Cady Heron, played by East sophomore Reina Ryan, stood at the top of the lift in front of the other girls. She turned around, looked up at the ceiling, and without another thought, she fell back into the hands of her cast mates. Not one of them hesitated before they caught her.
“Mean Girls” was originally a movie written and produced by Tina Fey back in April 2004. Fourteen years later, the musical version came out and was directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. The story follows Cady Heron, a teenage girl who moves to America after living her whole life in Africa. Heron is then thrown into the complex world of high school with clashing cliques, hurtful gossip, and discovering herself while trying to fit into the high school world.
At the end of March, East theater presented their rendition of the famous Broadway musical, “Mean Girls.” East theater had been preparing for this show for months, with the production process starting before Thanksgiving break. The musical auditions involved interested students coming into the choir room and performing a song from the show. Then the potential cast received a dance callback to the stage, which consisted of performing the same 30-second dance. After the initial audition and dance call, some students were called back to audition for specific roles.
Mean Girls was the third and final production that the East theater showcased during the 2024-25 school year. Along with “Mean Girls”, the East theater program also performed “Twelve Angry Jurors,” the retitled “Twelve Angry Men,” and “Frozen Jr.”
According to East teacher and theater director, Casey Johnson, “Mean Girls” pushed the cast and crew in ways that most of them were not used to but were more than capable of.
“Picking shows is a lot about what highlights the skills of our students but also what challenges them,” Johnson told Spark.
Johnson noted that is prevalent in the scene where the cast executes a tap dancing routine. With the choreography done by Peyton Leonard and Kyle Rosa, choreographers from dance studios in Cincinnati, the tap dancing scene pushed the cast since the East theater has not done a tap dance in multiple years.
No matter the scene, the stage always had a prop or background of some sort. Most of the props for the plays were made by the East theater crew themselves. When doing shows in theater every prop has to be closely monitored and crafted, whether it is small or barely on stage.
Some of the props, such as the bathroom stall or the projector in the classroom, were only on stage for a few minutes. However, it took hours for the crew to assemble and decorate them, according to Johnson.
Despite the long strenuous hours of tending to the stage, assistant stage manager and East junior, Tommy Hartman, stated that the amount of fulfillment “Mean Girls” has given her is worth it.
“Oh my goodness, it’s probably one of the most fun things I’ve done in a while,” Hartman told Spark.
“Mean Girls” had six large female roles, however the ensemble presence was significant compared to shows East theater has produced in the past. The ensemble played the roles of the students at North Shore High, giving them lots of stage time and requiring the ensemble to be in attendance for most of the rehearsals.
The cast and crew have carried the supporting themes in “Mean Girls” with them even once they have taken off the costumes. Mrs. Norbury, played by East senior Elena Jaeger, stated that the East theater community has been one of her favorite parts of the production.
“People have been so supportive of each other which I just love about theater and the East community,” Jaeger told Spark.
Towards the end of the play, lead Ryan breaks apart her “spring fling queen” crown and tosses it to the people in the play that she has hurt. According to Johnson, that scene carried the most important message of the show.
“She realizes that if you bully the bully, that just makes you a bully,” said Johnson.