On January 12th, 2024, Mean Girls the Musical was released and directed by Arturo Perez Jr. The original Mean Girls was released in 2004 as a comedy explaining the cliques and the difficulties of gaining popularity in high school.
The new Mean Girls cast includes Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Avantika as Karen Shetty, Bebe Wood as Gretchen Wieners, and Angourie Rice as Cady Heron portraying the Plastics. This movie has a twist and was a musical. Mean Girls became a broadway musical in 2017 and they decided to bring it to life in 2024.
The movie has been receiving a lot of backlash on social media concerning the actresses portraying the iconic characters. A lot of people did not approve of Angourie Rice playing Cady Heron because she was not a theater kid like the other actors. It also received backlash on the fashion and a lot of people said it didn’t encapsulate the 2000’s look.
Freshman Hailee Riggeal saw the film three times and enjoyed it. “I really liked the movie, but I think the musical aspect of the film took away some of the iconic moments in the original Mean Girls. As for actors, I think they chose the perfect people to portray them.” Hailee had many favorite characters including Regina, Gretchen, and Janis.
Overall the movie became popular very fast and depending on the viewer got some very different feedback.