It’s different today, and any meanness can be fueled by
social media and even a “burn book.” This phenomenon is displayed in the
rousing musical Mean Girls currently playing at Toby’s, the Dinner
Theatre of Columbia.
Though it’s a challenge for me to relate to the modern-day
high school culture, I enjoyed the musical Mean Girls. Helen Hayes Award winner Mark Minnick
directed the talented cast through a well-staged, high-energy production with
superb attention to details. David Singleton choreographed the dance-heavy
musical with precision and creativity mimicking the chaos of high school vitality.
The vocals by the performers as well as the high-voltage dancing executed by
the entire cast are stellar contributing to a polished production.
Mean Girls, based
on the 2004 film of the same name, entertains on all fronts. The artistic cast
and the six-piece orchestra directed by Ross Scott Rawlings deliver the music
by Jeff Richmond, the clever lyrics by Nell Benjamin, and a book
by Tina Fey of TV fame who also wrote the film.
Richmond’s and Benjamin’s music, while not spectacular,
works well in bringing the story along. Several songs are notable and spread
throughout the cast so that all the leads have a turn. The lyrics feature a
decent degree of wit, but Fey’s droll and biting dialogue carries the day.
Conveyed in a contemporary universe where social media can
make or break someone, the plot is punchy and at times, preachy. But it is
melded into a hilarious tale focusing on teenagers’ social angst and its
related mission to strive for popularity seemingly at all costs.
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| Tobi Baisburd as Janis and Alan Gutierrez-Urista as Damian |
The central character Cady Heron (played spectacularly by
Rachel Cahoon) is invited into The Plastics—a three-girl clique of high
schoolers. She is there to not only spy
on the group as directed by her new friend Janis Sarkisian (Tobi Baisburd) who
has vengeance on her mind towards the “queen bee” Regina George (MaryKate
Brouillet), but also to boost her social status and desirability. As one of the
lead characters Damian Hubbard (Alan Gutierrez-Urista) aptly put it, The
Plastics are called that because “they are shiny, fake and hard.” How that relationship works out for all
concerned forms the crux of the story.
Cady had moved to a Chicago suburb from Kenya where her
biologist parents had home schooled her. Naïve Cady realizes that she was not
even noticed let alone accepted by the kids at North Shore High School until
Janis and Damian Hubbard befriend her. This duo also act as the show’s
narrators breaking the 4th wall.
In the school cafeteria they point out to Cady the school’s
eclectic cliques—jocks, nerds, sex maniacs, freaks among others—and then
ultimately describe The Plastics—Regina George (MaryKate Brouillet), the
leader; Gretchen Wieners (Emily Flack), the second in command; and Karen Smith
(Alexis Krey Bedore), not the smartest phone in the pocket.
Janis had an unpleasant history with Regina, and as a means
to revenge, she encouraged Cady to accept The Plastics’ invitation to sit with
them for a week in the cafeteria in order to spy on them and feed Janis with
information she can use against Regina.
As the members of The Plastics revealed their own individual
personalities and character, Cady using cattiness and mean tricks maneuvered to
eventually oust Regina as the number one Plastic and emerge as a popular force
in the school.
Along the way, she became smitten with a talented and good-looking math student Aaron Samuels (Payton O’Keefe) who liked the more innocent version of Cady as opposed to what she later became.
The Plastics had compiled a “burn book” whereby photos of
classmates were pasted in with nasty and mean comments included. Totally mean.
The revelation of this book provides the turning point in the plot and the road
to redemption and forgiveness was paved.
As Cady, Rachel Cahoon is convincing as the once naïve
student who rose to the top of the social ladder and ultimately recognizing
that hurting people was not the proper means to reach that goal. She is an
exceptional math student and had resisted until the end to be part of the
Mathletes math team. She had been warned by The Plastics that if she joined
such a group, she would experience “social suicide.” Ms. Cahoon’s mezzo-soprano
vocals shine in such numbers as “Stupid with Love,” “Apex Predator” and “More
is Better.”
Tobi Baisburd as Janis possesses fine acting skills in
portraying her complex character. Janis’ relationship with Regina was once
friendly until the latter spread rumors that Janice was a lesbian forcing her
to drop out of school at one point. Recognizing the ills of The Plastics, she
tried to steer Cady away from the group’s influence.
"David Singleton choreographed the dance-heavy musical with precision and creativity mimicking the chaos of high school vitality."
Ms. Baisburd has an amazingly powerful voice, which is
evident in several group numbers including “Apex Predator,” “Revenge Party” and
the superbly moving “I’d Rather Be Me.”
MaryKate Brouillet is adept in portraying The Plastics’
leader Regina George. Wealthy with a “cool mom” (Valerie Adams Rigsbee), Regina’s
cruelty and meanness is evident throughout, and an unlikely and near fatal
encounter with a school bus altered her outlook for the better.
As she engaged in reconciliation with Cady, Regina pointed
out that she was “dead” for 15 seconds and offered her spoiler alert that
heaven was a large hotel in Miami.
Ms. Brouillet sings
well as she always does in “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn.”
Emily Flack plays the insecure second-in-command Gretchen as
a member of The Plastics. Displaying nervous charm and quick wit, she divulges
Regina’s secrets to help deal with her insecurity. Ms. Flack showcases her lovely voice in one
of the few solos in the show, the touching “What’s Wrong with Me?”
In a comedic role Alexis
Krey-Bedore performs exceptionally as the third member of The Plastics, Karen
Smith. Essentially vapid and dumb, Karen is loveable and easily manipulated.
Ms. Krey-Bedore handles the comedic role with impeccable timing and displays
her fine vocals in “Sexy.”
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| Rachel Cahoon as Cady and Payton O'Keefe as Aaron |
My favorite character of all is fierce and sassy Damian, who
is played brilliantly by Alan Gutierrez-Urista, making his debut at Toby’s.
Damian is the only character in the show who seems totally comfortable in his
own skin and doesn’t need to pretend to be anybody else. This is both
refreshing and surprising that an openly gay high school student is not the
target of bullies and seems so together.
Mr. Gutierrez-Urista is blessed to have the lion’s share of
the funny quips and carries the comedic role to perfection. He is also a
splendid vocalist “Where Do You Belong?” “Revenge Party” and an accomplished
dancer in the rousing opening production number of the second act “Mean”.
Other notable members of the cast include Otega Okurume as
Mr. Duvall; Nico Thompson as Kevin G and who is also in the Ensemble; and
Brandon Bedore, who ably steps into a variety of roles throughout. The
remainder of the stellar Ensemble who sing and dance up a storm are JC Bost,
Joey Ellinghaus, Jaylen Fontaine, Amanda Kaplan Landstrom, Kayla Marks, Katelyn
O’Connor, Anna Phillips-Brown, Gab Ryan, and Bryan Stopak.
David Singleton’s choreography is one of the show’s best
features conforming to the in-the-round stage at Toby’s. The wonderful dancers bring this chorography
to life especially in such numbers as “Sexy,” “Revenge Party,” “Whose House Is This?”
and the finale “I See Stars.”
The use of images on the video screens around the theater
depict high school scenes like lockers and classrooms, and when equations from
a Calculus class appeared, I almost went into cardiac arrest from the memory trauma it
produced. Many cool props and set pieces are used to enhance the optics.
Janine Sunday does a fabulous job with a wide array of
costumes befitting modern-day high schoolers. Unexpected, to me at least, is a
New York Islanders jersey worn by Payton O’Keefe as Aaron Samuels.
And, of course, there were wigs for the female students with
Jayson Kueberth doing a fine job in designing them. A full listing of the Production Staff and Orchestra is shown below.
This fast-paced, well-directed production of Mean
Girls featuring an extremely talented cast, several of whom are new to
Toby’s audiences, exceptional choreography and singing performances makes this
a must-see experience and will keep you in the pink. The ultimate message of being kind to one another no
matter what era you’re from hits the mark.
And the marvelous buffet will put you in the right mood. Don’t
skip Regina's BBQ ribs!
Running time. Two hours and 40 minutes with an intermission.
Mean Girls plays through August 23 at Toby’s the
Dinner Theatre, 4900 Symphony Woods Rd., Columbia, MD 21044. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box
office at 410-730-8311or visiting here.
Photos: Jeri Tidwell Photography
The menu is shown here.
Specialty Drink: The Burn Book
Next up: Summer: The Donna Summer Musical August 28
to November 1
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