Mean girls will not be back when Broadway reopens, producers announced today. The musical, based on Tina Fey’s 2004 film, suspended production when Broadway went dark due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The musical, featuring a book by Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin and direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, opened on Broadway in 2018 and grossed $ 124 million by the end of March. Plans were announced earlier to adapt it for a new Paramount Pictures movie version.
“We remain excited to bring this musical to the big screen, reload the tour and prepare for a London production,” said Lorne Michaels, who co-produced the musical with Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman and Paramount Pictures. “I look forward to the day, hopefully soon, when theaters can reopen their doors.”
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The producers said the permanent closure was due to the ongoing closure of Broadway. The program recovered its capitalization by early 2020.
“The chance to bring this show to Broadway, with such a talented young ensemble and five astonishingly female lead actors, was a dream come true,” Fey said on behalf of the creative team. “And to our fierce and devoted followers: our gratitude does not exist.”
At the time of the final performance of the musical on March 11, it played 805 performances and 29 previews in Broadway’s August Wilson Theater. Before its opening on April 8, 2018, Mean girls made its world premiere of Five Weeks in 2017 at the National Theater in Washington DC
A North American tour launched in 2019, with plans to resume this summer or as soon as Covid restrictions are lifted.
The original cast of the Broadway production included Erika Henningsen, Taylor Louderman, Ashley Park, Kate Rockwell, Kerry Butler, Gray Henson and Kyle Selig.
Broadway will remain closed at least until June, with most insiders expecting to fall early in the start.