Mean Girls- Principal Attendance

[willrolandsframes]

How well has the attendance been for the principals in Mean Girls? This is the one show where I haven't heard a whole lot regarding understudies going on for leads. I believe Nikhil Saboo has been on for Cheech Manohar once or twice. I also know Demarius Copes has been on for Grey at least once (as per Erika's vlog).

Have any of our leading ladies taken an off night since March or is this show gonna have DEH levels of principal attendance?

[Elegance101]

They've been good about attendance. Taylor hasn't missed a show yet and I don't think the rest have missed more than you can count on one hand. At this point, the odds of seeing the full company is pretty high.

[ClumsyDude15]

Everyone with the exception of Taylor, Kerry, Ashley, and Cheech have missed a show.

None of them have missed too many shows (at most I’d say two or three) but they all seem to have pretty great attendance overall.

[Elegance101]

BTW, Taylor just said on Twitter that she’ll be on vacation August 6-12. I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being the first show she misses.

[jbird5]

There was the show Barrett missed where Tee Boyich stepped in with 90 minutes total prep.

[Elegance101]

It was 3.5 hours, but still impressive. 

[AC126748]

Kerry Butler almost never misses a show in anything she's in.

[Lousy]

The other impressive part of Tee stepping in last minute for Barrett is the she isn't even an understudy for that role, and by stepping in she made her Broadway debut performance. The other understudies hadn't been rehearsed yet, and Tee was chosen due to (allegedly based on other actor's accounts) being able to memorise music quickly, and being a standby she had been able to observe the staging without having to worry about originating an ensemble track as well.

[IdinaBellFoster]

I saw Demarius go on for Gray - it was a weird performance. 

[Littleshopofcarrie]

IdinaBellFoster said: "I saw Demarius go on for Gray - it was a weird performance."

Why weird?

[IdinaBellFoster]

Littleshopofcarrie said: "IdinaBellFoster said: "I saw Demarius go on for Gray - it was a weird performance."

Why weird?"

He's clearly very talented, but nothing about the performance seemed in the character.

[poisonivy2]

Tonight both Taylor Lauderman and Ashley Park are out.

[willrolandsframes]

poisonivy2 said: "Tonight both Taylor Lauderman and Ashley Park are out."

Do you know who is on for Gretchen? I figure Becca Petersen is on for Regina again, so I believe that means either Tee Boyich is on as Gretchen or Riza Takahashi is making her principal debut in the role.

[Bwayfan292]

willrolandsframes said: "poisonivy2 said: "Tonight both Taylor Lauderman and Ashley Park are out."

Do you know who is on for Gretchen? I figure Becca Petersen is on for Regina again, so I believe that means either Tee Boyich is on as Gretchen or Riza Takahashi is making her principal debut in the role."

Ziran Villanueva is on for Gretchen

[Bwayfan292]

Question. If Tee is the standby for Gretchen why did an understudy go on before the standby. I know no one will know for sure, but the whole standby vs understudy thing always confuses me.

[ClumsyDude15]

^Tee, Ashley, and Taylor seemed to be taking some personal days off. Taylor per her Instagram story went home to Missouri for a couple days while Ashley and Tee per both of their Instagram stories went to the beach somewhere outside of the city.

[TotallyEffed]

Any word on when they’ll be back?

[poisonivy2]

Well I thought Ziran was great as Gretchen. I thought Becca Petersen as Regina had some diction issues and it was hard to understand what she was singing.

Mean Girls combines one of the best books with the worst scores. I don't think I've ever seen such a lopsided combo. The book by Tina Fey is consistently funny and sharp, with a couple jokes that seem ad-libbed (a joke about JR Smith and Lebron is now in the show). The humor is PG-13 rated which is appropriate for the throngs of teen girls I saw at the show but as a high school teacher i really enjoyed Fey's book. 

The music is loud, harsh, and unmemorable. The miking didn't help -- it was earsplittingly loud, to the point where I couldn't really make heads or tails of the song because all I heard was the shrill orchestrations. 

I know Jeff Richmond is Tina's husband but I can't help but wonder how a collaboration with a more talented musical team might have worked out. 

[willrolandsframes]

poisonivy2 said: "The music is loud, harsh, and unmemorable. The miking didn't help -- it was earsplittingly loud, to the point where I couldn't really make heads or tails of the song because all I heard was the shrill orchestrations.

I know Jeff Richmond is Tina's husband but I can't help but wonder how a collaboration with a more talented musical team might have worked out."

I’m still in the camp that enjoyed what Richmond tried to do with the literal music. Nell Benjamin is who I tend to blame for the rough score. I’ve had the tune to Apex Predator stuck in my head for a month, but so many of those lyrics are just...bad. I think Richmond’s music would stand out more had he hired a better lyricist.

[Elegance101]

I agree that Benjamin’s lyrics are the weakest link. Ironically, she’s the only one out of the three who has written a musical before. I like Richmond’s score (very catchy and each character’s vibe works), but Benjamin’s lyrics are clunky and sometimes laughable.

[Elegance101]

I know it’s not necessary, but why have a standby for Cady, Gretchen, and The Adult Women (and I guess now Janis), but not Regina or Karen? If any role should have a standby, it’s Regina with those vocals (though Louderman doesn’t seem to need one). Feels like a weird choice from the beginning.

[ClumsyDude15]

TotallyEffed - All of them should be back tonight, at least Taylor and Ashley should be. Taylor posted on Instagram about being back tonight and Ashley hasn’t said anything but I assume she will be. Tee per her Instagram post seems to have gotten a nasty sunburn so I’m not sure if she’ll be back but the other two should be.

Elegance - I have no idea why there’s not a standby for Regina or Karen while the others do. I know Tee mentioned on Broadwaysted that she’s not tall enough for Regina and she isn’t the strongest dancer like Karen would require. Becca is a swing so I guess they feel like since she’s not in the ensemble every night, they’re able to put her on at last minute’s notice for either Regina or covering Jonalyn while she’s on as Karen. 

[TotallyEffed]

Thanks so much!

[ClumsyDude15]

Kyle Selig is out tonight and Kevin Csolak is making his debut as Aaron Samuels.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Elegance101 said: "BTW, Taylor just said on Twitter that she’ll be on vacation August 6-12. I wouldn’t be surprised if that ends up being the first show she misses."

Thank God I checked this board before buying any tickets b/c I almost bought a ticket for that week. Any other vacations in August?