Pink, pretty and oh-so-mean is the fall musical for the Barnstable High School Drama Club. It makes sense that all three nights of “Mean Girls” last weekend were completely sold out; it was a hit amongst all those who attended the play. It was well-performed, funny and so relatable!
Three new members of the BHSDC were given lead roles in the musical and performed beyond expectations. Senior Sophia Lewis and Junior Kayro Dos Santos were cast perfectly fo
r their roles of Janis Ian and Damien Hubbard. As well as the new girl, Cady Heron played by Taylor Foley, who is also new to Barnstable this year.
My favorite song of the whole show was “Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)”, and Lewis’s performance of it was absolutely moving. She brought Janis to life with her beautiful voice and her sarcastic personality.
Kayro Dos Santos’ Damien was the life of the party! His kick lines, his built for broadway voice, his energy, and obvious love for his role was so vibrant. If I had gone to watch the show a second time I probably would have gone just to watch him . Transferring from Dennis Yarmouth last year, Dos Santos has already sealed himself a place in BHSDC and I hope he is here to stay because his performing abilities are absolutely beautiful!
The last of the new members is Taylor Foley who did Cady Heron so much justice. I had heard Foley sing since before during the national anthem for a football game but she was truly meant for center stage, not the commentators box. Her Cady Heron was funny, snappy and an absolute pleasure to watch.
One of the highlights of the show was also junior Taylor MacDonald’s performance as Regina George. From her first song to her last, she was absolutely perfect. She embodied Regina so well and gave her the diva voice she deserved. The director of the BHSDC Mary Barth cast these roles like her life depended on it and she absolutely killed it.
All of the actors did very well in the fall musical, but as a past crew member I think it’s important to mention the stage and light crew that worked just as hard to get the show off the ground. Both crews were extremely limited this fall; the run crew used to line the front of the stage, but now it has been reduced to less than 10 people. Even with that, the cast and stage crew came together to do quick set changes and create an amazing show.
One of my favorite parts of the show was how interactive it was. The cast was in the house, walking up and down aisles and using them to their advantage. Like, during “Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)”, instead of a car, Janis and Damien came riding in on a moped! It was absolutely hilarious. They stayed true to the movie and kept it moving; it didn’t stop once during the song which is so impressive from Janis’s actress, Sophia Lewis, to sing while on the move like that!
“Mean Girls” the movie is pretty inappropriate, which is what makes it so funny. I half expected for all the cussing and definitely not school appropriate jokes to be taken out or changed, but that was not the case at all! There was a healthy amount of swear words and things were definitely censored, but not in a way that made it boring.
Another thing they did well was iconic re-creations of different scenes from the movie, like when Damien is in the gym with all the junior girls with his hoodie and sunglasses and does his “She doesn’t even go here” line! I nearly jumped out of my seat. I was so happy to see it.
Overall, “Mean Girls the Musical” blew me out of the water with its humor, talented cast, and hard working crew. I hope the spring musical will be just as good with the performance of “The Little Mermaid.”
