Mean Girls musical to transfer to West End in 2021 and be adapted into a film
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Nicholas Ephram Ryan Daniels
(Updated on Jan 11, 2021)
You go, Glen Coco! In what is surely the 'groolest' London theatre news of the year thus far, Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels have announced their intentions for Broadway's Mean Girls musical and it's looking pretty fetch! The Tony Award-nominated production will not only transfer to the West End next year but will also be made into a brand-new musical film!
Get in loser, we're going to the West End.
Mean Girls set to transfer to London's West End in spring 2021
We've all been pushers to see Tina Fey's Mean Girls in the West End. Some people said it could never be done. But that was just a rumour. They said there could never be another Mean Girls movie after the failure of the direct-to-DVD sequel. That was an even worse rumour. Now it seems The Plastics have proven the limit does not exist with the confirmation of a West End transfer and a new film!
Mean Girls returns to the silver screen
The Broadway musical opened back in 2018 and has gained both critical acclaim and a massive following. Tina Fey recently issued a statement, in which she said: "I'm very excited to bring Mean Girls back to the big screen...It's been incredibly gratifying to see how much the movie and the musical have meant to audiences. I've spent 16 years with these characters now. They are my Marvel Universe, and I love them dearly."
Fey will once again write the treatment for the new major motion picture by Paramount Pictures with Lorne Michaels from SNL returning to produce. The news comes after Fey earned a Tony Award nomination for the musical book.
Michaels added: "It has been a joy to work on Mean Girls and to watch it go from film, to musical, and now to musical film. I am very proud that Tina's story and characters continue to resonate with new generations. We are all excited to continue to work with Sonia Friedman and her team as we prepare for London."
Elizabeth Raposo, President of Production for Paramount Pictures, also commented: "We're thrilled to be bringing this iconic property back to the big screen in musical form with our incredible filmmaking team."
I'm not like a regular musical. I'm a cool musical.
According to the producers of the Broadway box-office smash, the show is expected to cross the pond in late Spring 2021 for a highly anticipated West End run. The news comes after the transfer was hinted by Sonia Friedman two years ago and following overwhelming success as the musical continues to break box office records at New York's August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street) and on its US National Tour.
The Mean Girls musical features many of the film's popular quotes that made it so famous ("fugly cow", etc.) and includes such toe-tapping musical numbers as "Revenge Party", "Apex Predator", and "Meet the Plastics" written by Jeff Richmond and featuring lyrics by Nell Benjamin.
It's unclear where Mean Girls' new West End home will be, but given Savoy Theatre's track record of film-to-musical adaptations (Dreamgirls, 9 to 5), it seems like a fairly safe bet.
Mean Girls musical plot
The plot of Mean Girls The Musical remains fundamentally the same but has been updated to reflect the new digital age and the next generation of high schoolers for whom social media forms a large part of their lives.
Cady Heron may come from the wild African savanna, but nothing could have prepared her for the savage jungle of suburban Illinois where The Plastics led by the ruthless Regina George roam free. But when Cady plots to end Regina's reign as Queen Bee of North Shore High, she may just end up getting stung.