It is playing here in Dublin and I braved the torrential rain of an Irish August to check it out this evening!
I loved it which surprised me because I was slightly meh on the film version of the musical we got in 2024. I guess it just clicked better on stage.
I really liked Regina, Karen, Gretchen, Janis and Damien. I have to say in the first have I wasn't entirely sure about the portrayal of Regina; she felt a little too heartless and Cady's relationship with her felt a little too hostile - in the film I always got the feeling Cady genuinely liked and admired Regina up until the Halloween party and Regina, in her own ruthless Queen Bee way, had a genuine liking for Cady. That said Regina's actress and the songs won me over and I did like the more sympathetic take on her in the second half.
I also appreciated cutting out Regina becoming a jock. I know a lot of people like it and I don't *dislike* it really but it carried an unfortunate 'girly girls are bad vibe'. Why can't a redeemed Regina still love her fashion - it worked for Elle Woods!
Cady wasn't bad an her actress could really sing but I felt the same here that I did in 2024: you need someone with the sheer charisma and likability of young Lindsay Lohan to stop the role getting submerged by the bigger characters.
The songs were a lot of fun, especially 'Apex Predator' and Gretchen and Karen's numbers and obviously Janis's key song. I think I slightly prefer the music from the 'Legally Blonde' musical which I saw in the same theatre last month but they were still some great bangers there.
Anyway, long story short that was great!
