What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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JOCELYN MURPHY NWA Democrat-Gazette G et in loser. We're going to the Walton Arts Center. If it's like you have ESPN or something; if you're not like a regular mom, you're a cool mom; if you've ever been personally victimized by Regina George; and if you know that on Wednesdays we wear pink, I've got to think that you've already purchased your ticket to the new "Mean Girls" Broadway musical, making its Arkansas premiere Dec. 14-19 at the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville. If all of these references went completely over your head, you've got the chance to be introduced to one of the most quotable comedies of the mid-2000s for the first time. And that is so fetch. "Saturday Night Live" heavyweight, "30 Rock" creator/writer and all- around comedic genius Tina Fey wrote the 2004 film starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams that would go on to become a cult classic comedy and, now, a Broadway musical. Both movie and show are based on the book "Queen Bees and Wannabees" by Rosalind Wiseman, and the latter sees Fey back in the writer's seat for the transition to the stage. The award-winning creative team is rounded out by composer Jeff Richmond ("Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"), lyricist Nell Benjamin ("Legally Blonde") and director Casey Nicholaw ("The Book of Mormon"). "You will hear a lot of your favorite quotes," promises Megan Masako Haley, who stars as Gretchen Wieners. "Our creative team did a really good job, Tina Fey did a really good job of setting up a lot of the jokes that you'll recognize but then kind of switching out punch lines that are still surprising, but funny in the exact same way that you're hoping for when you see 'Mean Girls.'" Haley's character Gretchen is part of a group of girls known as "the Plastics" — beyond popular, these three are high school social royalty. And they've decided our heroine, Cady Heron, can sit with them for the rest of the week. Cady has just moved to the United States from Africa where her parents worked, and she is naïve to the savage jungle high school really is — and how to safely navigate the social food chain. "The story is about integrity versus conformity, being true to yourself," offers Jennifer Ross, WAC director of programming. "It does take you back to high school and puts you smack dab in the middle of all those cliques and weird things — all of that stuff that DECEMBER 12-18, 2021 WHAT'S UP! 5 FAQ 'Mean Girls' WHEN — 7 p.m. Dec. 14; 7 p.m Dec. 15; 1:30 & 7 p.m. Dec. 16; 8 p.m. Dec. 17; 2 & 8 p.m. Dec. 18; 2 p.m. Dec. 19 WHERE — Walton Arts Center, 495 W. Dickson St. in Fayetteville COST — $41-$125 INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter. org; meangirlsonbroadway.com FYI — Masks are required inside the venue for all patrons. Change Is Fetch Haley is among the company members who run a separate Insta- gram account from the musical's main account, called @changeisfetch. Everyone in the touring company is involved, and the account serves as a conduit for highlighting important work happening in the communities "Mean Girls" visits, Haley reveals. "It's where we do land acknowledg- ments of the Native lands that we're on. It's a place where we can educate our audiences about social issues that are important to us. "And I'd just plug, too, that we have so many young people who follow us on social media. And so it feels like a real honor to be able to highlight these things that are important to us and hopefully influence a new generation of people to care about important things." Listen Here! Listen to a conversation between Megan Masako Haley and Jocelyn Murphy in this What's Up! podcast at nwaonline.com/123meangirls/. Back To School WAC hosts holiday helping of hilarity "There's nothing to compare anything to, so everything feels like a huge deal, because it is, you know?" Megan Masako Haley says of remembering how hard it is to be a teenager. Haley stars as Gretchen Wieners, a member of the popular clique in the razor sharp musical comedy "Mean Girls." "I think that sometimes can bring out sad parts of us, scary parts of us, mean parts of us, in a way that I think hopefully as we all grow up — and as I hope for this character Gretchen as she grows up — that she learns to love herself more so that she can put that out into the universe instead of her own insecurities." (Courtesy Photo/Joan Marcus) Haley FAYETTEVILLE See Mean Girls Page 6