Interview: Adante Carter of MEAN GIRLS, the Hilarious Broadway Musical Coming to The Peace Center May 24-29
You know you wanna sit with the cool kids.
Get out your favorite pink outfit - The Plastics are coming to Greenville.
The first national tour of MEAN GIRLS, the hit Broadway musical comedy based on the 2004 film, runs May 24-29 at The Peace Center. Directed by Casey Nicholaw (ALADDIN, THE BOOK OF MORMON), with music by Jeff Richmond ("30 Rock," "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), lyrics by Nell Benjamin (LEGALLY BLONDE), and book by Tina Fey ("30 Rock," "Saturday Night Live," Bossypants), MEAN GIRLS tells the story of Cady Heron, who grew up on an African savanna - but that experience did not prepare her for the wild and vicious trio of lionized frenemies populating her savage new home: suburban Illinois. Will Cady be able to tame The Plastics and their charming but ruthless leader Regina George? Or will she end up becoming her own worst enemy?
Another key question for Cady is this: will she find love with the dreamy Aaron Samuels?
Adante Carter plays Aaron Samuels in the touring production, and BWW recently spoke to him by phone. Carter grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, where he got involved in the community theatre scene. As a theatre kid in high school, he thought of himself more as a floater between social groups, rather than being a member of a specific clique. But theatre was his first love, and after high school he attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. "I wanted to study musical theatre," he said, "and AMDA has campuses in L.A. and New York. Since I grew up in Rapid City, I picked L.A. for the weather. But then later I ended up moving to NYC, so..."
Carter first auditioned for MEAN GIRLS before it even arrived on Broadway, for its out of town tryouts, getting pretty far along in the process. "Then a couple years later my agent called and said they wanted to see me for the tour." After numerous callbacks over a period of months, Carter finally got cast, starting with the tour when it kicked off in the fall of 2019.
He says that the rehearsal process was a dream, especially working with the original creative team to enhance and sometimes even rethink the Broadway version so that the national tour could present the best possible version of the musical. "The whole production was revisited," Carter said, "to give it a new breath." He even had the unforgettable experience of having Tina Fey write new material for him, tailoring some of his character's lines to fit his interpretation.
But he also emphasizes that fans of the original movie will not be disappointed. "You'll get all the moments you love from the film, plus the bonus of all these high energy songs."
His favorite number is a song called "Sexy." "The costumes are amazing," he says. "Ever since I was a kid I have always loved Halloween, and watching this song, well, it's literally Halloween every night."
Carter also says it doesn't matter if you're familiar with the movie to have a good time. "It's a night of fun and laughter and relatability," he says. "We've all been to high school we've all had to work through these emotions and these relations with other people. And it's always great to be reminded to always be your authentic true self.
When asked for any advice for audience members, Carter had only one thing to say: "Wear pink to the theatre!"
Especially if you're going to be there on Wednesday.
MEAN GIRLS runs May 24-29 at the Peace Center in downtown Greenville, SC. For tickets and showtimes, call the box office at 864.467.3000 or visit peacecenter.org.
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