From Lindsay Lohan to  Reneé Rapp: 'Mean Girls' hopes to capture new generation of fans

Rose Green wasn’t yet born when “Mean Girls,” Tina Fey’s comedy about teenage cliques and cruelty, debuted in 2004. But after seeing the movie as a preteen, and more recently playing the lead role in a musical version at Riverhead High School, Green — a 17-year-old senior there — says she plans to be among the first to see the new movie-musical version of “Mean Girls,” which hits theaters Friday.

Green’s favorite moment from the musical: The closing number “I See Stars,” an ode to individuality and personal integrity. “I love singing that song, because it just brought everybody together,” she says. “It shows that we’re not supposed to be against each other.”

Paramount Pictures is hoping that a new generation of fans will turn out for the third and latest incarnation of “Mean Girls.” One demographic that seems eager to buy tickets: theater kids. Though the Broadway production lasted only two years before shutting down during the pandemic, it was kept alive by YouTube clips and bootleg videos, then became available for high schools to produce. That version has  proved popular: According to the website of Music Theatre International, which licenses the show, it will be produced in North America about 450 times this year alone.

RENEÉ RAPP REPRISES HER BROADWAY ROLE

“Mean Girls” No. 3 stars  Reneé Rapp reprising her Broadway role as Regina, while Angourie Rice, of HBO’s “Mare of Easttown,” plays the good-hearted hero, Cady. Auli’i Cravalho (Disney’s “Moana”) plays the outcast Janis; newcomer Christopher Briney is the off-limits hunk, Aaron; and Fey returns as the exasperated math teacher Ms. Norbury. The music is by Jeff Richmond, Fey’s husband and longtime collaborator, with lyrics by Nell Benjamin; the directors, Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez, Jr., are making their feature-film debuts.

A release in the ho-hum month of January doesn’t usually suggest high hopes. “Mean Girls,” however, might be a different story. It’s expected to open domestically with $27 million and could ultimately take in $80 million or more. According to the website ScreenRant, there’s a chance it could outperform the original.

For teenagers, “It’s a story that they really relate to,” says Barry Weil, manager of the Levels Teen Center at the Great Neck Library, which held its own production in August. “Every high school has a hierarchy like the one in the show. And you kind of have to make a choice whether you’re going to play that game or you’re going to make the difficult choice of being your own person. And that’s something they struggle with a lot.”

ORIGINAL 'MEAN GIRLS': A TEEN-FILM CLASSIC

In the teen-film genre, “Mean Girls” arguably ranks alongside such classics as “The Breakfast Club” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” The story centers on 16-year-old Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), a home-schooled math whiz who enters North Shore High School and joins a group of popular girls known as The Plastics — only to find herself exiled when she captures the heart of a coveted boy. Written by Tina Fey and based partly on Rosalind Wiseman’s nonfiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabees,” the movie was a sleeper hit that earned $86 million domestically, helped turn Lohan into a star and introduced a few new catchphrases into the popular lexicon. (Surely you’re familiar with the concept of “fetch.”)

“I liked it because it was very close to reality,” says Olivia Sulzer, 15, who played the alpha-female Regina George (originated by Rachel McAdams) in the recent Riverhead High School production. Though she was only nine or 10 when she first saw the film, Sulzer says, its depiction of lunchroom politics stuck with her as she got older. “That movie really opened up my eyes and showed me: This is what high school really is,” she says.

The original film also resonated with Colleen Sullivan, who saw it on television as a 13-year-old growing up in Garden City. Sullivan says she fell in love with the characters and admits she was fascinated by Regina, the bossy beauty who uses a “Burn Book” to spread scurrilous rumors and gossip.

“I was blonde, so I was like, ‘I could be her, I could look like her!’” says Sullivan, now 24 and working as a graphic designer. “You wanted to be the popular best friend and have people stare at you.”

Later, attending the all-girls Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, Sullivan says, she encountered the modern-day version of Regina’s book: the cellphone. “Girls used to sneak phones in their blazers, so it was similar to the sense of the Burn Book,” she recalls. “When you could show someone a picture of something, they could spread it much quicker.”

Today's high schoolers love 'Mean Girls'

Laura Nitti, director of Riverhead High School’s theater group, the Blue Masques, predicts a big turnout for the film. “The kids knew this story prior to this remake,” says Nitti, who plans to see it with members of her troupe. “I think it’s just going to strike a chord. It’s a new updated version that touches on things they deal with every day. I think it’s going to be a big deal.”

There’s also what might be called the “Rapp factor.” A 23-year-old who grew up in North Carolina, Rapp won a prestigious Jimmy award — it's like the Tony, but for high schools — before landing the role of Regina on Broadway. Now, with her starring role in the feature film (and a new tie-in single, “Not My Fault,” with Megan Thee Stallion), Rapp is enjoying the kind of career that many young thespians dream of.

“Every theater kid,” says Nitti, “knows who Reneé Rapp is.”

The new film could also have multigenerational appeal. “I think I was like 12 when I first saw it, and I just remember it was really funny,” says Annabelle Murray, 14, of Lynbrook, who is in rehearsals for a “Mean Girls” production at the Professional Youth Theatre in Long Beach. She’s planning to see the new movie with friends, but her mother, Laura Murray, might go see it as well.

Laura, 45, was in her mid-20s and not yet a mom when the first film came out. “I really like the movie,” she says. “I like how, in the end, the girls all learned to be their true selves and not follow somebody. And I have always taught my daughters not to be followers.”

By Rafer Guzmán

rafer.guzman@newsday.com@raferguzman