By Taylor Chay with photos courtesy Linda Bon
Long Beach Poly’s production of Mean Girls was showcased from February 26 to February 28, and the cast certainly brought the “shiny, fake, and hard” characters to life.
With infectious songs and powerful messages about identity, Mean Girls combines fun and seriousness in a witty, sassy manner.
The musical follows the life of home-schooled Cady Heron, who spent her childhood in Africa with her zoologist parents. When she moves to a suburban Illinois high school, she discovers the real savage social jungle as she meets “the Plastics”: Regina, Gretchen, and Karen. To take down the Plastics’ leader, Regina, Cady develops a savvy revenge plot that spirals into a hilarious and heartfelt story.
Although the Plastics present themselves as ruthless and shallow, the cast is far from that.
One of the Plastics, Gretchen, was played by Sasha Flores. Gretchen is portrayed as a complex character who spends her time overanalyzing herself as well as Regina. Despite her character’s nitpicky tendencies, Flores can view things from a bigger picture.
Flores explained that, “The whole musical, Mean Girls, is about not trying to change yourself to be liked by other people. I don’t think that Poly is like that; it’s not how Mean Girls portrayed it. But, it made me realize that everybody has their own story and there are reasons why people act the way they do.”
Flores added, “Because we’re all teenagers, it’s hard for us to understand each other because we’re so focused on our mindset and with our own struggles.”
As Flores noted, the cliquiness of Mean Girls is much more prevalent than it is at Poly. Mean Girls demonstrates that navigating high school’s exotic environment is definitely a challenge.
But kickstarting high school by playing the leading role of Cady as a freshman has made Zayn Smith feel more ingrained in the Poly community.
While still feeling like a part of Poly, Smith admitted, “All the things she [Cady] learns throughout the play and all the girl world, I really relate to because high school is so different.”
Smith explained that this was her first musical ever. She advises people interested in the musical to “Have confidence and just go for it.”
Charlotte Staudt, like Smith, an underclassman who also played Cady, saw Poly’s theater program as an unfamiliar setting, much like how Cady saw high school.
Staudt described that initially, she was nervous about auditioning as she didn’t know anyone in the program. But in the end, she became close with people with whom she knows she will be friends with for life.
Staudt gave some words of encouragement to people considering doing the musical, saying, “Know that you are not alone, and you will be performing with tons of other people on stage who are also nervous.”
From the only few-hour-long show, Cady may be viewed solely as a new girl desperately desiring to fit in. Beneath the surface, however, Cady is open to trying new things and willing to take on challenges. By playing lead roles as underclassmen, Smith and Staudt have demonstrated the same bravery as Cady.
Another one of the plastics, Karen, was played by Mia Winkler. Having previous experiences as ensemble for Poly’s musicals, Winkler has gotten more comfortable with performing. But what Winkler was hesitant about was playing a character outside of her comfort zone.
Throughout the show, Karen’s naive personality causes her to be often objectified. Winkler mentioned how her family members and friends had some criticism about playing a character who was so glorified for her appearance.
Despite these concerns, Winkler reflected that, “I feel like if I don’t push myself in uncomfortable positions, I’m not going to grow.”
Soli Nickerson, who also played Karen, shared a similar experience of how playing a role so different from herself forced her to grow.
Nickerson said, “Playing someone so different than you and empathizing with someone who is maybe a little bit different than you, and finding yourself in that character. . . I learned parts about myself, and I almost became a little more comfortable being awkward and being a little strange playing Karen. . . It definitely grew me out of my comfort zone and how I portray myself.”
From Karen’s foolish actions to her questionable statements, she serves as the comedic relief. Potentially deemed as just the ditzy and dumb blonde, Karen actually has clear moments of self-realization.
These moments caused Nickerson to realize the “Sometimes the no reason rituals we can perform in high school that maybe aren’t good, and maybe we can break out and be our own person. And Karen has that arc throughout the whole show, becoming her own person and finding joy in things that she does know.”
Winkler and Nickerson both expressed how Karen brings pure joy and light-heartedness into the show that they aim to bring into their everyday lives.
Saving the best for last, who more fitting than Regina George?
For Reanny Dizon, her experience in the musical was unique, as she played two lead roles! Playing both Gretchen and Regina not only meant that she had to remember more lines, but she also had to remember the way her voice and tone would shift for each character.
Dizon shared, “There was a lot of pressure on me because I’m playing two leads. And so, I also had doubles that were really good, too!”
Dizon continued, “So I’d always struggle with. . . Thinking that I wasn’t catching up enough. But to be fair, I’d give myself some slack because I’m playing two leads.”
On stage, Dizon made balancing both roles look easy. But Dizon personally shared that behind the scenes, before the musical, she didn’t have the best experience with dance. She expressed her gratitude for having the opportunity to perform, even if it was stressful at times.
“With her [Ms. Bon], it opened up new worlds because she was actually giving me a chance to show myself and be able to put myself out there without overthinking that I’m not doing enough,” Dizon said.
As a senior who played the leading role of Princess Ariel in last year’s spring musical, Evelia Blanco has had a long background in theater. This year, what made her role as Regina challenging was playing a villain for the first time.
Blanco explained how she had a difficult time sympathizing with Regina, as she was unreasonably mean and didn’t necessarily have a backstory.
Reminiscing about the night of the musical, Blanco recalled people saying, “‘We couldn’t even tell that you were Evelia. You were Regina.”’ Successfully portraying the evil and manipulative Regina, while being a kind girl in reality, is what Blanco was most proud of.
Closing her last spring musical and senior year off, Blanco recognized that high school can be cliquey, but she was able to find her clique of people through theater, and is confident others will find the right group of people for them. She explained how, “As a freshman. . . You’re scared, and to make friends to fit in you’re pushing yourself to find your right people. But I think as long as you try to be yourself, you’ll find your place.”
Mean Girls teaches us to be authentic even when it is difficult, and this production showcased Poly’s stars, who will have many more opportunities to shine on stage.
