“Mean Girls” is a teenage comedy that follows the complexities of the social hierarchy of high school. The cautionary tale surrounds Cady Heron, a teenager who moves from the African savanna to the suburbs of Illinois. Played by Caitie Zilka, Cady is adjusting to becoming the new girl at North Shore High School.
Senior Caitie Zilka feels that Cady is “super bubbly” and “sweet”, which are character traits of her own personality, allowing her to flawlessly transport her character from the script pages to the theatre stage. As she is introduced to the unfamiliar high school world, Zilka believes that Cady is overwhelmed because “she has no idea what this new place is about and she is used to only being around animals, so she finds it hard to navigate with all these people.”
As Cady explores this foreign terrain, she is befriended by the ‘art freaks,’ Janice Ian, and Damian. Played by Julia Mish and Matthew Menendez, the duo takes Cady under their wing and illustrates to her the various cliques that can be found at her new school. Despite being warned by her new friends, desperate to fit in, Cady sits at the table of the stereotypical popular girls, also known as the Plastics. Here we meet the apex predator of the school, Regina George, as portrayed by Laura Gonzalez.
Senior Laura Gonzalez notes that Regina is depicted as “very ruthless, but if we dig a little deeper, we learn that she is so concentrated on tearing everyone down because of her own insecurities.” She feels that she is a fun and interesting character to play. Regardless of their differences, Gonzalez is “channeling her inner Regina energy” to properly personate her character.
We are also introduced to Regina’s loyal followers: the insecure Gretchen Weiners, depicted by Julia Padovono, and the dimwitted blonde, Karen Smith.
Karen Smith is portrayed by junior Hannah Rohrer who was ecstatic to receive her part. Rohrer recalls “jumping up and down” because she was so surprised that she got the role. She feels confident in her ability to play Karen because she has been told that she “resembles Karen in a way.” Rohrer has taken the approach of “just smiling and going for it.”
It is revealed that Janice and Regina have a complicated past. Driven by the tensions created in their childhood, Janice convinces Cady to infiltrate the plastics. Together, Janice, Cady, and Damian plan out ways of sabotaging Regina, to remove her from her throne of power. As Cady continues to entangle herself within the group, she discovers the hardships of societal expectations and slowly succumbs to the stereotypes of high school popularity, becoming the very thing that she swore to destroy.
Throughout this transformative journey of climbing the popularity ladder, she finds herself stupid with love, falling for a jock in her calculus course, Aaron Samuels, played by Jake Janecek. This creates a conflict between Cady and her queen bee Regina because Aaron Samuels is Regina’s ex-boyfriend.
Senior Jake Janecek says that he has loved playing Aaron and fostering relationships with his fellow theatre staff. Janecek feels that he can relate to his character on a personal level, explaining that “they are both nonchalant and approach life with a go with the flow perspective.
In the end, sabotage prevails, Regina loses her boyfriend, status, and subsequently her crown. In a state of pure anger, Regina decides to throw a revenge party and watch the world burn. She reveals a ‘Burn Book’ to the entire school, filled with secrets and insults. This creates a divide between the plastics and the rest of the school. Just as she planned, by releasing the Burn Book, Cady is brought down and realizes the mistakes she has made. She must now mend her broken relationships with Janis, Damian, Aaron, and even Regina.
Mean Girls is a story surrounding friendship, betrayal, loyalty, girl power, and being true to yourself. As Cady becomes more involved with the Plastics, she discovers the downsides of popularity and learns valuable lessons about self acceptance and authenticity. This musical phenomenon proves that you can learn and have fun at the same time.
Performances will be Thursday, February 29, Friday, March 1, and Saturday, March 2 at 7:00 PM.
Tickets will be $10 when purchased in advance at coralsprings.booktix.net and $15 at the door.
