@@chriskaiias1007 you’re correct. My high school students begged me to do Heathers Teen/High School Edition several years ago and I did read through the script but it still included a lot of problems, including a PG-13 s*xual scene. I just didn’t feel comfortable directing high school students in that storyline and felt we had so many better options, but I can’t imagine if they were to make versions aimed at Jr performers (middle school) or even kids (elementary)! Yikes.
Our high school is doing the highschool version (I'm playing Damian which was almost an issue because a law was just passed that says I can't in Florida but we're doing it anyway-) The show is going relatively well and we're not really changing a lot of the themes or language since our teacher is retiring after the year ends ☠️ we did have to cut the show down quite a lot though because there were issues with timing and getting our scripts and materials late so it's not exactly what we imagined but I think it will still be great!
I did a mean girls Jr summer camp and the youngest person was going into 7th grade and the oldest was going to be a senior. For rockin around the people you can make the choreo be appropriate and you can have Regina be wearing shorts or the skirt doesnt even have to completely fall off. Everyone involved in our production had a lot of fun and enjoyed it very much.
This is so true!, I'm doing Mean Girls High School Edition with my high school next year and we couldnt be more happy! However I do agree with the Jr.'s version problems.
My middle school did Mean Girls Jr and it was “interesting” the jokes and the acting and the singing were very clunky and clumsy. I feel like the points you made really made me understand why Mean Girls Jr doesn’t really work for some schools.
I wish my school would do Mean Girls Jr (we can’t because of budget reasons), I am doing Legally Blonde Jr with a drama program and it is really fun, although I’m playing Callahan 😅
my school's putting on mean girls jr in a few weeks for the sole reason that it's shorter (our town as an audience prefers short shows, we just want the best turnout) but it's super interesting to see someone discuss all of the changes made!!! i personally love the original musical but didn't pay too much attention to what had changed besides cut songs (rip someone gets hurt and stop), and now i'm kind of thinking over how weird it is to have mean girls as a musical directed to younger kids (our cast goes from 6th - 12th grade, but still). good video!!!!!
Just did this version of the show with my theater company this summer. We consider ourselves a professional training program; so the cast learned the show in 5 days and the following week was tech. It was an intense process with all the material and the short timeframe but it turned out strong, the cast had a lot of fun, our houses were filled, and was a great summer show. Ultimately I think this show is better geared towards a company or like mine or high schoolers because it does toe the line. Prior to sign-ups we did provide parents the link to read the script and an alternative show option they could have their kid participate in. Many of the actors that participated in our show we’ve also trained from a young age, so we knew they could handle the material; more so with the singing and acting than the content itself. I even asked some parents to read the script prior to announcing the show and they all said their kid has heard and seen worse at school. Parents also trust that we know what we are doing and that we would never put their kid in an uncomfortable situation. As for the cuts from the original I think what helped is I’m not a huge MG fan. I saw it on Broadway and it was fine, but it was nothing to write home about. I was more bothered they cut down “Apex Predator” than anything else. “Rocking’ around the Pole” is only about 10 seconds long and we had Regina and the girls wear Christmas aprons to mitigate any unneeded costume changes and make it easier for it to rip from Regina. Other than that I will say that it does teach an important lesson and we even had a kid thanking us because it allowed him to be his authentic self (he played Damian.) Again I get why it would be difficult for a middle school to do it, but it shouldn’t be completely out of the running for other companies.
This is such a good point I didn’t touch on, thank you for bringing it up! YES, it is problematic (in my opinion) that the bullying present in this show attacks sexuality and we’re expecting jr. high students to represent that, yikes!
@@cayleejorue! it’s also odd that they chose to keep this part in because they remove talking about damian’s sexuality at all, specifically the famous line “too gay to function”. they also remove his song “stop” in which he talks about a romance he had with another boy named philip. i don’t like this because the only representation of queer people is negative 😕
I'm actually about to audition for this because I love Mean Girls but I also want to know if Mean Girls as a jr production will work onstage and decided that the only way to know for sure is by reading the script, listening to the soundtrack, and (fingers crossed) getting to be apart of the show.
I (a senior in High School) am doing Mean Girls Jr. at the end of April with my community theater and I am so conflicted about it. Mean girls is my favorite musical and I ADORE this show, but I am so upset that I can’t do the High School version because my High School doesn’t have a theater program. I am still SO excited, but the show is watered down and doesn’t have the same wow factor. The songs are shortened EXTENSIVELY in the Jr. or just cut completely unlike the HS version which is just the full show that’s available to high schools pretty much 🥲
I am sorry that you won't have the opportunity to do the version that you prefer, BUT on the plus side, you are at the top of the age bracket for a Jr. show, meaning you are more likely to be considered for those larger roles. I would make it a personal goal to take whatever role you earn and infuse them with as much passion as if you were doing the longer version - your fellow castmates will feel your energy and try to match it, and the audience will clearly see your effort. Do not fret, make this the best experience yet, and I hope you have an opportunity in the future to do the longer version. Break a leg!
I absolutely agree with everything you said. I play Damian in my theater company’s mean girls jr. While I’m a high schooler, most people in there are around the lower end of middle school. I think it’s not the most problematic show ever, but I never viewed it as a jr. It’s weird watching a bunch of kids recite monologues about counting calories and who they’re hooking up with. I personally believe the jr should only be used as an alternative to the high school version for high schools that may be stricter with censorship.
This came up as a suggested video for me! My rising 8th grader is dying for her middle school to do Mean Girls! My oldest (she just graduated high school a few weeks ago) has done a lot of inappropriate musicals lol. In middle school she did Spelling Been- not the cleaned up version. The teacher gave the kid playing Chip the option to sing the clean song and he went with the original. She was just Queenie in Wild Party. She did Les Miserables School Edition twice. She also did Sweeney Todd School Edition last summer and Jeckyll and Hyde last fall. We joke that she either died or cried over a dead body in every show - sometimes more than once.
I’m preforming Mean Girls jr with my small theater company, the age is 10-18 and I’m playing Cady, we are adding Sexy and Someone gets hurt I personally love the soundtrack and I’m really excited for the show!
One thing you didn’t mention was that they also removed stop. Which is fair considering… some of the lyrics. But as someone who got cast as Damian it made me a little sad that I don’t get to sing it
At this point, you might as well make "Camp Rock" a middle-school theatre production cause it seems more wholesome than "Mean Girls." I don't know why, but "Camp Rock" seems like a much better idea than "Mean Girls" for middle schoolers, cause it still involves a group of three girls who are bullies (at least the blonde leader is the bully, and the other two girls follow) just not as serious as what happens in "Mean Girls." Next thing you know they're gonna make "Wicked The Musical Jr.". Imagine how they would adapt that for kids!
Well Mean Girls Jr is super lighthearted and funny, and when I did the show there seemed to be no problems at all. It was a very fun, wholesome, cute show when we produced it!
We are actually doing this musical for our theater camp it’s really fun and our choreographer changed the talent show dances but most of our kids are late middle school and Highschoolers so if it was only middle school then I get why because it feels kinda weird hearing some of the lines but other than that it’s really fun and I think that it’s a great experience
Some of the changes and stuff they left in are REALLY odd, especially the mention of drugs and "raise your right HAND?! (What?!). I think the script needed at least another few passes before release. Yikes. That said, I feel if the subject matter is discussed beforehand with the kids, it could open up an interesting discussion about how the situations in the show reflect their daily lives, and perhaps be a good breaking ground for how they can work at building healthier relationships with one another. As someone who wasn't in middle school too long ago, the situations are quite realistic to the real world (which, yes, is a problem) and perhaps it could be incredibly cathartic to play out these very real (to them) scenarios onstage without judgement. Still, it baffles me that this exists. Do Legally Blonde instead. It's even a better-written show.
Yeah, that's a good point. Discussing the subject matter with the kids beforehand would help them understand what you should and should not do in certain school and non-school situations. Especially girls, cause I'm sure there's things that happen in the musical that middle-school girls can relate to.
I have a question about one of the changes you didn't mention. So, Stupid with love got removed from the JR version and I'm a little new to Mean Girls but I feel like that song was kinda important to Aaron and Cady's story and with Regina and Aaron breaking up. Did they remove it for a specific reason or just to shorten the show?
I’m not certain why it was removed - I agree it was important to the relationship between those two characters - but I imagination your inclination that it was to shorten the show is correct!
my high school is likely gonna do this in the spring. it's a jr adaptation that i don't mind, I like that they did keep some of the more campy/raunchy humour and stuff. hoping to get cady or janis! my friends think id be good as either of them so fingers crossed 🤞
i did mean girls jr, i was regina, im 16, in a 14-16 class. they definitely cut out some stuff that couldve stayed in but otherwise it isnt bad at all.
That's very exciting! A community theatre group I worked with when I was younger is actually opening that show today as well! (SLT - located in the Midwest, just in case we happen to be talking about the same place ;) ). Regardless, break a leg!
I had to pause the video after she mentioned 'Id rather be me' just to pick my jaw off of the floor because i thought she meant they got rid of the song entirely😭😭
How come Someone Gets Hurt was removed? Warranted I can’t really remember the song, the way I took it it was Regina relaying her life in a way that paints herself out to be a victim of life to manipulate Aaron.
We wouldn't have been allowed to do this show at my high school, let alone earlier than that. Also they had to have cut/changed Karen's part in Stop, right? That'd be THE most inapproriate part of this show for middle schoolers IMO.
I’m surprised the song “Sexy” wasn’t turned into the song “Pretty”
Sounds like something would do lol
“I can be a pretty doctor and cure some pretty cancer”
or sassy
The fact that this was written as a junior musical at all is so goofy. What next? Heathers kids?
AGREED! I sincerely hope Heathers Kids isn’t on the horizon, but I wouldn’t be shocked 🙃.
@@cayleejo Heathers Teen Edition exists.
@@chriskaiias1007 you’re correct. My high school students begged me to do Heathers Teen/High School Edition several years ago and I did read through the script but it still included a lot of problems, including a PG-13 s*xual scene. I just didn’t feel comfortable directing high school students in that storyline and felt we had so many better options, but I can’t imagine if they were to make versions aimed at Jr performers (middle school) or even kids (elementary)! Yikes.
Sweeney Todd Jr.
@@joesensor4508There's a school edition.
as somebody who is currently trying to convince her theatre teacher that we should do this musical, this was helpful. mostly. i think. yeah.
Our high school is doing the highschool version (I'm playing Damian which was almost an issue because a law was just passed that says I can't in Florida but we're doing it anyway-) The show is going relatively well and we're not really changing a lot of the themes or language since our teacher is retiring after the year ends ☠️ we did have to cut the show down quite a lot though because there were issues with timing and getting our scripts and materials late so it's not exactly what we imagined but I think it will still be great!
Wishing you the breakage of many limbs!
@@cayleejo I’m using that now 😂
I did a mean girls Jr summer camp and the youngest person was going into 7th grade and the oldest was going to be a senior. For rockin around the people you can make the choreo be appropriate and you can have Regina be wearing shorts or the skirt doesnt even have to completely fall off. Everyone involved in our production had a lot of fun and enjoyed it very much.
yes!! i just did mean girls jr earlier this month and rocking around the pole we had them in tshirts and tutus with shorts underneath!!
This is so true!, I'm doing Mean Girls High School Edition with my high school next year and we couldnt be more happy! However I do agree with the Jr.'s version problems.
I wish your future cast the breakage of many limbs!
When I did Mean Girls Jr. two years ago(we had the high school edition rights but we did the one act version) it was so so so fun!!!
I was watching mean girls in 2nd grade. The kids would love doing that way more than Garfield the musical or whatever they do now.
My middle school did Mean Girls Jr and it was “interesting” the jokes and the acting and the singing were very clunky and clumsy. I feel like the points you made really made me understand why Mean Girls Jr doesn’t really work for some schools.
Just got cast as Aaron in mean girls Jr at a local theatre company in my area and am thankful for this video
Wishing you the breakage of many limbs!
same bro i got aaron
This is ironic, I'm doing Mean Girls Jr. right now. Also, I find a lot of kids enjoy doing Legally Blonde Jr.
Legally Blonde Jr is completely G rated. As a girl who was in Legally Blonde Jr it was a fun show! I also did Mean Girls Jr! I played Cady
I wish my school would do Mean Girls Jr (we can’t because of budget reasons), I am doing Legally Blonde Jr with a drama program and it is really fun, although I’m playing Callahan 😅
My summer camp is doing Mean Girls Jr! How was it for you?
@@dumbsheep1134 It was alright. My play director personally thanked me after closing night saying I did a great job.
@@snoozersnail What role did you get?
my school's putting on mean girls jr in a few weeks for the sole reason that it's shorter (our town as an audience prefers short shows, we just want the best turnout) but it's super interesting to see someone discuss all of the changes made!!! i personally love the original musical but didn't pay too much attention to what had changed besides cut songs (rip someone gets hurt and stop), and now i'm kind of thinking over how weird it is to have mean girls as a musical directed to younger kids (our cast goes from 6th - 12th grade, but still). good video!!!!!
Break a leg!
Just did this version of the show with my theater company this summer. We consider ourselves a professional training program; so the cast learned the show in 5 days and the following week was tech. It was an intense process with all the material and the short timeframe but it turned out strong, the cast had a lot of fun, our houses were filled, and was a great summer show. Ultimately I think this show is better geared towards a company or like mine or high schoolers because it does toe the line. Prior to sign-ups we did provide parents the link to read the script and an alternative show option they could have their kid participate in. Many of the actors that participated in our show we’ve also trained from a young age, so we knew they could handle the material; more so with the singing and acting than the content itself. I even asked some parents to read the script prior to announcing the show and they all said their kid has heard and seen worse at school. Parents also trust that we know what we are doing and that we would never put their kid in an uncomfortable situation. As for the cuts from the original I think what helped is I’m not a huge MG fan. I saw it on Broadway and it was fine, but it was nothing to write home about. I was more bothered they cut down “Apex Predator” than anything else. “Rocking’ around the Pole” is only about 10 seconds long and we had Regina and the girls wear Christmas aprons to mitigate any unneeded costume changes and make it easier for it to rip from Regina. Other than that I will say that it does teach an important lesson and we even had a kid thanking us because it allowed him to be his authentic self (he played Damian.) Again I get why it would be difficult for a middle school to do it, but it shouldn’t be completely out of the running for other companies.
I think you're spot on! It's all about what works for each group
i was waiting for her to talk about the plastics still calling janice a space lesbian
i have read through the mean girls jr script
This is such a good point I didn’t touch on, thank you for bringing it up! YES, it is problematic (in my opinion) that the bullying present in this show attacks sexuality and we’re expecting jr. high students to represent that, yikes!
space lesbian is less problematic than space d*** in the Broadway version. ☹️
@@chriskaiias1007 agreed!
In my production they called Janis a Living Freak Show
@@cayleejorue! it’s also odd that they chose to keep this part in because they remove talking about damian’s sexuality at all, specifically the famous line “too gay to function”. they also remove his song “stop” in which he talks about a romance he had with another boy named philip. i don’t like this because the only representation of queer people is negative 😕
I'm actually about to audition for this because I love Mean Girls but I also want to know if Mean Girls as a jr production will work onstage and decided that the only way to know for sure is by reading the script, listening to the soundtrack, and (fingers crossed) getting to be apart of the show.
Break a leg at your audition! I'm sure your preparation will pay off!
@@cayleejo thankssss
I (a senior in High School) am doing Mean Girls Jr. at the end of April with my community theater and I am so conflicted about it. Mean girls is my favorite musical and I ADORE this show, but I am so upset that I can’t do the High School version because my High School doesn’t have a theater program. I am still SO excited, but the show is watered down and doesn’t have the same wow factor. The songs are shortened EXTENSIVELY in the Jr. or just cut completely unlike the HS version which is just the full show that’s available to high schools pretty much 🥲
I am sorry that you won't have the opportunity to do the version that you prefer, BUT on the plus side, you are at the top of the age bracket for a Jr. show, meaning you are more likely to be considered for those larger roles. I would make it a personal goal to take whatever role you earn and infuse them with as much passion as if you were doing the longer version - your fellow castmates will feel your energy and try to match it, and the audience will clearly see your effort. Do not fret, make this the best experience yet, and I hope you have an opportunity in the future to do the longer version. Break a leg!
My middle school did freaky Friday- our director was a janitor, our set was a table, and they cut half of the show 😃
this show is happening at my theater in june - this was very helpful thank you!
Glad I could help! 😊
I absolutely agree with everything you said. I play Damian in my theater company’s mean girls jr. While I’m a high schooler, most people in there are around the lower end of middle school. I think it’s not the most problematic show ever, but I never viewed it as a jr. It’s weird watching a bunch of kids recite monologues about counting calories and who they’re hooking up with. I personally believe the jr should only be used as an alternative to the high school version for high schools that may be stricter with censorship.
This came up as a suggested video for me! My rising 8th grader is dying for her middle school to do Mean Girls! My oldest (she just graduated high school a few weeks ago) has done a lot of inappropriate musicals lol. In middle school she did Spelling Been- not the cleaned up version. The teacher gave the kid playing Chip the option to sing the clean song and he went with the original. She was just Queenie in Wild Party. She did Les Miserables School Edition twice. She also did Sweeney Todd School Edition last summer and Jeckyll and Hyde last fall. We joke that she either died or cried over a dead body in every show - sometimes more than once.
I’m preforming Mean Girls jr with my small theater company, the age is 10-18 and I’m playing Cady, we are adding Sexy and Someone gets hurt I personally love the soundtrack and I’m really excited for the show!
One thing you didn’t mention was that they also removed stop. Which is fair considering… some of the lyrics. But as someone who got cast as Damian it made me a little sad that I don’t get to sing it
Thankyou for pointing that out - I'm so sorry you weren't able to sing that song as Damian, but what an awesome role to have.
@@cayleejo Of course. It’s no big deal I’m still soooooo excited I’m doing it
At this point, you might as well make "Camp Rock" a middle-school theatre production cause it seems more wholesome than "Mean Girls." I don't know why, but "Camp Rock" seems like a much better idea than "Mean Girls" for middle schoolers, cause it still involves a group of three girls who are bullies (at least the blonde leader is the bully, and the other two girls follow) just not as serious as what happens in "Mean Girls." Next thing you know they're gonna make "Wicked The Musical Jr.". Imagine how they would adapt that for kids!
Well Mean Girls Jr is super lighthearted and funny, and when I did the show there seemed to be no problems at all. It was a very fun, wholesome, cute show when we produced it!
i don’t think that 22 songs would be too hard to learn considering seussical is just songs and barely any lines
I love suessical, and was in the jr version. I don’t quite remember what was changed in the jr version
We are actually doing this musical for our theater camp it’s really fun and our choreographer changed the talent show dances but most of our kids are late middle school and Highschoolers so if it was only middle school then I get why because it feels kinda weird hearing some of the lines but other than that it’s really fun and I think that it’s a great experience
I’m planning on auditioning for Damien and I was so sad when I realized that they cut Damien’s song! (At least from what I found)
i used to listen to the musicals soundtrack while doing homework 😂
I can't wait for Next to Normal JR.
Gypsy, Jr?
@@joesensor4508Gypsy rose lee is just a professional model now lmao
Me who though she was actually going to read the entire script in 9 minutes: 💀
Some of the changes and stuff they left in are REALLY odd, especially the mention of drugs and "raise your right HAND?! (What?!). I think the script needed at least another few passes before release. Yikes.
That said, I feel if the subject matter is discussed beforehand with the kids, it could open up an interesting discussion about how the situations in the show reflect their daily lives, and perhaps be a good breaking ground for how they can work at building healthier relationships with one another. As someone who wasn't in middle school too long ago, the situations are quite realistic to the real world (which, yes, is a problem) and perhaps it could be incredibly cathartic to play out these very real (to them) scenarios onstage without judgement.
Still, it baffles me that this exists. Do Legally Blonde instead. It's even a better-written show.
Yeah, that's a good point. Discussing the subject matter with the kids beforehand would help them understand what you should and should not do in certain school and non-school situations. Especially girls, cause I'm sure there's things that happen in the musical that middle-school girls can relate to.
We just said(in my show): Ms Norbury is a pushy old creep
The studio where I live just got the rights to this but they are doing freakin finding dory?? 😭
i feel like the mean girls jr musical was more for highschool than middleschool
I have a question about one of the changes you didn't mention. So, Stupid with love got removed from the JR version and I'm a little new to Mean Girls but I feel like that song was kinda important to Aaron and Cady's story and with Regina and Aaron breaking up. Did they remove it for a specific reason or just to shorten the show?
I’m not certain why it was removed - I agree it was important to the relationship between those two characters - but I imagination your inclination that it was to shorten the show is correct!
They still have stupid with love in the jr version
my high school is likely gonna do this in the spring. it's a jr adaptation that i don't mind, I like that they did keep some of the more campy/raunchy humour and stuff. hoping to get cady or janis! my friends think id be good as either of them so fingers crossed 🤞
Break a leg!
TIL SOMEONE GETS HURT GETS TAKEN OUT? thats my 13th reason
I convinced my drama teacher to do mean girls jr and im playing Regina George
we’re doing dear edwina, it’s not for middle schoolers cuz it’s too childish but it was the only option with our small elementary+middle school
i did mean girls jr, i was regina, im 16, in a 14-16 class. they definitely cut out some stuff that couldve stayed in but otherwise it isnt bad at all.
I'm actually in dear Edwina Jr! I'm playing Abigail and our first show is tomorrow.
That's very exciting! A community theatre group I worked with when I was younger is actually opening that show today as well! (SLT - located in the Midwest, just in case we happen to be talking about the same place ;) ). Regardless, break a leg!
I’ve seen a production and thought Sexy was turned to Sassy? And Rocking Around the Pole was cut? Just referenced? Has it changed?
I had to pause the video after she mentioned 'Id rather be me' just to pick my jaw off of the floor because i thought she meant they got rid of the song entirely😭😭
I’m doing mean girls jr in maybe two weeks, I read through the script at least 3 times because I both wanted to prepare and laugh at the changes 😂
Wicked high school version when????
I'm doing Mean Girls JR at my school
honestly terrified🧍♂️
I did it at my local theatre
The problem with it as a Jr. musical is literally its essence. I don't think it works
How come Someone Gets Hurt was removed? Warranted I can’t really remember the song, the way I took it it was Regina relaying her life in a way that paints herself out to be a victim of life to manipulate Aaron.
It was a little bit more inappropriate for a jr adaptation
We wouldn't have been allowed to do this show at my high school, let alone earlier than that.
Also they had to have cut/changed Karen's part in Stop, right? That'd be THE most inapproriate part of this show for middle schoolers IMO.
I never realized the right finger thing until now.
i’m doing this musical this summer haha
as a 7th grader*
I did it as a 4th-5th grader at a local theatre, it was hectic but amazing
@@kidkrowtaylor DANG thats young for this musical. I bet the experience was fun though! Our cast is 7th and 8th graders
@@vividxox It was awesome! I was Cady and the understudy for Janis! Who do you play?
@@kidkrowtaylor its very late summer so auditions are in june! i’ll update you when i find out who i get :)
I’m hoping i can be in MG Jr at the very start of my senior year 🤞
Wishing you the breakage of many limbs!
NO WHY DID THEY CUT SOMEONE GETS HURT THATS THE BEST SONG
frr
my highschool is doing mean girls this year
DEAR EDWINA IS MY FAVOURITE MUSICAL
Do you think you could do Newsies Jr?
YES! It's on my to do list!
Did they cut Stop from the Jr. Version? It’s not listed on the MTI site as a song in the show.
Yes, it was cut.
We cut Stop in our production
Could you cover legally blonde jr and talk about the changes
Yes! It’s on my to do list ☺️
Can you do 13? Also my sister is an a 14-16 class and she’s Kevin G in mean girls jr! (She’s not white dw)
I’ll see what I can do! Thanks for the suggestion!
Can you do a review of legally blonde jr?
I can! I appreciate the suggestion.
Please do this with some others, especially shrek
I just auditioned and I think that i did well, but I love the original musical, I want to know the difference
I’ll see what I can do! Thanks for the suggestion!
It is aporoet
Im doing it lmao
Read beetle juice jr next
THAT'S A THING? I do know that a PG13 version of Beetlejuice exists(I saw the PG13 version on Broadway)
I myself, just find jr musicals kind of whack, my secondary school (11-18/16) did les mis, unchanged, and had 11 year olds swearing and stuff.
Why is this goofy ah