At the beginning of “Mean Girls,” tour guides Damien and Janis give a warning: “This is a cautionary tale.” They mean it. And in case you don’t get the gist of the morality play now on stage at Durango High School, the narrators repeat it after intermission.
Like Dante Aleghieri’s Virgil, his guide to the underworld in the medieval masterpiece, “The Descent into Hell,” Durango’s teenagers invite everyone into the mysteries of a dark and chaotic American inferno – high school. “Mean Girls” tells the story of new student Cady Heron (an engaging Zada Lile), who arrives after being home-schooled in an Eden-like African paradise only to be plunged into the rabid confusion and rigid hierarchies of North Shore High School, also known ironically as The Lions. It’s a blistering transition, and creator Tina Fey clearly exploited the biblical reference to Daniel.
If you go
WHAT: Durango High School Troupe 1096 performs “Mean Girls,” book by Tina Fey, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, music by Jeff Richmond, directed by Ben Mattson and Jenny Fitts-Reynolds.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Nov. 7, 8, 9, 14, 15 and 16.
WHERE: Durango High School, 2390 Main Ave.
TICKETS: $15, available online at https://tinyurl.com/y264h824.
MORE INFORMATION: Visit https://troupe1096.weebly.com.
NOTE: Show contains references to alcohol/drugs and some profanity. Running time 155 minutes.
Outsiders Damien and Janis (the engaging Quinn Payne and Ava Allen, alternating with Bella Lucero) welcome Cady and lead her through the downward spirals of chaos from rambunctious hallways to crowded classrooms and drunken parties when parents are away.
Originally inspired by sociologist Rosalind Wiseman’s 2002 self-help book for American parents of teenage girls, comedian Tina Fey crafted “Mean Girls” as a film in 2004. Fey invented Cady, plotted her heroine’s journey, and populated it with characters at a fictional high school. Fey admits to satirizing the confusion and anxiety of her own high school experience of the 1980s.
The film hit a nerve with its cynical view of relational aggression among adolescents and has become a cult classic. Its success led to the 2018 musical in which Fey collaborated with her husband, composer Jeff Richmond, and lyricist Nell Benjamin to refresh the genre. Last January, a new film version premiered updating the technology, self-branding and the always fertile identity issues.
“The jokes have changed, but gossip and name calling hasn’t,” Fey said in a New York Times interview.
Co-directors Ben Mattson and Jenny Fitts-Reynolds have mounted a terrific production. Everyone in the core cast performs with focus and confidence. The ensemble, seemingly thousands, populates the stage with cliques from jocks to band freaks to bookworms. Energy spills out as compressed classroom scenes swiftly morph to hallways, locker rooms or home bedrooms with an array of sophisticated projections.
Credit Dani Concelman and the technical team for a smart and efficient universe with movable components illuminated by crackerjack lighting and sound effects. A recorded score supports the enterprise. On occasion, electronics drown out the singers – something that can be adjusted.
The story unfolds after Cady’s African origin story is set, and it seems to be one big, high-energy number after another, each ending in a smart, frozen tableau. A few quiet, reflective songs calm an otherwise frenetic pace. That’s a structural given, which DHS handles with assurance.
A noteworthy solo, the quietest and most poignant of the show, is beautifully delivered by Sofia Guiterrez as Gretchen. “What’s Wrong with Me?” is a lament about vulnerability sung by one of the anguished followers of Queen Bee Regina (portrayed with icy confidence by Avery Edgar).
In a New York Times interview, Fey said: “With the exception of Regina, every other character believes themselves to be an underdog.”
In other words, we are all Gretchens – when we are growing up – and, perhaps, also in so-called maturity and even old age.
Kudos to the company for mounting a clear and compelling interpretation of a cautionary tale for our time.
Judith Reynolds is an arts journalist and member of the American Theatre Critics Association.
