West Ranch Theatre performed the high school version of the musical: “Mean Girls,” May 7-9. Directed by theatre teacher Jarold Spradling, the show was filled with catchy songs, heated drama and outstanding vocals and acting from our very own Wildcats.
About the Show
The musical follows Cady Heron, a homeschooled girl from Africa, as she moves to America and faces the harsh, chaotic reality that is high school. Soon, Cady meets Damian and Janis, who helped guide her through this new environment. Regina George, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith, known as the Plastics, are the “mean girls” that practically have the entire school in their control, so Cady and her two best friends make a plan to take them down. In the process, love blooms, friendships fall apart and drama unfolds.
This musical is based on the Paramount Pictures film, “Mean Girls.” With its engaging soundtrack, the music was composed by Jeff Richmond with lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Additionally, the West Ranch show was directed by Theatre Teacher Jarold Spradling, and the production choreographed by our school’s very own Wildcats, Mackenzie Hillhouse, Micah Viudez, Sarah Busic and Ella Kliewer.
Actor’s Connections to the Show
With great student effort, theatre students have expressed their appreciation for the musical, and how the process of putting it together brought the cast closer. Mackenzie Hillhouse, who plays Gretchen Wieners, mentioned that navigating through all of the set’s moving parts and quick costume changes was difficult, especially with limited space. “It’s a really hard show, so we kind of had to be reliant on each other. Otherwise, it just wouldn’t have worked,” Hillhouse expressed. “The fact that we were able to kind of be thrust into this really high-stress, high-pressure environment and come out better and stronger for it is great.”
Other cast members also felt that their positivity towards each other benefited the experience. Daniella Dolan, who plays Cady Heron, said that while practicing: “We got to spend a lot of time together and just working with our characters and bouncing ideas off of each other.” “We try not to be critical of each other, but it’s in the sense that we’re all trying to make each other better. We all try to build each other up, not tear anyone down, make everyone brighter, not by putting anyone out.” This supportive environment translated into natural on-stage chemistry during the performances.
For seniors like Maddie Mendez, this show marked their last high school performance. “I’ve known most of these people for most of my high school career, so doing this musical really connected us all together, knowing it’s our last hurrah. As a senior, it’s gonna be a little hard, but it brings us all closer knowing that we all care and love for each other in the wings,” Mendez said. Though bittersweet, this musical shows the true impact of theatre to our seniors, marking an ending of an era.
Behind The Scenes
The “Mean Girls” cast consists of a myriad of backgrounds and personalities, mixing into the musical and allowing the actors to truly get into character. For example, Damian’s character is openly gay, and Gretchen’s song displays the insecurities of herself and her peers around her, making the Plastics seem more like the people we know in real life and not just flat, vain characters playing on a stage.
Embodying these distinct personalities brought unique challenges for the student actors. Freshman Diego Martinez plays Damian Hubbard, one of the main characters and Cady’s friend. Martinez found that the hardest part was “lots of comfortability with my own self, because I feel like he’s a very physical person, storyteller wise, and I’m not.” He also expressed difficulty in getting out of his comfort zone and being expressive with his castmates in a way that his character calls for. To help with that discomfort, Martinez watched older Broadway shows and tried to put himself into Damian’s mindset: “Just thinking to myself, what would he [Damian] do, first of all? And thinking that he is pretty much the star of his own show.” Strangely enough, Martinez also had to learn to tap dance for his role.
Janis’s character, another one of Cady’s friends and comrades, is played by Mendez. Mendez’s experience with playing the character was akin to her own high school experience. Being a senior, Mendez has lived both the highs and lows in the West Ranch buildings and felt as though she had to “push through the fact that these things do happen in a high school career and revisiting those things really does kind of hurt a little bit. I feel like that’s been the most challenging thing ever, just the fact that you have to accept it’s not real, but reliving that circumstance as the character can truly impact [you].” High school is a time where the best memories and worst ones can be made with friends, enemies and grades. The experience is not all sunshine and rainbows, and Mendez puts emphasis on that darker side of high school. Mendez did, however, also have fun with her character and figuring out how to convince everyone that she was Janis. She believes that “really trying to understand how that character would feel in that certain situation, or especially since it’s a high school setting, you can compare it to your own high school things that have happened in your life,” stressing that the “more you believe in the imaginary circumstance, the more you can become the character and have it be a part of yourself.”
For the girl-lead, Dolan, becoming Cady Heron was not an easy quest to conquer. Throughout the musical, Cady’s character evolves significantly, going from a nerdy homeschooled girl to one of the plastics, Dolan had to learn how to embody that transition. From vocals to acting, Dolan “spent a lot of time focusing on the transition from the beginning to the end vocally with my posture and just with the way I spoke, making it so that the beginning was very, very different from the middle. Then kind of bring both of them together in the end.”
Regardless of how Cady changes, her origin stays with her throughout the show, even reflected in her songs. “The music is pretty tricky because she’s from Africa, so some of the rhythms in the songs are like traditional African tribal rhythms,” Dolan explained. Another difficulty as the lead is the consistent stage time, and having to balance quick costume changes with little to no breaks. Regardless, Dolan recalled how she felt when she got the role; “I was thrilled. This is not a role I ever thought I’d ever be given the opportunity to play, and I could not be more thankful to be given this chance.”
Taking on the role of Gretchen Wieners presented unexpected challenges for Hillhouse. Hillhouse’s process of preparation was “listen[ing] to a lot of pop. Like, a lot of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, it was kind of upbeat kind of stuff.” Gretchen plays as Regina’s ‘sidekick’, reasserting Regina’s dominance when it’s challenged, and always sticking up for her. One of the difficulties Hillhouse faced in her portrayal of the character was her songs. “I’m a mezzosoprano, and Gretchen has parts where she’s very much a soprano, like very, very high notes, and that was a little difficult for me, especially like in the early process of figuring out how I’m gonna hit those notes and what needs to happen with that?” Hillhouse explained. However after getting over that hurdle, Hillhouse found it was much easier to immerse herself in character. Despite all her song-related challenges, Hillhouse found the borrowed energy from Gretchen to be “kind of fun to have that frenetic energy on stage and be able to close around everywhere.”
Through all of the challenges, all of their hard work paid off by not only making a phenomenal show but creating lasting memories for the cast. Among the performers, breaking the fourth wall was a universal favorite part to perform. Characters like Janis and Damian get to talk directly to the audience in between scenes, narrating the show in a comedic, funky way. During the song “Stupid With Love,” Cady sings directly to the audience in a bubbly tone, completely head over heels for her crush Aaron. Breaking the fourth wall allows the actors to present themselves or the characters in a way that they would realistically act in real life, which is what makes it so special and entertaining.
Whether it is big scenes or background interactions, another fun part for the cast was the little behind-the-scenes moments that brought them closer together. For example, during the Halloween party after the song, “Sexy,” Hillhouse mentions that her character and Karen “have a lot of great moments and that scene is kind of on the side because we’re not essentially part of the plot, but we get to kind of just interact with the ensemble”. Having small talk in the background as the main character of the scene plays their part is a fun tid-bit certain audience members can catch and be entertained. These scenes also display the actors’ ability to stay in character even when they are not the main event while simultaneously bringing the side characters together by keeping them interactive and contributing to the overall feel of the show. “Some of my friends are playing the exact opposite of themselves,” Dolan explained. “Getting to interact with them is just a lot of fun.” Every interaction between actors keeps the audience engaged and on their toes as they root for their favorite characters.
“Mean Girls” came and went with lovable characters, songs and lines. From performances that broke the fourth wall to hilarious interactions between characters that kept us cheering for our favorite characters, the production of “Mean Girls”—with all its highs and lows—gave us a show that both the audience and actors loved.
As the curtains close and props are put away, the actors and stage crew come together for one final bow before sending their seniors off. As the final show of the year concludes, the West Ranch theatre department winds down for summer break, leaving behind a memorable production while preparing to welcome a renewed team next school year.
