The girls of Broadway’s Mean Girls have learned their lesson so well, they’re ready to teach other girls how to be excellent too.
After tackling bullying among high school girls and the pressures they face in school onstage, the cast of the Mean Girls musical are stepping into the classroom this fall. They’ll share lessons from the show through workshops and discussions with students in grades 6 through 12 at the the all-girls Young Women’s Leadership Schools as part of its Fearless Leaders initiative.
The network of five public schools specialize in fostering leadership skills in college-bound young women.
In addition to bringing Broadway into the classroom, Mean Girls provides more than 500 tickets at $10 for high schoolers across all five New York City school districts to see the show, including a Q&A with the cast following the performance. Teachers are also invited to see the show before the trip and prepare a curriculum around its themes.
Hamilton has a similar program, which also invites students to compose their own songs based on historical events and perform them on the hallowed stage.
Mean Girls has been a hit since opening on Broadway in March, and has tied (with SpongeBob SquarePants — it’s been an interesting season) for the most nominations with 12 at the 2018 Tony Awards. Tina Fey, who wrote the 2003 movie starring Lindsay Lohan, adapted it for the stage with her composer husband Jeff Richmond and lyricist Nell Benjamin. Along with a Tony nod for writing the book of the musical, Fey has already won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.
The show has also announced a national tour beginning in Fall 2019.
