Interview: Director Scott Spence Leads Summer School with MEAN GIRLS at The Beck Center

You are fortunate to be working in an area of the state—of the country, really—where there's a talented pool of performers at your disposal, especially for a show like Mean Girls that calls for young actors.

I am.

So what were you hoping to see in auditioners? And what are some of the choices they made during auditions that either made or broke auditions for you, for casting this particular show?

Well, what an interesting question. We have been so fortunate in the last ten years to have built relationships with the local, strong, musical theater programs. You know, we have a specific collaboration now with Oberlin College, and have had an ongoing relationship also with Baldwin Wallace, and Kent State and even outliers like Northern Ohio, and Otterbein, and Wright State. So, a lot of people who live here, who go away to college, but come back for the summers. So in a way, Mean Girls was a no-brainer, not only because it's a very popular piece and we'd be one of the first local productions of the show. But knowing that of the 24 characters, 22 of them are young actors, they were going to be played most likely by college students. So I knew that the talent pool would be strong, and the competition would be fierce, because this is a really popular title among that age group. As far as choices in auditions, you know, these are all talent performers who come in knowing the material. So unlike a musical that people might not know, they come in with not only the work ethic to prepare, but just the general knowledge of a show. So our callback process—the final process before casting—was so incredibly strong, because people were easily able to bring their A-games, to show us the full extent of what they can bring to the table. So it did my favorite thing—it made our choices very difficult. And I love that.

One of the things I appreciate about Mean Girls is it's refusal to patronize young people or the adults around them. The show, of course, is often ridiculous. but still, I think it takes its young characters and their emotions seriously. So they're not cliches. There's no distinct hero or villain. They're all allowed to be vulnerable, have faults, make mistakes. How have your actors connected with these characters and embraced their messiness?

Well, I think they see what you see. I mean, they see the fact that, while there is an absolute style to this piece, it is a style that intrinsically allows them to communicate honestly. So, we've talked about that already in rehearsal. We pretty much hammered out a lot of the scene work ahead of time as my choreographer was delayed into the process a bit, and now we've begun the musical staging process. So we were able to sort of hit the ground running talking about scene work, and making those honest connections. You know, today's musical theater performer kids are smart. They're really, really smart. They're kind of ahead of the curve. So, they understand exactly what you said—that there is an innate honesty to the material, all the while inhabiting this kind of stylistic choice in allowing it to be bigger than life.  At times absurd. I mean, in the mall scene, in “Apex Predator,” everyone becomes animals. And so we have to allow for that moment, but that's what heightens the theatricality. And obviously Tina Fey brought that over from the movie. And that really is the key—Tina Fey's writing is so smart and so human, that she's able to walk the high wire between honesty and style. And again, the kids see that. They don't have to be informed or taught hey, this is what happening. So it allows the creative staff to just focus on the logistics, and I'm not spending every day, you know, teaching acting.

Mean Girls on Broadway did recoup shortly before it was forced to shut down due to COVID-19, and I think it would have had a nice long run had that shutdown not happened...

Well, in a side story, a former BW student, Olivia Kaufmann, was swinging that show during its run and was scheduled the day after COVID began to take over one of the lead roles. She was my Whatsername in our production of American Idiot ten years ago, so we're following her progress. And I saw she was slated to literally take over just as the pandemic hit. I think we all have pandemic stories.

Oh gosh. So, what is it that you think keeps this story relevant, and keeps the show so appealing for audiences and actors and directors?

Well, they've taken great care to make it as up-to-date as possible. The version we're using is called the West End version. So, a couple years back, as they as they readjusted the show, there were changes that they made—entire songs cut, new songs added. The song that is Damian's Act II showstopper, “Stop,” is not in the version anymore. That was on Broadway, and may have been in the American tour, but it’s not in this version. Instead, they've replaced it with a number called “I'm Blowing Up,” that's Cady's number, that tells the story more. It helps us understand her journey through where we see her at the beginning to, you know, being Regina Part 2. Tina Fey has made—we have an Ozempic reference, we have the word rizz, everything but 6-7 is in the script, which will probably slip in there somewhere. So they've taken great care to keep it as contemporary as possible. At first we were looking at setting it in 2018, when it was really delivered to Broadway. But yeah, the references have changed greatly since the 2004 movie that she wrote, so she's paid attention not to let it become even a minor antiquity.

You've been artistic director at the Beck Center for almost 34 years now...

700 years, yeah, something like that, haha.

So when you are helping to curate a new season of shows, what motivates you to decide to direct a production. What do you seek out to call dibs on as you are putting a season together?

That's a great question and it's very true. A lesson I learned early on and was taught by mentors is don't direct a show that you can't fall in love with on some level. And it's not to say that every show equally is something I'm falling in love with at that same level, but I do need to really find the appeal. In this case, there's a little bit of nostalgia that goes back to the movie in 2004. Now, I was already 40-plus-years-old then, but it still connected. And I'm a huge Tina Fey fan, in terms of her intellect. So I was drawn to it immediately. It's so enduring. So a little bit of that, a little bit of even old-man nostalgia at the time. But I'm always very interested in presenting the contemporary pieces that are fist-run. I gravitate toward those. And while I love non-musicals, I tend to gravitate toward them in terms of this particular theater, just because sometimes it's easier to manage. But then there are shows that I like well enough—like next summer, we'll be doing Frozen. It'll be the regional, locally-produced premiere of that title. And I'm handing that off to a Chicago director/choreographer who absolutely loves the show. He just loves this piece, and I have, hopefully, a musical director we've been chasing for a while, who also loves this piece—someone I might not normally be able to get. And so I'm passing that off because I think they love it more than I do. You know, I love it for what it is, and I love its commercial box office appeal, absolutely. I can direct Frozen. It's probably not going to be my first choice among other shows. And then every once in a while I'm going to look for an old chestnut. There are some old chestnuts that I still deeply love, you know. Before I'm done, I'd love to direct a production of Guys and Dolls. I think it's the great American musical, but it just needs—it's so easy just to be mundane with that show. If I'm going to do it, I want to do it right. So I need the right Sky Masterson, and that's hard to find at this level. That's a difficult role. But Mean Girls—I really enjoy the piece. I really enjoy the book a lot, and I think much of the music's really memorable and fun.

I agree. It's one of my favorites. So are there any new shows that you're eager to get the rights to once they become available?

Well, I'm not really allowed to talk about that, haha. That sort of tips my hand. I will say that I think the best musical in the last thirty years is Come from Away. I think it takes theatrical story-telling to the level that we all wish it would be. And I just think it's an amazing property. But obviously there's been a huge scrum for that show, and just the way logistics worked out in our area, it was blocked in a number of ways for theaters that were larger than us, but who may in the end not do it. So it's a strange journey when you're chasing rights. But I will say now that everyone and their brother is doing Come from Away, I will sit back and wait five years, and maybe look at it after this onslaught. The same thing happened—I think Jersey Boys is the best jukebox musical written. I think it's really well-constructed and I was chasing that. But once again, the timing just has to be right because we're a large enough theater that if there's a touring production anywhere in sight, they Will Block us, as they might not a community theater. So community theaters slipped in with that title. And again, everyone did it. So, you know, it's on my docket down the road, and I really enjoy the piece, even if I don't direct it. But, those are a couple examples of shows that I think are terrific that someday I will program. You know, we weren't the first to get to Shrek, which I also think is a very smartly written show, and is perfect for a holiday offering. So I had to sit back five years, wait for everyone else to sort of be done with it, let everyone forget about it a little bit, and then we'll reintroduce it. So there are always shows out there. But as far as what's coming up, I'm not totally sure what's coming up, but even if I was, I probably wouldn't tip my hand.

I had to try, haha.

Yeah, that's all right, haha.

Is there anything else you want audiences to know about this production?

Just that this is a first-rate cast. We've got members from Oberlin and from Baldwin Wallace, and it's a top-notch cast, so I'm really excited. We're having a blast as we're working our way through the musical numbers, so I really do think it's going to be one of the must-sees in Cleveland.

Photo Credit: Beck Center for the Arts

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