Sabrina Carpenter & more debut in Mean Girls on Broadway

Mean Girls welcomes four new principal cast members to the Broadway company.

Here come the Apex Predators! Four new principal cast members are set to debut in the Broadway premiere production of Mean Girls at the August Wilson Theatre tonight.

As previously reported, singer, songwriter & actress Sabrina Carpenter officially makes her Broadway debut as leading lady Cady Heron for a limited 14-week engagement through June 7, 2020. Ms. Carpenter rose to fame in 2014 as Maya Hart on The Disney Channel's "Girl Meets World." Her other notable screen credits include "The Hate U Give," "Tall Girl" on Netflix, and "The Short History of the Long Road," and her studio albums as a recording artist include Singular: Act I and Singular: Act II.

In addition, Chad Burris, who recently made his Broadway debut as Olaf in Disney's Frozen, assumes the role of Damian Hubbard, whilst company member Olivia Kaufmann graduates to the role of Janis Sarkisian. Finally, Laura Leigh Turner​ makes her Broadway debut as Karen Smith tonight.

Original company members Kate Rockwell, Barrett Wilbert Weed and Tony Award nominee Grey Henson all played their final performances in the musical on March 8, whilst original star Erika Henningsen departed the production on February 22 to begin rehearsals for Lincoln Center Theater's upcoming Broadway premiere of Flying Over Sunset.

The current principal cast of Mean Girls includes Sabrina Carpenter (as Cady Heron), Reneé Rapp (as Regina George), Krystina Labado (as Gretchen Wieners), Laura Leigh Turner (as Karen Smith), Olivia Kaufmann (as Janis Sarkisian), Chad Burris (as Damian Hubbard), Catherine Brunell​ (as Ms. Norbury), Kyle Selig (as Aaron Samuels), Cheech Manohar (as Kevin Gnapoor), and Rick Younger (as Mr. Duvall).

Mean Girls began previews at Broadway's August Wilson Theatre on March 12, 2018, ahead of an official opening on April 8.

Mean Girls features a book by Tony Award nominee and 9-time Emmy Award winner Tina Fey, along with music by her husband, Tony Award nominee and 3-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond (composer of "30 Rock" and "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt") and lyrics by 2-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin. The production is directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw.

Synopsis: "After years of living with her zoologist parents in Africa, Cady Heron moves to Illinois and must find where she fits in the social hierarchy. A sweet, naive newbie, Cady quickly attracts the attention of The Plastics, a trio of popular frenemies led by the vicious and calculating Regina George. When Cady devises a plan to end Regina's reign, she learns that you can't cross a Queen Bee without getting stung."

The creative team also features music direction by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, orchestrations by John Clancy, dance & incidental music arrangements by Glen Kelly, additional music arrangements by Jeff Richmond & Glen Kelly, and music coordination by Howard Joines. Scenic design is by Scott Pask, costume design by Gregg Barnes, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, and sound design by Brian Ronan, with video design by Finn Ross & Adam Young, hair design by Josh Marquette, and make-up design by Milagros Medina-Cerdeira.

Mean Girls is produced on Broadway by Lorne Michaels (who also produced the 2004 movie), Stuart Thompson and Paramount Pictures.

The film was released in April 2004 and starred Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Seyfried, Rachel McAdams, Lacey Chabert and Lizzy Caplan, grossing almost $130,000,000 worldwide and achieving a cult status for fans all around the world. A movie musical adaptation is also currently in the works.

Mean Girls Tickets are available now for performances through September 6, 2020.

^{(Sabrian Carpenter photo by Steve Granitz)}