Mean Girls to close- Page 2

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:24pm

While I do find the timing a bit odd, I'm actually not surprised by the announcement. Yes, they performed on the NBC special, but in their introduction, Tina Fey explicitly referenced the national tour getting back on the road post-pandemic, while making no mention of the Broadway production. They also ran some sort of contest via social media last fall, where the prize was having your name featured in the Burn Book in the upcoming film adaptation - again, no mention of Broadway.

Add to that the fact that they seemed to be on shaky ground even before the shutdown, and this doesn't really come as a surprise. In fact, at the start of last year, the two longer-running shows that I didn't think would make it to the end of 2020 were Mean Girls and Frozen - the two open-ended runs that have permanently shuttered since March.

[FlyHigh523]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:24pm

Call_me_jorge said: "Do we know if the cast was informed before they put out the press release?"

I’m assuming so. Renee Rapp moved to LA, so she probably knew. 

[Tag]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:27pm

I wouldn't be surprised if this had something to do with the theater rental cost, or equipments rentals, or something of that nature.  It's too random an announcement otherwise.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:27pm

Last time I checked "8 or 9 months" is still less than 10... is it not?"

Lolz. Sure babe, but it's not "much closer to reopening than being closed". A month is not MUCH closer and everyone knows it. It's okay to be wrong, though! 

 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:31pm

I didn't think the show was spectacular, but I thought it was a lot of fun when I saw it in Previews.

I think it makes sense to announce it now. This is a show that is going to kill in the high school and amateur theatre circuits. If they close on Broadway now, they can prepare the materials and be ready to roll out licensing when in-person performances start up again.

[MollyJeanneMusic]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:39pm

I was never a fan of this show but this is heartbreaking, especially for the people who only got two performances in the show (I wouldn't be surprised if they now cast Sabrina Carpenter in the movie version).  It also says something that a show backed by Tina Fey and Lorne Michaels still wasn't able to last through the shutdown, and it makes me very worried about the future of shows who don't have that sort of backing.

However, I cannot WAIT to see all the high school videos of people attempting to hit the high notes in Someone Gets Hurt (and get so excited when the occasional video is released where the person does hit the notes).

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:48pm

re timing, my guess is that Jordan decided he wanted his theatre for something else when it is time to reopen. Probably something more likely to find an audience at that time. As I have written before, the notion that everything is going to open in some big splash, or that shows that were doing well before will do well in the future, are misguided.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:56pm

Now the theater is free for a BEETLEJOUICE transfer!!!

[IAmAnIslander2]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 6:57pm

MollyJeanneMusic said: "However, I cannot WAIT to see all the high school videos of people attempting to hit the high notes in Someone Gets Hurt (and get so excited when the occasional video is released where the persondoeshit the notes)."

I can almost hear the teenage girls screlting the end of World Burn now.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:00pm

Cute little show. Wasn't my favorite tbh, but hey, at least it made me smile for a night. I wonder what will take the August Wilson next...?

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:09pm

IAmAnIslander2 said: "MollyJeanneMusic said: "However, I cannot WAIT to see all the high school videos of people attempting to hit the high notes in Someone Gets Hurt (and get so excited when the occasional video is released where the persondoeshit the notes)."

I can almost hear the teenage girls screltingthe end of World Burn now."

Get ready for all the productions where Aaron is played by a jock that's never been on stage before but was begged by the drama teacher because they didn't have enough guys in the cast. We'll be praying for the days of Cameron Boyce...

[ACL2006]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:14pm

Definitely sounds like they'll put the money right into the tour. I do wonder what other shows will also close the longer the shutdown goes on?

[joevitus]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:23pm

The show kinda defines mediocrity, both aesthetically and  in terms of a money-generator, no? The sad part is just the loss of jobs, one more reminder of what COVID did to theater. 

[JGPR2]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:26pm

Sad to see any show close but to be honest surprised more have not announced closure.

[windowwaving]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:36pm

Glad I got to see it on Broadway before the shut down. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to last much longer (pre-Covid) but I figured they’d be safe if NBC/Lorne/Fey were trying to keep some synergy with the movie musical that they would pump money into it regardless of ticket sales.

I feel bad for the team that only got a handful of performances in.

Wishing everyone at Mean Girls the best of luck! It wasn’t perfect but it was a lot of fun. The ensemble danced their butts off 8 nights a week.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:37pm

I saw it in DC twice, I laughed. Nothing ground breaking but a more than enjoyable night out.

The August Wilson is one of my favorites. When all reopens, I can’t wait to revisit with a new show.

[MannPhan24601]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 7:57pm

This is strange as it was the big thing marketed on the NBC special ... My last show before Covid was the tour in Philly in Nov 2019 and it was a fun night  at the theater . I took my friend who never saw a musical live.  The cast recording was oddly my 3rd most streamed album on Spotify last year. It Roars and Sexy are two of my favorite showtunes. 

Erika volunteered for the State Rep candidate  I recently worked as an organizer for.  She also did a fundraiser with several other broadway stars for the candidate . She was super nice from my few interactions with her and and she was happy to see a broadway fan working for a candidate(I had actually seen her in Les Mis back in 2015 in the last row at the Imperial on a  high school trip and consider it my first groundbreaking theater expierence)

[darreyl102]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 8:38pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "IAmAnIslander2 said: "MollyJeanneMusic said: "However, I cannot WAIT to see all the high school videos of people attempting to hit the high notes in Someone Gets Hurt (and get so excited when the occasional video is released where the persondoeshit the notes)."

I can almost hear the teenage girls screltingthe end of World Burn now."

Get ready for all the productions where Aaron is played by a jock that's never been on stage before but was begged by the drama teacher because they didn't have enough guys in the cast. We'll be praying for the days of Cameron Boyce..."

Do you mean Cameron Dallas?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 8:42pm

HA! And this show should be really hard to load out as well!

[Broadway Joe]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 8:45pm

I think I lost the online lotto for this show more than any other show I've ever entered but I was glad to finally win in 2019 and get to see the show. I enjoyed it for the most part.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 10:58pm

The timing surprises me a little but the announcement doesn't. I also felt like Tina Fey was hedging a bit when she talked about the show on the NBC special (sounding more enthusiastic and committed about the tour).

I saw the show in Summer 2018. I enjoyed it but it is one of the few shows where I prefer the movie. I thought Kate Rockwell was absolutely fantastic and terribly underrated in the show though. She was a serious Tony snub.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 1/7/21 at 11:01pm

While we are sort of tossing theories out there, I suppose they feel like it's possible that during this downtime, plans for the movie musical version have been ironed out. Stop investing in the space and put that money towards working on the movie. In the time it's going to take to reopen Broadway at this rate, they could be deep into production of the new movie. I was sure all along that the musical would close before the movie to not oversaturate the demand. And honestly... if not for the lock down I think it would have closed in this time since it all started. It would have closed at the end of this past summer or after the holiday season.

[Theatrefanboy1]

Posted: 1/8/21 at 12:21am

I think this is the first of a bit of list of productions to close or cancel: girl from the north country, American buffalo, take me out, plaza suite, ain’t too proud, cursed child, to kill a mockingbird. Possibly even hadestown, jagged little pill. Who might just invest into the tour

[treblemakerz]

Posted: 1/8/21 at 12:35am

Absolutely heartbroken by this. So many people close to my heart worked on this show and I just have no words. No matter what you thought about the show, this cast and the way they worked together was undeniably special and what a loss they will be.

[Mr. Wormwood]

Posted: 1/8/21 at 12:53am

Theatrefanboy1 said: "I think this is the first of a bit of list of productions to close or cancel: girl from the north country, American buffalo, take me out, plaza suite, ain’t too proud, cursed child, to kill a mockingbird. Possibly even hadestown, jagged little pill. Who might just invest into the tour"

I do think there will be more closures but I think you're wrong about Hadestown, TKAM, JLP and Ain't Too Proud. The newer ones, who knows. I do think Cursed Child could be in trouble.