The 2004 comedy Mean Girls is something of a modern classic that is still a relevant cultural touchstone to this day. This continued relevance and name recognition has made the Mean Girls property ripe for a revival, a revival that is currently taking place in the Mean Girls Broadway musical. The musical has book by Saturday Night Live alum Tina Fey, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. The actress and comedian had a role in the movie as Ms. Norbury, so naturally, she felt that she should get to be in the musical she wrote as well. Or at least, that's what she tries to do in this clip from last night's Saturday Night Live. Take a look:
Poor Tina Fey, like a girl trying to hard to make the Plastics like her, she just doesn't fit in or have what it takes to be in the Mean Girls musical. Tina Fey is funny in this as an oblivious try-hard, drastically overestimating her own abilities and the desire of others to see her in the show. Cecily Strong and Aidy Bryant, along with the musical cast and crew are great in this, hiding cringes behind smiles not really wanting Tina there, but being unable to tell her. This is kind of a fun advertisement for the musical too since the real cast is actually featured in this Saturday Night Live video.
In addition to the awful wig, the best part of this is Tina Fey's constant desire to be like Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda who did the music, lyrics, book and acted in that famous musical. Her assertion at the end that Lin-Manuel forced himself into a part in Hamilton is met by a hilarious response from the multi-talented composer who, in a nod to Mean Girls, puts her name into a Burn Book, before launching into a diss rap that I really wish we could have heard more of. Naturally, now people are calling for a Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tina Fey collaboration.
Even if Tina Fey's voice doesn't carry enough and her head is too small to be in the Mean Girls musical, she still has quite a lot to be proud of. Since its first performance on Halloween last year, Mean Girls has earned overall critical acclaim for its performances, script and humor, keeping true to the film while still feeling fresh and new. The Mean Girls musical is actually tied with Spongebob Squarepants: The Musical for the most Tony nominations this year with 12, including nominations for Best Musical, Best Choreography, Best Actor and Actress in a Featured Role and Best Book of a Musical for Tina Fey.
The 72nd Tony Awards are held on June 10th and will air on CBS. Tina Fey is currently filming a role in friend Amy Poehler's directorial debut coming to Netflix, Wine Country.
