The iconic movie, Mean Girls, is the ideal “chick flick” for everyone to enjoy. The legendary phrases and trends from the 2004 film have stuck with the times. It, quite frankly, is one of my favorite movies to sit down and be able to say every word from it. But can it be redone? But, most importantly, as a musical?

     The hit first became a musical back in 2018, earning its way to 12 Tony Award nominations according to Playbill. I have only discovered it became a musical in the last year with scenes of the live production being leaked on the platform, TikTok. With this being said, when the movie was announced that it was a musical, different thoughts ran through my head… mostly confusion. 

     When the new film came out, lots of controversial comments were made online. It especially aggravated theater kids who are passionate about the musical. Starting with the fact that it seemed like a big ad for the makeup brand, E.l.f. Characters would hold up the products, flashing the logo at the camera for a long period of time. People online began to mock them, making it the new joke. 

     But the one that stirred it up the most was the selection of cast. Critics online claimed that Cady Heron (2024 version) who is played by Angourie Rice, basically talked through every song and was not the best fit for the character. I will say that Rice displayed Cady’s awkwardness very well when first coming to the school but didn’t express the true nerd and mean girl side of Cady. It also didn’t seem like the style of singing for the character was picked well. It sounded very boring while more was expected. When I saw who was playing Aaron Samuels, I immediately jumped for joy. Aaron is played by Christopher Briney, who is mostly known for his role as Conrad Fischer in the series The Summer I Turned Pretty. But after watching him play Aaron, I question if he is the right fit. Aaron is supposed to be a dumb attractive jock, but Briney gave the character too much emotion.

     However, the actors who played Gretchen and Karen were perfectly spot on. Every word that Gretchen, played by Bebe Wood, said sounded exactly like the original actor, Lacey Chabert. The iconic phrase “That’s so fetch” was perfectly portrayed and made my heart so happy. Along with that, Karen, played by Avantika Vandanapu, showed an amazing performance of how to be a “dumb blonde” without being blonde. 

     But we can’t forget about the queen herself, Renee Rapp who plays Regina George. Rapp got a good introduction to the character, considering she played Regina on Broadway herself, making this movie a piece of cake. Rapp’s vocals throughout the film were insane, and the acting was phenomenal. She kept Regina’s personality but changed up the pink style. Her opening scene singing “Meet the Plastics” has her wearing a black outfit, which is something that would not happen in the OG movie. 

     But with the new actors came the old ones. Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, and Lindsay Lohan made an appearance. Fey and Meadows played their old characters, Ms. Norbury and Principal Duval, while Lohan played the competition judge for the Mathlete finals at the end of the movie. 

     Overall, the movie wasn’t horrible. The way viewers online made it seem was ten times worse than it actually was. The songs were cheesy, but a musical is not one without a cringe song. So if one wants an excuse to dress up in pink, say phrases like “She doesn’t even go here!”, or just feel some nostalgia, go watch the new hit.