Nell Benjamin: Last News

Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auli’i Cravalho, and Jaquel Spivey join the ensemble cast of Paramount Pictures’ new Mean Girls film based on the Tony-nominated Broadway musical in the roles of Cady, Regina, Janis and Damian, respectively.

Nick Holly, manager, writer, producer, and co-creator of the ABC comedy series Sons & Daughters, died Monday, November 21 of cancer, surrounded by loved ones at his home in Santa Monica, CA. He was 51.

Mean Girls (★★★☆☆) are reprising roles from the 2019-2020 tour, and their experience shows in the well-honed comedy and character work on display.As Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith — two of The Plastics, the pastel-pretty apex predators of the story’s high school jungle — Megan Masako Haley and Jonalyn Saxer know where all the laughs are. They nail Gretchen and Karen’s dramatic beats, too.And Mary Kate Morrissey, with the pipes to elevate every song she takes on, delivers snark without resting on stereotype in her portrayal of proud misfit Janis Sarkisian, eager to see The Plastics toppled from atop the North Shore High food chain.Janis might get her wish with the arrival of new student Cady Heron, played by Danielle Wade, also reprising her role from the previous tour.An American girl raised in Kenya, Cady hasn’t a clue how to navigate the social savagery of a suburban Illinois high school, but she learns fast from Janis and vividly gay fellow outcast Damian Hubbard, performed by Eric Huffman, another in the cast with an engaging take on their character and firm handle on the comic timing.Damian and Janis’ tutelage in numbers like “Where Do You Belong?” sets Cady up for finding popularity.

Mean Girls, the musical adaptation of Tina Fey’s iconic 2004 film, is now back in “fetch” action.The show’s First National Tour, which had kicked off in Buffalo in the fall of 2019, has finally resumed for a run including a three-week stop at the Kennedy Center.Fey adapted her screenplay to create a plucky and wry book further enhanced by songs as appealing as the story, all developed in hodgepodge pop pastiche fashion by Fey’s husband, composer Jeff Richmond working here with lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde).With Casey Nicholaw as director/choreographer, the musical Mean Girls moves with the same exaggerated, kinetic energy as that of an earlier Nicholaw production, The Book of Mormon.The show also calls to mind Dear Evan Hansen due to Scott Pask’s digitally driven set design, a marvel developed with video designers Finn Ross and Adam Young and using sophisticated and colorful projected LED imagery to frame scenes in the jungle, in school, and at home.Danielle Wade stars as Cady Heron, the Janus-faced heroine who works to infiltrate the “Queen Bees” clique led by Nadina Hassan as Regina George.Megan Masako Haley plays Gretchen Wieners and Jonalyn Saxer plays Karen Smith, while Eric Huffman is “almost too gay to function” as Damian Hubbard and Mary Kate Morrissey plays misfit sidekick Janis Sarkisian.The main cast is rounded out by Adante Carter as Aaron Samuels, Kabir Berry as Kevin G., Lawrence E. Street as Mr.

Netflix announced today that Karl Urban (The Boys), Zaris-Angel Hator (The Power), Jared Harris (Foundation), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Boxing Day), Dan Stevens (Gaslit) and Kathy Burke (Tinker Tailor Solider Spy) will topline The Sea Beast, its upcoming animated film from Academy Award winner Chris Williams (Moana, Big Hero 6).

EXCLUSIVE: Husband-wife team Arturo Perez Jr. and Samantha Jayne have signed on to direct the film adaptation of Mean Girls the Musical for Paramount Players. The film will be produced by Lorne Michaels and Tina Fey with a script by Fey and featuring music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin, who did the music from the Broadway production.