{"id":267676,"date":"2026-04-14T18:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T18:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/267676\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T18:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T18:19:10","slug":"mean-girls-at-la-mirada-deftly-captures-the-female-blackboard-jungle-san-gabriel-valley-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/267676\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Mean Girls\u2019 at La Mirada deftly captures the female blackboard jungle \u2013 San Gabriel Valley Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"

Musicals set in high schools, from \u201cGrease\u201d through \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d and, most recently \u201cThe Outsiders,\u201d traditionally are ruled by the tribal politics and social struggles of adolescent alpha-to-omega males.<\/p>\n

But in Tina Fey\u2019s revved-up \u201cMean Girls,\u201d adapted from the 2004 movie, it\u2019s young women baring sharp fangs and catty cruelties who dominate the territory.<\/p>\n

Now at La Mirada Theatre, after the \u201cMean Girls\u201d opening wink-wink dance homage to \u201cThe Lion King,\u201d we quickly recognize the female blackboard jungle can be as dangerous as the real one.<\/p>\n

While the non-musical, original film was set in a now distant past \u2014 Lindsay Lohan the age-appropriate star \u2014 when face-to-face interactions drove \u201cdid you hear who said what about whom?\u201d plotlines, the 2018 Broadway musical version was adapted to reflect the electronic age.<\/p>\n

\"Adrianna<\/p>\n

Adrianna Rose Lyons (standing back center) with Grace Fluharty, Katie Roche and Sarah-Anne Martinez (center) star in \u201cMean Girls,\u201d on stage at La Mirada Theatre through May 3. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

\"McKenna<\/p>\n

McKenna Michael and Katie Roche (center) star in \u201cMean Girls\u201d at La Mirada Theatre. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Katie Roche, McKenna Michael and Gavin Leahy appear in a scene from \u201cMean Girls\u201d at La Mirada Theatre. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

\"\u201cMean<\/p>\n

\u201cMean Girls\u201d is on stage at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts through May 3. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

\"Gavin<\/p>\n

Gavin Leahy, Katie Roche and McKenna Michael appear in a scene from \u201cMean Girls\u201d at La Mirada Theatre. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, Katie Roche, Sarah-Anne Martinez, Adrianna Rose Lyons and Grace Fluharty star in \u201cMean Girls,\u201d playing at La Mirada Theatre through May 3. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Adrianna Rose Lyons (standing back center) with Grace Fluharty, Katie Roche and Sarah-Anne Martinez (center) star in \u201cMean Girls,\u201d on stage at La Mirada Theatre through May 3. (Photo by Jason Niedle)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Here, altercations happened in real time online as well as on stage. Fey\u2019s sharp, updated scriptwriting even captures a young character\u2019s self-awareness and angst through modern technology metaphor.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I feel like an iPhone without a case,\u201d laments one of the two teen narrators. \u201cI know I\u2019m worth a lot and I have good functions, but I could just shatter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Push forward to 2026 and La Mirada\u2019s production has the flashiest and most compelling use of video projections and graphics framing scene after scene that I have seen on a local, independent stage.<\/p>\n

David Murakami\u2019s ever-changing, gleaming visuals create a dynamic framing for \u201cMean Girls\u2019\u201d incessant and even frantic energy, which choreographer \u2014 and first-time La Mirada director \u2014 Dana Solimando matches at an unflagging pace.<\/p>\n

This is a valuable approach because, truth be told, \u201cMean Girls\u201d stretches on for almost 2 \u00bd hours and audiences need the visceral distraction to keep them occupied.<\/p>\n

The musical\u2019s biggest challenge of all is the music itself.<\/p>\n

Jeff Richmond\u2019s pop tunes are mostly generic, lacking distinguishing hooks, and by the second act they blur to the inner ear as yet another noisy explanation of how this teen feels in this specific moment lands without a lot of musical impact.<\/p>\n

While Nell Benjamin\u2019s lyrics cohere nicely enough to Fey\u2019s book, this isn\u2019t as focused as in stronger her work for \u201cLegally Blonde.\u201d There is a grab-bag approach to themes here touching on a variety of ills including opioid abuse, online bullying and body shaming.<\/p>\n

These well up and then recede as secondary thoughts to the throughline of the girl vs. girl power struggle that plays out at affluent North Shore High School.<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s principal figure is Cady (Katie Roche), homeschooled in Kenya, and a math prodigy hoping to fit in. Janis and Damian (McKenna Michael and Gavin Leahy), defiantly self-absorbed arts nerds \u2014 and the show\u2019s intermittent narrators \u2014 adopt Cady and steer her a path to navigate the pitfalls.<\/p>\n

This mostly means Cady must come to terms with her chief combatant Regina, the school\u2019s Capo di Tutti (Adrianna Rose Lyons). Along with needy sidekick Gretchen (Sarah-Anne Martinez) and self-admitted dim bulb Karen (Grace Fluharty), Regina rules the social swirl with disdainful power. \u201cApex Predator,\u201d one of the show\u2019s more potent songs, lays this out.<\/p>\n

Naturally, there is a love interest, Aaron (Eric Myrick), whom both Cady and Regina tussle over. Beyond these principals, a fulsome cast totaling 25 fills out the usual high school groupings of stoners, jocks, math club bottom feeders and inevitably put-upon teachers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMean Girls\u201d highlights performances and La Mirada have plenty worth noting. While Roche and Lyons are visibly beyond high school age, the evening profits from this equity-caliber, longer r\u00e9sum\u00e9 talent in the leads.<\/p>\n

Roche has a big voice but when the show outfits her with the solo for \u201cStupid With Love,\u201d the song itself doesn\u2019t quite convey her yearning for Aaron as effectively as one might expect. However, her strong singing drives some of the better numbers, like \u201cIt Roars\u201d and \u201cFearless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyons makes for a sleek, blonde pantheress and the actress is at her best slinking above her kingdom of underlings, then flailing to hold her perch.<\/p>\n

Cruelly undone by that unkindest of life realities \u2014 weight gain while trying to shed a pound or two \u2014 Lyons has a fun occasional sparring partner in her mother (Gwen Hollander), the hysteric traces of bloodline upping both characters\u2019 freak-out factors.<\/p>\n

Regina\u2019s partners in crime are two of the show\u2019s strongest presences.<\/p>\n

As Regina\u2019s chief aide de camp Gretchen, Martinez\u2019s inner insecurities are terrifically conveyed in her plaintive, emotional reading of \u201cWhat\u2019s Wrong With Me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fluharty has the unenviable task of conveying clueless Karen, but the actress works a wonder out of timing some marvelously conflicting rhythms. After delivering blunt, often not-so-dumb-at-all lines, Fluharty pauses just long enough to facially register self-recognition at the meanings of what just came out of her mouth.<\/p>\n

La Mirada casts somehow always unveil a high likability factor in the secondary roles. Especially, an ensemble member you just notice and then come to appreciate throughout the show.<\/p>\n

In \u201cMean Girls,\u201d standing above \u2014 quite literally, by a few inches \u2014 is Shailen Patel Braun as Mathlete captain Kevin Gnapoor.<\/p>\n

Braun\u2019s gangling goodness includes skillfully cringy dance moves leading the intentionally nerdy rap number \u201cDo This Thing.\u201d Plus, on opening night his sheer presence continued to amuse and pay off, even when, unintentionally near the end of the show, he awkwardly struggled with getting his left arm through the sleeve of his jacket.<\/p>\n

La Mirada Theatre has had quite the season for itself. First, \u201cPeter Pan Goes Wrong,\u201d with theater potentate Cathy Rigby swinging once again from and up to the rafters, and then the ambitious, well-realized mounting of Stephen Sondheim\u2019s \u201cSweeney Todd,\u201d the theater has set and scaled some high peaks.<\/p>\n

While \u201cMean Girls\u201d is a lesser hill, it\u2019s still a fun night out \u2026 in fact, in the language of the show itself, why, it comes close to \u201cfetch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Mean Girls\u2019<\/p>\n

Rating: 3 stars (of a possible 4)<\/p>\n

Where: La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts, 14900 La Mirada Blvd., La Mirada.<\/p>\n

When: Through May 3. 7:30 p.m., Thursdays; 8 p.m., Fridays; 2 and 8 p.m., Saturdays; 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays.<\/p>\n

Tickets: $23-$115<\/p>\n

Information: 714-994-6310, 562-944-9801; lamiradatheatre.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Musicals set in high schools, from \u201cGrease\u201d through \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d and, most recently \u201cThe Outsiders,\u201d traditionally are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267549,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1058,28069,420],"class_list":["post-267676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-theater","tag-theater-review","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}