In its ongoing effort to develop young talent, The Belle Theatre has given three musical theater students the opportunity to hone and showcase their musical and acting skills in “Mean Girls High School Edition.”
The first young actor is Kaity Reich. She plays Regina George, the meanest girl in school. Her big song in the pop musical is “World Burn.”
“My highest note in that song is, I believe, a G5, and I mix belting it,” said Reich about performing the song. “So it’s just a lot on my core. I’ve added a couple of different riffs. I added an opt-up and it’s different than Broadway. I decided to go a complete different route.”
The second up-and-coming musical theater aspirant is Paige Oliva. She plays browbeaten underling Gretchen Wieners. Her big number in “Mean Girls” is “What’s Wrong with Me?”
“It’s beautiful, and I get to put myself in the role,” said Oliva. “A lot of people, especially teenagers, have problems like self-esteem issues, and I feel like it’s a very relatable song for like a teenage girl.”
The protagonist in “Mean Girls” is Cady Heron. Her family recently relocated to Illinois from Africa and the new kid runs smack dab into Regina George and the Plastics. Adelyn Cardwell plays Cady. In this role, she has the honor of signing the musical’s soaring finale, “I See Stars.”
“It kind of just reaches out to the audience that you don’t always have to try to be someone else,” Cardwell noted. “You can always just be yourself, and in the end, the true version of who you are is better than any other version.”
Based on their performances in “Mean Girls,” each of these young actors has what it takes to succeed in the realm of musical theater. All they need now is vocal training, direction and work ethic.
Time will tell.
MORE INFORMATION:
“Mean Girls High School Edition” was adapted from Tina Fey’s 2004 blockbuster film and the Broadway smash hit.
The show is packed with keen wit, an undeniably catchy score and sincere message that lands with everyone.
The story revolves around Cady Heron, who grew up on an African savanna. After years of home schooling, she and her parents decide she needs better socialization, so they put her in a public high school where she discovers that she’s ill-prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home in suburban Illinois. At the urging of two new friends bent on revenge, Cady joins the The Plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. Cady and her friends devise a “Revenge Party” to end Regina’s reign as Plastics’ queen bee and the terror of the hallways and school lunch room. But in no time at all, the lines between the real Cady and her Plastic self get blurred. Now she has to find a way back to herself and her true friends.
Adelyn Cardwell plays Cady Heron: Kaity Reich is Regina George; Paige Oliva is Gretchen Wieners; and Sydney Butler is Karen Smith.
Rounding out the cast is Layla Evers as Janis Sarkisian; Kaison Franzke as Damian Hubbard; Connor Devall as Aaron Samuels; Gaege Hock as Kevin G, Giana Geary as Ms. Norbury; Dylan Frink as Mr. Duvall and Jason W; Jadamari Claudio as Mrs. George; Bailey Tack as Mrs. Heron; Daylyn Ianuzzi as Lizzie T; Makenzie Moore as Dawn S; Giada Morell as Sophie K; Jassmine Orozco as Caroline K; Maleah Pachick as Taylor W.; Allyson Sanchez Lopez as Mathletes Moderator, French Teacher and Morgan F; Lilian Schlager as Rachel H; and Madison Schlager as Coach Carr and Teary Girl.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
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