“My character, Cady Heron, is just trying to find her way in a new school: figuring out how she should act, how she should dress, and how to fit in with all the different cliques. She’s trying to make friends, and in the process, figures out that most people end up changing themselves to try to fit in. Wanting to make friends and fit in is something I can relate to, and is something I think everyone can relate to.
Along with a great message—that you shouldn’t change who you are to fit in—Mean Girls the Musical is so entertaining with so many laughs, and it’s going to be a great production!”
– Olivia O’Laughlin Pinconning Middle/High School
“I play Janice Sakisian in Mean Girls the Musical. She’s grungy, too-cool-for-the-hierarchy, and doesn’t stick to the status quo. She’s powerful and not afraid to be her own girl! I love that part of playing her. She sings this iconic song, ‘I’d Rather Be Me’, and it reminds me to be my own person, too. I need to be confident in being myself!
I've been doing plays for years with the other cast members, and every year we grow closer together. I also love that every year, we get new people joining theater and that means new friends and family members.
I think overall, the musical shows some of the challenges of what high school can be like, but that it doesn’t have to be that way. It can give people confidence knowing that just because someone is ‘cool’ or ‘popular’ doesn’t make them right or that you should be like them. Regina is the ‘Queen Mean Girl’, and the musical shows that being mean doesn’t get you far in life, but that people can change for the better, too.
P.S. My grandma painted this amazing jacket!”
—Grace Ballard, Pinconning Middle/High School
“I play Regina George in Mean Girls the Musical, and she’s the meanest girl in school! She tries to be cooler than everybody, prettier than everybody—and she loses friends because of it. But over the course of the musical, she overcomes her desire to be better than everyone else and realizes that friends are what she needs.
She also gets hit by bus, and that whips her into shape, too!
As an actor, it’s so fun playing a ‘mean girl’! In real life, I have a reputation of being ‘nice and sweet’, so it’s fun to play a villain!
I love singing and performing in front of people. But in theater, you get to do that with other people and I love that. I love the process of putting the production together while building a family with the other cast members along the way. Performances like this are a great way to bring the entire school together.People should come to the performance because it’s got a great message while being energetic and fun, too!”
—Jordan Kowalczyk, Pinconning Middle/High School
“I play the character of Gretchen in Mean Girls the Musical. Regina is the queen of the mean girls in school, and Gretchen is her right-hand girl, a people-pleaser desperately trying to please Regina to keep her role in the group. But sometimes she fails and gets mad at herself over the littlest things. She’s constantly thinking, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ and because of that, she’s an anxious wreck. I love playing her because I’m an anxious wreck, too! I love her song. I love her dialogue.
And I love the opportunity to perform on stage with everyone. Because of this production, I’ve become friends with people I wasn’t friends with before.”
—Allie Fenwick, Pinconning Middle/High School
“I’m from the city of Palmeira das Missões in Brazil, two hours from the border of Argentina. Back home, my dad is in the local Rotary club and I was in Interact Club, which is like the Rotary Club for youth. I came here to Pinconning through Rotary’s exchange student program.
I wanted to be an exchange student because I’ve always wanted to know everything that I could about the world. I feel like I always have something else to learn, something else to find, and need to see a different perspective. When I graduate, I want to go into international relations and diplomacy, and being an exchange student is a way to know a little bit more about the different people and world.
Mean Girls the Musical is the first play I’ve done in my entire life! We aren’t really into musicals back home. But my first host family here in Pinconning was with Tera Szeliga’s family, and she’s directing. She was like, ‘You can be in the musical, too! And you can just dance—you don’t have to talk or sing if you don’t want to.’
But here I am in a role where I get to talk and sing! I like it better than I ever thought I would. I love spending time with everybody, and during the rehearsals, we really get to know each other. Everybody together, dancing and singing, is a good energy!”
—Isabelle Lorenzoni, Pinconning Middle/High School
