I also saw, with great anticipation, the new MEAN GIRLS musical, which was nominated for 12 Tony Awards and I believe came away with nothing or next to nothing. And it pains me to say this because I love Tina Fey, but how did they even get all those nominations?
At this point I should post a disclaimer -- young women in the audience were orgasmic over every mediocre song and moment. If you were just watching the audience and not the show you'd think it was the biggest hit in the history of Broadway. But especially when compared with a musical that had some depth, way better music and songs, and storytelling that depended on emotion and not glitzy video screens and razzle dazzle, it paled.
And both were adapted from movies.
The MEAN GIRL movie is a classic. So sharp, so funny, so deliciously twisted. Tina Fey's screenplay is comedy gold. Very little of that brilliance made it to the footlights.
Instead we had forgettable songs, one after the other after the other. They didn't move the story forward. They just expressed the moment at hand. And there were so many there was very little time for Tiina Fey's book. So the book essentially consisted of twelve of the best one-liners from the movie. A number of reviewers pointed out the same thing.
So why weren't some songs cut (it was a long show)? Well, the composer was Tina's husband. Anyone who's been in a marriage suddenly understands.
Was the show bad? No. It had its moments and even its songs ("Stop" was wonderful). The visuals were dazzling and the energetic young cast danced their guts out. It's just that... well, I had higher expectations. I love Tina Fey and I love MEAN GIRLS -- what could go wrong?
Adding songs to a non-musical narrative (i.e. a movie) comes with a risk. Story turns need to be abbreviated, characters need to be less complex -- something has to go to allow for all the singing and production numbers. And all that is fine if the music adds another layer. But in this case it didn't. And the lyrics were not nearly as clever as Tina Fey's dialogue (understandably a tall order for any lyricist). So the end result just feels like another Broadway cash grab that redresses an existing franchise to draw in paying customers. Disney has done this with everything they've made except PERRI, THE FLYING SQUIRREL.
I suspect MEAN GIRLS will run longer than THE BAND'S VISIT despite losing all the Tony's to it. And if you're in the target age group, save your allowance (for months) and fly your freak flag. But for my money this was not Tina Fey's best work... although I will be first in line to see whatever she comes up with next.
from By Ken Levine
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