So I just think it was a great choice.

Speaker: I think they steered clear.

Speaker: I'll go into this a little bit later, but I think they steered clear of like traditional musical theatre with the film.

Speaker: And Taylor Louderman, who was a brilliant Regina when it opened, but she is very much more typical musical theatre lead female.

Speaker: Renee Ratt's more of a pop singer, isn't she?

Speaker: Yeah, yeah.

Speaker: And I think that's what they were going for.

Speaker: So I do think she was the right choice for that, for what they wanted to do with it.

Speaker: So Angauri Rice, this caused quite a stir because although I can see why they did it, and also side note, as soon as I saw Angauri Rice on the screen, I went, oh my God, she really looks like...

Speaker: pam from the office like that was my first thought when i seen her yes absolutely 100 completely agree and i can't not see her without seeing pam it's really yeah and then the camera turned around and jenna fisher who plays pam from the office was playing katie's mom and i was like a plus for the casting department that was great that was my first thought um so

Speaker: She was cast, but she's not the best singer, I will say.

Speaker: I wasn't quite thrilled with a lot of things being lowered, some things being cut all together.

Speaker: It just annoys me in musical theatre and in musical films where they're like, ooh, let's not cast someone who's singing.

Speaker: like especially when it's such a singing heavy show it just yeah but nothing against angiri rice like i love her but i'm just like why don't give it to a musical yeah and also because that like look renee rap like no she's like a bona fide star yeah that's so cool why not give that chance to a musical like a musical theater queen is all i'm gonna say but love angiri rice like i'm giving her

Speaker: I can see why they cast... Because she has such a great look for the character.

Speaker: And I think... Especially for KD being like... You know, sort of homeschooled KD.

Speaker: She was really, really good for that.

Speaker: But yeah, the singing just... It threw me off a little bit.

Speaker: Because so many songs were lowered to suit her voice type.

Speaker: And then also...

Speaker: Stupid with Love, which is a great song, but it's very monotone to kind of keep up with her pace and her vocal abilities because she can't reach high.

Speaker: They've lowered it all and it does just become this kind of monotone, slow, like droney song, really, which is a shame.

Speaker: And then obviously the viral.

Speaker: Did you see the section of her in Revenge Party that was lowered?

Speaker: So that went viral because the original is, I'm not going to belt it out now, but it's something like, no, no, I can't even watch when she touches his hair and I watched a snake eat a cow.

Speaker: It goes right up there, like belting.

Speaker: And for the movie, it's, I can't even watch when she touches his hair and I watched a snake eat a cow.

Speaker: Like, the reason why composers write things in a, like, the flow will be more reversed than this, but there is a reason why they write it in certain keys because they want,

Speaker: certain words to be enunciated they want certain words to have a certain texture like there is a specific reason for that and it kind of annoys me when things like whole songs are lowered like I obviously understand there's like choice you know sometimes people will choose to do things up or down you know I think there can be flexibility I'm not saying you have to sing it as it was written but like

Speaker: putting it into different keys, like crazy to me.

Speaker: I just think that- It's kind of like, it's a bit like having a script and then just changing the words and being like, it's cause I don't want to, I can't say those words.

Speaker: I don't know why I couldn't say those words.

Speaker: But it's just, it's a bit bizarre.

Speaker: And also it's just, it's a bit of a cop-out because you're right, like the person who wrote the music has spent all that time being like, this is where the melody's gonna go.

Speaker: And then to hear that like, it's been changed.

Speaker: I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure they probably had like input in like changing it, but it is just a bit like,

Speaker: I don't know, it's a bit like changing... I'm trying to think of, like... It's a bit like hearing, like, memory from Cats.

Speaker: I mean, not that it's one of my favourite songs.

Speaker: And then, like, hearing, like, a really, like, naff version of it.

Speaker: Like, if you know how the song goes and you hear, like, a weird version, you're like, what?

Speaker: Also, I didn't love...

Speaker: I don't know whether this is Angauri or whether this is more of a book thing or if she was directed this way, but I felt like in the 2004 film, the switch...

Speaker: from KD to homeschool KD to plastic KD, is so subtle and happens really slowly.

Speaker: And she doesn't even realise it's happening, I think.

Speaker: And it just kind of becomes part of her.

Speaker: Whereas in the film version, it felt very much like a snap had happened and that KD was actively... The scene where she turns around and is like...

Speaker: you can't sit with us and I just it felt really out of character for me I think yes Katie becomes a plastic but I think she becomes like unknowingly and like kind of unwittingly becomes a plastic it's not like a snap change and I didn't really love the playing of that um I don't think it suited her very well to be honest but I don't know whether I was just comparing it to Lindsay Lohan

Speaker: I was going to say, I think because Lindsay Lohan was so iconic in that role.

Speaker: I mean, Lindsay Lohan back in the day was an icon.

Speaker: The it girl.

Speaker: The movie that she did.

Speaker: She still is to me.

Speaker: She still is to me.

Speaker: But I mean, like when she was in her heyday, I mean, like when she did like so many teen movies, she was so well cast as that part.

Speaker: And I think she very, very beautifully transitioned from like,

Speaker: Katie into the plastic without it and as you said like very seamlessly like it just like all of a sudden you're like oh shit yeah now she's like a plastic which has a bigger impact rather than someone who's like and now I'm gonna be a bitch you know because that just doesn't happen because I

Speaker: I think that's the power of Lindsay Lohan is she, when you look at archetypal casting, she is believable as both a wallflower and as a mean girl, as a queen.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Which is crazy.

Speaker: And I think there's, I think maybe I've made this up, but I'm sure Rachel McAdams actually auditioned for the role of Katie.

Speaker: And they were like, babes.

Speaker: Lindsay Lohan originally wanted to be Regina, but...

Speaker: Oh, that's maybe it.

Speaker: I think I'm sure, can you look up Rachel McAdams as well?

Speaker: I'm sure in my head, but maybe I have made that up.

Speaker: She had initially come to read for Katie, amongst other names like Kristen Stewart, Mae Whitman, and Michelle...

Speaker: Oh, Mae Whitman would have been a good Katie, actually.

Speaker: That's quite good casting.

Speaker: I could see that.

Speaker: So I was right.

Speaker: So I'm sure because I remember reading that, that they almost swapped.

Speaker: But I think that's so interesting that Rachel McAdams... And vice versa.

Speaker: Yeah, and vice versa.

Speaker: Because Rachel McAdams, maybe it is because I've been influenced by probably the first role I ever saw her in, I think probably was Mean Girls because it came out when I saw it.

Speaker: But...

Speaker: she has now morphed into as she's gotten older much softer i think well she she did note the notebook the same year so and that was madness yeah movie and she's so different in that yeah she's yeah i actually i almost didn't put the two together when i because i think i watched the me i watched mean girls like obviously when i was six as well

Speaker: like years ago and then I wasn't allowed to watch The Notebook until I was slightly older so I watched it when I was like I don't know like 14, 15 and I remember being like I really recognise that actress but I don't know why and then when I realised it was the same I was like are you kidding me?

Speaker: It was just she's such a talented actress in the way that she can be like a chameleon.

Speaker: Yeah she's great.

Speaker: I also wasn't massively thrilled with Avantika, who plays Karen.

Speaker: I thought she was good.

Speaker: I think she was playing more of a stage version, which was bugging me a little bit.

Speaker: It kind of almost had that... I don't know.

Speaker: nobody is that stupid.

Speaker: Do you know what I mean?

Speaker: Have you ever had that moment where it's kind of like what happened to Joey and Friends where he starts off as, you know, this kind of like fun, like believable, where it gets to the point like where at the end, this really bugs me at the end of Friends where Joey's trying to learn French and they're saying like, je m'appelle.

Speaker: And he's like, weep-o-poo.

Speaker: Like, no, you don't believe that that's what you said.

Speaker: Like that, it's not, you know, nobody is that stupid.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: The more interesting thing about Joey is that he is naive.

Speaker: He's not stupid.

Speaker: In the first original series, he's super kind.

Speaker: He's really kind of... And it's his naivety.

Speaker: And then they transitioned that to stupidness.

Speaker: And then that was just annoying.

Speaker: Also, him and Monica were meant to get together.

Speaker: Yeah, I read that.

Speaker: It's very strange.

Speaker: Because he is insanely hot in that first season of Friends.

Speaker: Specifically the first season.

Speaker: unbelievably attractive Matt LeBlanc and so is Courtney Cox as Monica Geller and I'm really in that first season you can totally see why they would be paired I think yeah but you know what I love is there's a bit where they have a cameo moment where the guy where you know he goes for that twin audition

Speaker: where he like, he goes to like give blood and then he meets someone who like looks like him and he's like, oh no, no, sorry, this is it.

Speaker: He goes to give blood, but they're like, you can't give blood because you're not a twin.

Speaker: Like it's part of a twin experiment.

Speaker: So he was like, right, he finds one who looks like me.

Speaker: He then goes to an audition, meets this guy who looks like him.

Speaker: Apparently that guy who's the camp, who plays that role, it was supposed to be Joey.

Speaker: he was yeah which I love so he was he was literally number two Joey who's supposed to be cast in Friends but then obviously Matt LeBlanc got it and it's I really love that because it was like they gave him a chance to be Joey but obviously like as his twin where he like comes in like oh you're doing but it's just I don't know I love that

Speaker: I was like, oh no, you want me to come in?

Speaker: No.

Speaker: I also think, maybe I've made this up as well, but I'm sure it's true, that Monica, that Courtney Cox originally auditioned for Rachel.

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: Yeah, Rachel auditioned for Monica, yeah.

Speaker: Yeah, I think that probably happens a lot.

Speaker: so when making the movie I think it was pretty clear they wanted to appeal to the younger generation the whole movie is sort of centred around social media and incorporates lots of pop culture references and sayings that like things that you would find on Twitter which I think is quite funny like you know this Gen Z speak and I think they did a great job at translating it over I just think some of it is quite cringy

Speaker: the the tiktoks and things and montages that they do and the montages i think yeah yes absolutely include social media in it because that is such a big thing especially for like bullying and teenagers nowadays like that is obviously such a huge thing and i think having the mean girls with that in it really like it it does lend itself well however i think that the the way it was done was a little bit

Speaker: cheap um I wasn't the biggest fan of that um and I was saying before it's almost like this is like middle-aged people going yes this is what teenagers will find cool I always think that whenever you see this is slightly unrelated but you know whenever you ever you watch a tv show

Speaker: And they don't do it so much now, but they used to a couple of years ago where characters are texting and they have the text up on screen and they have them texting in tech speak.

Speaker: And you're like, no one texts that.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Literally no one texts like,

Speaker: gd2 wu2 there's that hillary there's that hillary mcduff movie where she does that like laughing out loud do you know what i mean where she's like what's the one with her and that guy was like lol laughing out loud and it's just so cringe cinderella story yeah oh what a great movie like they probably did tech speak like that in that time because it was kind of new and

Speaker: But when you're watching it from something from two years ago, I'm like, no.

Speaker: Yeah, no one talks like that.

Speaker: Sorry, I'm really giggling at the way you called it Hilary Macduff.

Speaker: Oh my god, sorry.

Speaker: Like a little Shakespeare.

Speaker: Macduff.

Speaker: Sorry.

Speaker: Yeah, so I think it was clear that they tried to kind of shift it into this pop genre and show it to a new audience, which I think is why they were a little bit naughty and didn't put any of the music in the trailer.

Speaker: Because I think knowing it was a musical would have deterred a lot of people from going to see it.

Speaker: and they were kind of set on, but we've made it cool.

Speaker: So we're going to surprise you with the musical, but you're going to like it because it's cool.

Speaker: And they, they'd cut out quite a lot of the songs that were kind of traditional cheesy musical theater songs, which unfortunately were Stop, which is one of Damien's solos.

Speaker: Where Do You Belong, which is another one of Damien's solos.

Speaker: They are very like,

Speaker: where where do you belong like you know tits and teeth and like kick lines they are very and it just wouldn't have it wouldn't have been translated well for what they wanted to do with the film i don't think um and also the rest of meet the plastics which is my favorite so they obviously had regina george's opening in the film but then they didn't have the kind of yes regina no regina and then when karen's like my name is karen

Speaker: I love that part and that was all cut because that is very as well like that is cheesy it's a complicated thing though where I kind of feel like you've written a musical and then you're almost embarrassed that it's a musical so you've made when you've gone to make the movie adaption of the musical you've then made it something different which I can understand it's like what works for stage is not always going to work for screen but like it does feel like a bit fundamentally like why do you hate the show that you've written yeah yeah like

Speaker: Um, so the overall reception was quite mixed.

Speaker: But it's done really well.

Speaker: It's actually done really well in the box office.

Speaker: And people have... I think it stands on its own two feet as, look, we are not trying to win any Oscars.

Speaker: This is just fun.

Speaker: And I also think some of the comments that were just like, yeah, but it wasn't the original.

Speaker: And it's kind of like, well, if it was the original, they wouldn't need to make a new one.

Speaker: Like, it's... You know what I mean?

Speaker: I don't think...

Speaker: you know, because there was so much about, well, Regina George wouldn't, like, there's a scene where Regina's wearing, like, green cargo pants, like, green neon pants or something, and, like, a black mesh top, and it's like, well, Regina wouldn't wear that, and it's like, okay, 2004.

Speaker: She wouldn't wear it in 2004, yeah.

Speaker: Yeah, like, because that wasn't fashion.

Speaker: The whole point of Regina George is that she is the height of fashion,

Speaker: If somebody now in 2024 was coming into school wearing a tartan skirt and kitten heels, they'd be absolutely ripped to shreds.

Speaker: It wouldn't be like, you know, it's not in fashion, so that character wouldn't wear it.

Speaker: I think it was fine.

Speaker: People were just picking at it and being like, oh, Regina George wouldn't be seen dead in green.

Speaker: And it's like, okay.

Speaker: She's not Michelle Visage.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Now this next bit is very exciting because we have the chance to do our very own fantasy casting using our brand new Megamix casting.

Speaker: So without further ado, who do we have today, Rosa?

Speaker: So we will be casting the characters of Mean Girls the Musical from the classic teen cult movie, Clueless.

Speaker: Oh, love.

Speaker: I mean, it's pretty obvious who's going to be Regina, though.

Speaker: Oh yeah.

Speaker: So we need a Katie, a Damien, a Janice, Regina, Karen, Gretchen, Aaron, Ms.

Speaker: Norbury, Mrs. George and Kevin.

Speaker: And I think we can do it.

Speaker: Having a look at the cast, I think it's possible.

Speaker: So Alicia is obviously going to be Regina, right?

Speaker: Although Cher Horowitz is not a mean girl.

Speaker: I will, I will defend her.

Speaker: her till uh she's not a mean girl but i think she could play one i think she played yeah lisa silverstone could definitely play it but yeah you are right sher horowitz is a little naive at times and can be a little bit not considerate of other people's feelings but she's not a mean girl no she's a virgin who can't drive

Speaker: um i'm definitely gonna put paul rudd um as josh in the running for aaron yeah absolutely i am gonna put forward britney murphy for katie oh that's great because she's got the two-tone she's got the nice and the nasty which is the exact same thing as ty her character goes through yeah i think that that would be a yeah very similar characters actually

Speaker: do you remember Amber so it's Elisa Donovan who plays her but Amber is the one who's kind of nasty yes yeah and then Cher is always clapping back about her like nose job and things like that Karen I actually think yeah I was gonna say I think she would be a great Karen Nicole Bilderback maybe as Gretchen she plays Summer oh yes okay yeah great that's a great Gretchen

Speaker: um Justin Walker as Damien I'd say yeah the guy who plays Christian oh yeah oh my god oh bless sweet Christian and I think that Wallace Shawn should play the head um should play the uh yeah yeah yeah definitely 100% oh Twink Kaplan

Speaker: Miss Norbury, the one who plays Miss Geist.

Speaker: Yeah, perfect.

Speaker: Okay, so it's building up pretty nicely.

Speaker: We just need a Janice, a Mrs. George, and a Kevin.

Speaker: I think that Stacey Dash should be Janice.

Speaker: Stacey?

Speaker: Oh, that's interesting, actually, because where does Stacey Dash fit in?

Speaker: She has a quality about her.

Speaker: She's a crazy evangelical Christian now.

Speaker: Yeah, I know.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Is she?

Speaker: Really homophobic, yeah.

Speaker: But do I think of her as a Janice?

Speaker: I could see Brittany Murphy doing a Janice, but... I may be thinking, but I'm not sure.

Speaker: I want her the duality of Brittany Murphy.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Ooh, Janice is hard.

Speaker: Maybe...

Speaker: Maybe Stacey Dash is a Gretchen.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: And Elisa Donovan, who plays Amber, is the Janice.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: Yes.

Speaker: I think that works better.

Speaker: And then Brecken Mayer, who plays Travis, I think he'd be a good Kevin G. Oh my god, he's so sweet.

Speaker: Yeah.

Speaker: yeah that's so good I love him in that film but you know who also I think would be a kind of funny Kevin is Donald Faison who obviously went on he plays um uh Murray who's Dion's partner Stacey Dash's partner oh yeah but he's quite goofy as well he would be quite a funny Kevin yeah I think we've done really well guys I'm gonna run you through our cast of Mean Girls the Musical uh from characters from Clueless so we have Katie

Speaker: being played by Brittany Murphy, who played Ty and Clueless.

Speaker: We have Damien, being played by Justin Walker, who was Christian.

Speaker: Janice, Elisa Donovan, who played Amber.

Speaker: Regina, Alicia Silverstone, who played Cher.

Speaker: Karen, who will be played by Stacey Dash, who played Dion.

Speaker: Gretchen is going to be Nicole Bilderback, who played Summer.

Speaker: Aaron, beautiful Paul Rudd, I love you so much, who played Josh.

Speaker: Ms Norbury is going to be played by Twink Kaplan, who plays Ms Geist.

Speaker: Kevin is going to be Donald Faison, who played Murray.

Speaker: And Mr Duvall is going to be played by the amazing Wallace Shawn, who I just always think of the Princess Bride, who played Mr Hall.

Speaker: See, he just reminds me of the dinosaur.

Speaker: Yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely.

Speaker: All right.

Speaker: Thank you so much, everyone, for joining us through this odyssey of Mean Girls, going from the 2004 film to the Broadway musical to the now musical movie.

Speaker: It's been so good.

Speaker: I think I've absolutely loved highlights for me from this episode.

Speaker: Definitely Casey's clear love affair with Renee Rapp.

Speaker: I love getting to talk about the 1975 queue because it makes me so angry and that week that it was happening on Twitter I just wanted to talk about it with everyone and I also love any time that we can talk about Clueless because it's just one of my favourite movies in the entire world.

Speaker: Just a reminder as well that you can rate and review us wherever you listen, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Speaker: Every little review helps as long as it's five stars and we look forward to catching up with you soon.

Speaker: And just like that we've been Rather Be

Speaker: Me!

Speaker: Bye!