You wanna do something fun? Wanna go to Taco Bell?
Actually, let’s go see the new Mean Girls movie!
Mean Girls fans rise!!! At the time I’m writing this article, the new trailer for the Mean Girls movie musical came out just four days ago. Besides getting me incredibly excited for this adaptation, the trailer also made me reminisce on just how loved and pop-culture-defining the original Mean Girls movie was. Let’s dissect the trailer, talk about the new musical aspect of the movie, and look back on some of Mean Girls‘ most iconic moments:
First, the trailer. The things I loved to see: creator and star Tina Fey coming back in the movie musical, Jenna Fischer (also known for her character Pam Beesley from the hit sitcom The Office) playing Cady’s mom, and Renee Rapp reenacting her role from the musical as queen bee Regina (but more on that later)!
Seriously, this trailer knocked the introduction to this new Mean Girls era out of the park. The callbacks to the original movie were tasteful and fun—with Tina Fey and Tim Meadows reprising their roles from the original movie, The Plastics wearing all-pink everything, and the incorporation of lines such as “Get in loser, we’re going shopping!”, the trailer definitely knows how to poke fun at itself.
The punchy Olivia Rodrigo track “get him back!” is the perfect melodramatic song to convey all the big, big feelings of Mean Girls: love, lust, and most importantly, REVENGE. Finally, along with the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearances of sarcastic icon Chris Olsen, this trailer sets the movie up to have a perfect balance of nostalgia and new-age musical magic.
If you’ve never seen the musical (or an illegal YouTube bootleg of it like I did during COVID), you might be confused why Mean Girls is getting a remake so soon after its release. Is this just another money grab for a movie that, in all honestly, will never have as good of a replication?
Enter Renee Rapp. Despite the trailer not really showcasing the songs from the Broadway production of Mean Girls: The Musical, I know just by seeing Renee as Regina that the soundtrack to this movie is going to be (forgive me for this) totally fetch. You may have heard of Renee from her fast-rising music career with hit songs like “Tummy Hurts,” “Too Well”, or my personal favourite, “Colorado.” Or, maybe you’ve seen her in the hit HBOMax show The Sex Lives of College Girls. Maybe you know her through my friend Keely, who is actually besties with Renee and also obsessed with her. Regardless of how much you know about her, you should remember one thing: this girl can SING.
Renee came onto the Mean Girls scene at only 19, standing in for the Original Broadway Cast’s Regina, Taylor Louderman. While she had gained some recognition for winning ‘Best Actress’ at the 2018 Jimmy Awards, this was her first big Broadway role. And after watching the above video, you’ll see why she got so popular so fast. In terms of the rest of the soundtrack, I’m also so excited that more of the OBC is joining Renee for the movie… shoutout Ashley Parklady, who played Gretchen in the Original Broadway Production!
Let’s recap: the Mean Girls movie musical calls back to the original movie, will have a great soundtrack, and overall, is just plain fun. As an undercover theatre kid, I love a musical that can poke fun at itself and doesn’t take itself too seriously. We all know that nothing will ever measure up to the original movie, but that’s not what this movie is trying to do—instead, it’s bringing in a whole new audience to experience the magic of one of the most iconic movies of the 2000s.
As a final parting message: on release day, we wear pink. Get in loser, we’re going to watch the Mean Girls movie musical!