The Norwin Theater Company (NTC) announced that they will be putting on a production of Mean Girls this Spring. They will be one of the first schools in the country to put on the musical Mean Girls, and the first school in  Pennsylvania. As soon as the show was announced, students were over the moon.

“When the announcement  was made, I was in total shock,” said NTC officer and leading actress, Julia Shavel (12). “ My friends and I have been saying we wanted our senior show to be Mean Girls since middle school but we never thought it would happen due to the rights being out. We believed our dream was becoming a reality when in late September, the high school rights to the show got released and less than a week later, Mrs. Scheirer purchased the rights!”

Rehearsals have been going strong since January, and theater club members have not stopped working since. Despite the dedication to the club, students find time to balance their long hours at theater with their classes, as well as other extracurricular activities.

“Work levels differ based on the size of your part, but as a baseline it is a genuine commitment,” said leading actress, Alex Fumero (12). “Our directors try to make it manageable so you can split your time with other extracurriculars, but it depends all on how much you’re willing to put in. Full cast days are only 2-3 days a week (which at the moment are 3 hour rehearsals but will increase the closer we get to the show) but as a lead I’m there every day. Putting on a show takes a lot of time spent practicing and building scenes and choreography from scratch. We pride ourselves on the way we can work during the long hours we spend together.”

Excitement for the show continues to drive each member to do their very best. With an average rehearsal building on the dancing and singing skills of whoever is blocked for the day, club members have made great progress in the show.

“Rehearsal begins with stretches to warm up our bodies and minds,” said Shavel. “Then, we will sing through songs with one of our two music directors and they will help with notes and cleaning the group’s performance. After vocals, the rest of rehearsal consists of learning staging and choreography for scenes and dance numbers.”

The work for Mean Girls doesn’t stop with the cast, however. The Norwin Stage Crew has ambitious plans for the show, and have been working hard to complete the set for the past several weeks.

“We are going to have a large wall set up to replicate a large screen and we are going to have the majority of the scenes be projected, just like how the Broadway version does it,” said Stage Left Manager, Alexa Phillips (12). “Some set plans, there is going to be a staircase that represents an escalator for the mall scene, there will be walls for the bedroom scene but the majority will be on the screen, and there are lunch tables that are on wheels and the cast members dance on them. But we still have some time before we have to stress over the technical side of everything.”

Ironically, the atmosphere of Mean Girls is anything but mean. Even with the stress of the show pushing through, the NTC continues to be a comfortable environment for everyone involved in the show. With a combination of great members and understanding directors, the NTC shines as one of the best clubs at Norwin.