Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording

Bibliographic Information:

• Title: Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording
• Artist: Original Broadway Cast
• Label: Atlantic Records
• Release Date: May 18, 2018

Genre: Broadway Musical/Pop

Format: Music CD

Awards/Honors: The Mean Girls musical production was nominated for many awards. The Cast Recording debuted at #42 on the Billboard 200 chart (Wikipedia, 2021).

Interest Level: 13 and up.

Track List:

Act 1:

• “A Cautionary Tale” – Janis, Damian
• “It Roars” – Cady, Ensemble
• “It Roars (Reprise)”^† – Cady, Ensemble
• “Where Do You Belong?” – Damian, Janis, Cady, Ensemble
• “Meet the Plastics” – Regina, Gretchen, Karen, Janis, Damian, Cady
• “Stupid with Love” – Cady
• “Apex Predator” – Janis, Cady, Ensemble
• “What’s Wrong with Me?” – Gretchen
• “Stupid with Love (Reprise)” – Aaron, Cady
• “Sexy” – Karen, Female Ensemble
• “Someone Gets Hurt” – Regina, Aaron, Male Ensemble
• “Revenge Party” – Janis, Damian, Cady, Company
• “Fearless” – Cady, Gretchen, Karen, Ensemble
• “Someone Gets Hurt” (Reprise 1)^{†† ‡} – Regina, Ensemble

Act 2:

• “A Cautionary Tale (Reprise)”^† – Janis, Damian
• “Stop” – Damian, Art Students, Karen, Ensemble
• “What’s Wrong With Me? (Reprise)” – Gretchen, Mrs. George
• “Whose House Is This?” – Kevin G, Cady, Gretchen, Karen, Ensemble
• “More Is Better” – Cady, Aaron, Ensemble
• “Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)” – Cady, Janis, Damian
• “World Burn” – Regina, Ensemble
• “I’d Rather Be Me” – Janis, Ensemble
• “Fearless (Reprise)”^† – Cady
• “Do This Thing” – Cady, Ms. Norbury, Kevin G, Mathletes
• “I See Stars” – Cady, Company

Description: Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording is the soundtrack to the Broadway musical. The production opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theater. It closed on March 11, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The musical is an adaptation of the 2014 film, Mean Girls. The movie and play were written by Tina Fey. They are both based on the book Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. The music was written by Jeff Richmond and the lyrics by Neil Benjamin (Wikipedia, 2021).

Critical Evaluation: The songs on Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording are upbeat, fun, and catchy. I found myself laughing while I was listening. The sound quality of the recording is excellent. The musical was nominated for 12 Tony awards, some for the music, but I could not find any information on awards or reviews for the soundtrack, itself. Any teens who saw the play or are fans of the movie will love listening to this recording over and over again.

Creative Use for a Library Program: For a library program, I would have a Mean Girls party (boys invited, too!) We could play the soundtrack, have a short discussion about bullying, discuss the music, and show YouTube videos of musical numbers from the play. Optional attire would be pink clothing. Snacks would be served.

Speed-Round Talk: “On Wednesdays we wear pink.” “I’m not like a regular mom, I’m a cool mom!“ “Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen. It’s not going to happen!“ (Chapman, 2021). If you know these quotes, this music is for you! Listen to the Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording and relive the Broadway musical or reminisce about the movie. Guaranteed to make you smile and laugh out loud.

Potential Challenge Issues and Defense: I do not forsee any challenges to this music.

Reason for Inclusion: I included Mean Girls Original Broadway Cast Recording because the music and lyrics are fun! If teens have seen the play or not, they will love listening to this. The movie Mean Girls is a cult classic that many teens have seen more than once. There are so many famous quotes from the movie that teens repeat. The Broadway musical was amazing- I saw it with my daughter in January 2020 and we both loved the music, dancing, acting, and the story. The audience was filled with teen girls and their moms.

References:

Chapman, R. (2021, April 15). 33 ‘Mean Girls’ quotes for Instagram, because you’re fetch & can be salty fi you want to. Elite Daily. Retrieved from https://www.elitedaily.com/p/33-mean-girls-quotes-for-instagram-because-youre-fetch-can-be-salty-if-you-want-to-12107624

Mean Girls on Broadway. (2018, May 4). “Apex Predator” | Mean Girls on Broadway. [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiIi7STG3e0&ab_channel=MeanGirlsonBroadwayMeanGirlsonBroadway

Wikipedia. (2021, May 16). Maen Girls (musical). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_Girls_(musical)