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[0:04] Jesse McInally: Hello, I'm Jesse McInally.

[0:07] Andrew DeWolf: And I am Andrew DeWolf.

[0:09] Brianna Jones: And I'm Brianna Jones.

[0:10] Jesse McInally: And welcome to Musicals with Cheese, a podcast where I tried to get Andrew and Brie to like musical theater.

[0:14] Andrew DeWolf: You know what?

[0:15] Brianna Jones: You know what?

[0:16] Jesse McInally: What?

[0:16] Andrew DeWolf: You guys aren't allowed to sit here, because on Wednesdays we wear pink.

[0:20] Brianna Jones: Fuck Andrew.

[0:21] Jesse McInally: What are we gonna do?

[0:22] Brianna Jones: I don't want to sit with this asshole anyways.

[0:24] Andrew DeWolf: Fuck him.

[0:25] Brianna Jones: Let's go.

[0:26] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[0:27] Andrew DeWolf: Where are we going?

[0:28] Brianna Jones: The mall to buy some shoes.

[0:31] Jesse McInally: Oh yeah. Um, you know what? I got my burn book here, and you know what? Um Jess is a thugly cow.

[0:43] Brianna Jones: Oh my god, Principal, what's his name?

[0:46] Jesse McInally: Please! They're making fun of me. Look at this book, they're the only ones not mentioned. It says that I'm an ugly cow.

[0:52] Andrew DeWolf: Wow, that's crazy that you have access to this book, and everyone knows that you're like the school bully. And like, you're giving me this, and it has bad things written about everyone in the whole school except for two people that you're saying are the ones that wrote it. That's crazy.

[1:06] Brianna Jones: Mean girls!

[1:10] Jesse McInally: Hear the music!

[1:18] Brianna Jones: Hi. If I could change the world, I'd make us have world peace.

[1:25] Jesse McInally: And also Halloween every single day.

[1:38] Brianna Jones: It's like the internet.

[1:41] Jesse McInally: Only in person. Mean Girls is a musical with music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Neil Benjamin, and a book by Tina Fey. It is based on a 2004 eponymous film written by Tina Fey as well. The musical premiered at the National Theater, Washington, DC in October of 2017, and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theater.

[2:06] Andrew DeWolf: Um yeah, the musical, it's like Mean Girls. What the fuck else do you expect? Um Halloween.

[2:12] Brianna Jones: Oh yeah, it's Halloween. Cue the dance macabre and the lightning strike.

[2:17] Jesse McInally: Halloween month continues. This has a Halloween scene in it. You know what? This show is pretty spooky. But not how not for the reasons that you would think.

[2:34] Andrew DeWolf: Oh no. Please elaborate, sir.

[2:37] Jesse McInally: Well, we'll get into it. Alright, what's all of everyone's history with the Mean Girls film? But like before we even go into the like the actual musical.

[2:45] Andrew DeWolf: I've still never seen it. This is the only Mean Girls content I've ever seen.

[2:51] Brianna Jones: I think it's a classic. I love Tina Fey and anything she writes.

[2:55] Andrew DeWolf: Well Except for this. Um I liked it when I was younger. Um it has aged not as great as I would have liked. I will say that. I'm a little I'm a little disappointed in it, and I feel like this musical tries to right all the wrongs that the movie quote unquote did, but at the same time it also kind of removes the teeth and fails to make it its own thing.

[3:22] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[3:23] Andrew DeWolf: You know what? I actually I take it back, I've seen one scene from the movie. Jess sent me the scene where there's a gamer moment, and uh Asian girl says the n-word because that's funny.

[3:36] Jesse McInally: Yeah, and a movie all about white people. We're gonna throw the n-word in there.

[3:47] Brianna Jones: Is that really in there?

[3:48] Andrew DeWolf: Yes. Um there's with a with no hard R though, so they're all in the gymnasium and like the Asian girls talk to each other in like a foreign language and the subtitles say the n-word.

[3:58] Brianna Jones: I did not know that. That's wild.

[4:22] Jesse McInally: Right, right. Okay, I take back what I said about loving everything she writes.

[4:25] Andrew DeWolf: I I don't I don't. Tina Fey is famous for uh being Sarah Palin, right?

[4:32] Brianna Jones: I mean that's one of several things, yes.

[4:35] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Very soft like interpretation of Sarah Palin, where it's like a mild parody.

[4:41] Jesse McInally: I mean, in all fairness, she was not a cast member on SNL at that point. She was brought back just because she kind of looked like it, and she didn't do any of the writing for those. She just kind of was brought on to say the lines. Like, you can't blame her for that anymore than I can't blame uh SNL host for what's done there.

[5:00] Brianna Jones: Fair.

[5:01] Andrew DeWolf: That's fair. SNL has a bad political record anyways, so it's fine.

[5:05] Jesse McInally: Oh yeah, um they might be partially responsible for who we have in office at the moment, so isn't that great.

[5:13] Brianna Jones: Well they had him on to host the show, isn't that right?

[5:15] Andrew DeWolf: That was yeah, right before, like, like a year before he was elected, he was the host of the show where they made him all seem likable and approachable.

[5:23] Jesse McInally: Hey, but they lightly mocked him a few times.

[5:26] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, come on. I mean, yeah, come on. There's no way that could do anything damaging and unredeemable that might lend to the death of over 200,000 people. Thanks, Lauren Michaels. It's not like this person would be able to appoint three justices to the Supreme Court.

[5:30] Brianna Jones: There's no way that would happen.

[5:49] Andrew DeWolf: No, no, no, no, no.

[5:53] Jesse McInally: So Andrew, tell us what happens in Mean Girls. What is the plot of Mean Girls?

[5:59] Andrew DeWolf: Um, Mean Girls is um Well, okay. The main character is uh the new kid to the high school, come from Africa, I guess. I don't know where in Africa do they say?

[6:11] Brianna Jones: Kenya?

[6:13] Andrew DeWolf: South Africa. Kenya, I think.

[6:15] Brianna Jones: Kenya.

[6:16] Andrew DeWolf: Okay. And they cut the line like, if you're from Africa, why aren't you black?

[6:21] Jesse McInally: Well, that's because that's a very stupid line that shouldn't be. And it was. But didn't stop a bunch of fucking idiot kids in my elementary and high school saying it all the time. Christ.

[6:32] Brianna Jones: South Africa. I forgot when this movie came out. I haven't seen it in so long.

[6:36] Andrew DeWolf: 2004 was a whole different world, guys.

[6:41] Brianna Jones: It was.

[6:42] Andrew DeWolf: God. We've all grown, and that's what's important.

[6:46] Jesse McInally: And we will continue to.

[6:54] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Although, why she thought blackface would be a good idea in general.

[7:00] Brianna Jones: Because it's funny, apparently. Everyone in the early aughts thought blackface was the funniest fucking thing in the world, apparently.

[7:06] Andrew DeWolf: That's true. I remember uh once time when I was going as a Halloween costume, I was just like, you know what'd be funny? Blackface. And now I'm the Prime Minister of Canada, so it's cool.

[7:17] Brianna Jones: And you got re-elected. Congrats, dude.

[7:20] Andrew DeWolf: That was not a deal killer, if you think about it.

[7:23] Jesse McInally: Okay, yeah. But uh African girl moves. Uh white African girl moves to uh America. That's important, obviously. It's actually not important, they really never even bring it up. But um It was more important, and there's a lot of metaphorical stuff they try to play with it in the They did a better job in the movie than in the musical, but it is kinda still there.

[7:44] Brianna Jones: Well, there's the there's like the two like narrators kind of that are all the same. Janice and uh Damien.

[7:51] Andrew DeWolf: Damien, yes, played by Gray Henson.

[7:53] Brianna Jones: But uh those are the those two become friends with the new girl and convince they somehow convince her to like try to make friends with these mean girls that are bullies.

[8:06] Jesse McInally: I said the title. I did I described the plot accurately, that means right. Uh but the the new girl becomes what is her name?

[8:13] Andrew DeWolf: Kate Katie.

[8:14] Jesse McInally: Um Katie Herring.

[8:15] Andrew DeWolf: Katie.

[8:16] Jesse McInally: Katie becomes friends with the mean girls. Uh Regina, um, Gretchen and Karen.

[8:23] Andrew DeWolf: Yes.

[8:24] Jesse McInally: And then she falls in love with this guy, but he's like Aaron Samuels, Andrew.

[8:31] Andrew DeWolf: He's the respect on that name. He's the ex-boyfriend of Regina, who is the meanest of the mean girls. Um and they get back together because Regina just doesn't like Katie being with him, I think, is the implication.

[8:45] Brianna Jones: She doesn't like the idea of it.

[8:47] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Um. So then Katie hatches a plan with together with Janice and Damien, they all hatch a plan together to get back at Regina by making her fat.

[9:00] Brianna Jones: Um then making people fat shame her and Yeah.

[9:05] Andrew DeWolf: Uh and then Regina decides to get back at them by giving a book that she wrote over to the principal and say that they wrote it, which I guess is something that the principal just accepts, like, no question.

[9:05] Brianna Jones: I guess.

[9:22] Andrew DeWolf: Um and the principals and like, wow, that's so rude. And oh, did you they also cut out the child molesting gym teacher subplot.

[9:31] Brianna Jones: Wow, you didn't have to bring that up, Jess. That's that's a demo.

[9:34] Andrew DeWolf: That was in the movie.

[9:35] Brianna Jones: Oh my goodness. What is in this movie?

[9:38] Andrew DeWolf: 2004 were different times.

[9:41] Brianna Jones: I like how Bree is falling more and more out of love with this movie.

[9:51] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. I uh ha really have not seen the movie since I don't know, 2008. But yeah, there's a gym teacher who was having sex with all the underage women, and that was one of the things in the burn book. Then uh the principal had to like a line is Um Coach Shepard step away from the underage girls.

[10:12] Brianna Jones: But everything else in that book is just mean things. Why did he take that one seriously?

[10:17] Andrew DeWolf: Well, the thing is they did an investigation and they were like, okay, that turned out to be so so real, so we have to take the idea that that other teacher was a pill pusher equally as seriously, because if that one's as accurate as that was, that is also as accurate as it is.

[10:31] Brianna Jones: Ugh. It became it was a slightly important plot point, but also it's like cringe, cringe, I don't like this. This is too real for me.

[10:40] Jesse McInally: Hey guys.

[10:41] Brianna Jones: And this teen comedy. You know what's hilarious? Sexual assault on minors.

[10:46] Andrew DeWolf: Grooming children is the greatest joke of all, Tina Fey says.

[10:52] Brianna Jones: Who is this Tina Fey person?

[10:56] Andrew DeWolf: She is cancelled.

[10:59] Brianna Jones: They they've tried.

[11:01] Andrew DeWolf: I feel like she's uncancelable. She she did this show called The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, where she just did a lot of Asian stereotypes too, and got called out for that, and she's like, Well, I feel like we can't make fun of anything anymore.

[11:03] Brianna Jones: I feel like we can't make fun of racial stereotypes anymore. It's terrible.

[11:19] Andrew DeWolf: God, you you guys are just so so Tina Fey, Tina Fey. May maybe it's time to stop being having a serious gamer moment right now.

[11:28] Brianna Jones: It's weird.

[11:29] Andrew DeWolf: Well, it's either no JK Rowling is having a gamer moment.

[11:35] Brianna Jones: She's having the ultimate gamer moment.

[11:39] Andrew DeWolf: Okay, did I did I say what the end was?

[11:42] Brianna Jones: No.

[11:43] Andrew DeWolf: The the ending is that she joins the Mathletes.

[11:47] Brianna Jones: And it feels like the it should have ended like three songs before, but she joins the Mathletes, and then that's the end. And I guess the the moral is that being good at math is better than being popular.

[11:58] Jesse McInally: And Regina George got hit by a bus.

[12:01] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, that's important. She got hit by a bus.

[12:04] Brianna Jones: Yes.

[12:05] Andrew DeWolf: Which I guess means that all is right in the world and proves the existence of God. Thank you.

[12:13] Jesse McInally: God exists in the Mean Girls universe.

[12:17] Andrew DeWolf: Um as you can tell, we didn't we didn't love this show.

[12:21] Brianna Jones: I'm not a huge fan.

[12:23] Andrew DeWolf: Not an image fan. This is coming from a Mean Girls agnostic and myself, Andrew who's never seen it, a non-believer, and Bree who girls with films.

[12:31] Brianna Jones: Yeah, a Mean Girls atheist.

[12:32] Andrew DeWolf: And a devout Mean Girls fan in Brie.

[12:36] Brianna Jones: Not a devout Mean Girls fan. Just a mean girl.

[12:40] Andrew DeWolf: Just I'm I'm the mean girl. Do you see me? I'm blonde. I'm mean.

[12:45] Brianna Jones: Legally blonde.

[12:46] Andrew DeWolf: She's Regina George. Let's let's give her an eating disorder, guys.

[12:49] Brianna Jones: Hey guys.

[12:53] Andrew DeWolf: It's so fucked up.

[12:55] Brianna Jones: That's a thing people do in this show.

[12:57] Andrew DeWolf: They've given They give uh the actress a fat suit, right?

[13:01] Brianna Jones: Yeah, they do. It's great.

[13:03] Andrew DeWolf: It's so funny because I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid that like listening to you guys talk about it, I realize how problematic it is.

[13:12] Brianna Jones: And I'm like, fuck, I need to go reevaluate the movies I liked as a kid.

[13:17] Andrew DeWolf: Look, if you think it's funny, it's whatever, you know?

[13:19] Brianna Jones: Just accept that.

[13:19] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, like that it's humor subjective.

[13:22] Brianna Jones: Yeah. Just accept that all your political opinions are wrong and you're basically a fascist.

[13:26] Andrew DeWolf: That's all we have to do.

[13:27] Brianna Jones: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And the thing is, you should not feel bad about enjoying things when you were younger and all that thing. So like as long as you realize like this is not a reflection of life and this is not how one should behave, you're allowed to enjoy whatever the fuck you want.

[13:40] Andrew DeWolf: But we should not be policing what people like.

[13:43] Brianna Jones: We should be policing what people create.

[13:48] Andrew DeWolf: Yes. And I know you want to talk a lot about the politics of Mean Girls the Musical, Andrew. Does anyone ever ever use the word liberal feminism, right? Anyone everyone knows that?

[13:59] Brianna Jones: You've definitely used it on this podcast.

[14:01] Andrew DeWolf: People know what it means, right? I'd like you to elaborate in case someone doesn't.

[14:06] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, my interpretation of it is it's basically feminism that doesn't actually address any of the problems and give real solutions. It rather just goes, Man, isn't it great that minorities exist?

[14:21] Jesse McInally: And that's it. Like that's as far as they go. Like, that that's about all. It's not even like that they're giving them a platform. It's just they exist too. Yeah. And like that show. This show is like the embodiment of it. It's like there's like a minor black character who exists simply to say like one thing about how like black people are prettier than white people, and haha. It's like, okay, why do you you're not a character? What and that goes back to uh read that article written by um Heath from Great Comet that's like, yeah, there are a lot of black bodies on stage on Broadway, but they're not black voices, they are literally just puppets for white ideals.

[15:12] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[15:13] Jesse McInally: And it's not it's not just uh that racial element either. I mean, they have a character who like pays the lip service to being gay, but is never explicitly said to be in a way.

[15:26] Andrew DeWolf: Which one are you talking about?

[15:28] Jesse McInally: We got two of those.

[15:28] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, there's two of them.

[15:30] Jesse McInally: And I'm I'm honestly not convinced either of them is are gay. I'm not sure they didn't they didn't want to like say it outright that they were. Unless I'm missing did I miss a scene? Did they say it?

[15:41] Brianna Jones: Um, I'd say that um uh Damien is uh gay because he says that he's been in love with men before.

[15:47] Jesse McInally: Okay, though. That one I stopped. I was talking more about uh the Janice Janice, though, who several times is referenced as a lesbian, and she never says she isn't, but she also never says she is, which is fine, but like when you're doing it in this way where it's kind of like you're paying lip service to being progressive, but you're not sure.

[16:09] Andrew DeWolf: Hashtag representation.

[16:10] Jesse McInally: But you're not actually doing anything with it. You're doing nothing. Like, so you're you're really not helping to solve the problem. You're just kind of acknowledging that it's there and then moving on. And in all fairness, that was not signed Crowbar into the musical, that was in the original movie as well.

[16:27] Brianna Jones: Yeah, which actually sounds like it sounds like it's worse in the movie because the movie also seems to perpetuate some problems on top of doing that.

[16:35] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[16:38] Brianna Jones: Um I think this handles it a little better because they kind of flesh her out as a character a bit more. And I feel like a lot of the criticism of the film was that Janice kind of was the ultimate mean girl manipulating every side of it, and then that no one held her accountable to that. Because I do believe that that was Tina Fey's self-insert character, where this is what I do in that situation, and then everyone's like, that character is equally mean, if not worse than all the other ones. And then she's like, Oh shit, oh shit. And so when she sat down to write this musical, she's like, Alright, we're gonna put a little blame on her, but she's still the funny one that everyone likes.

[17:14] Andrew DeWolf: Are you talking about Janice?

[17:15] Brianna Jones: Yes.

[17:16] Jesse McInally: Yeah, I to be honest, I found it really jarring at the end, where like she does that whole thing where it's like, oh, we should just all get together, and it turns out that Katie was just as mean as Regina, and that's terrible. And it's like But even at the beginning of her own speech, she's like, Yeah, I was the one who dis who created this plan to do all this stuff. It's like you ruined her. Like Katie was a totally nice person, and then you got to her and you were like, You should fuck with these other girls. And like you did that. And I feel like her feet aren't held to the fire very much in this musical or in the movie at all. Because once again, I think that's Tina Fey's self-insert character, and she wouldn't want that to be criticized.

[17:59] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[18:00] Jesse McInally: Because as much as I do think Tina Fey is very talented, I feel like she's also very fragile with her ego and doesn't like being called out. Um she's taking it a lot better more recently, but there is evidence to prove that when people say, I don't like this or this is bad, she immediately reacts with, no, you don't get it. I feel like a lot of comedians do that, but I don't get why comedians like they act like they got like the thickest skin around, but if you criticize them even one bit, they react insane like they have gamer moments.

[18:33] Andrew DeWolf: Like, yeah.

[18:34] Jesse McInally: I mean, some of them have legit gamer moments.

[18:36] Brianna Jones: Yeah, like Kramer.

[18:39] Jesse McInally: Kramer had the ultimate gamer moments.

[18:42] Brianna Jones: Straight up says the gamer word.

[18:45] Jesse McInally: Don't say the gamer word, guys.

[18:47] Brianna Jones: No, seriously, don't.

[18:50] Jesse McInally: Um, a lot of a lot of comedians are like that. I think it's it maybe it comes with the territory. I don't know. Like, when your whole when your whole job is to make a room of people laugh when people start turning on you, it's like you you get start panicking, you know.

[19:04] Andrew DeWolf: That's your whole career.

[19:05] Jesse McInally: I mean, the first one that's jumping to mind is Jerry Seinfeld. Like, anytime he gets criticized, he just he starts getting angry.

[19:11] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[19:12] Jesse McInally: And Chris Rock recently is just like, Oh, you kids don't understand nothing.

[19:16] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[19:17] Jesse McInally: And it's like, you know, it's it's like that uh uh principal uh Seymour Skinner uh thing, like, oh, it's it's not me that's wrong, it's the kids.

[19:27] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[19:28] Jesse McInally: Um let me talk a little bit about the Tony year that this this was nominated in.

[19:33] Brianna Jones: Sure, what do you got?

[19:34] Jesse McInally: Um, so everyone thought this was gonna be a big sweeping musical. Everyone had all their bets on this, thinking it was gonna fucking be great. It's gonna be the new Book of Mormon, it's gonna be the new producers, it's gonna be the new big comedy show.

[19:48] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[19:48] Jesse McInally: And it decidedly was not. Um I don't think we had a really good sweeping comedy show until Beetlejuice, honestly, which became was an underdog hit, but became a hit eventually.

[20:01] Brianna Jones: And then got removed from Broadway.

[20:03] Jesse McInally: Yeah, thanks, Hugh Jackman.

[20:04] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, Hugh Jackman.

[20:05] Jesse McInally: Uh you know, this show has made me hate Hugh Jackman.

[20:08] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, Hugh Jackman is also best friends of Ivanka and Trump and Jared Kushner.

[20:13] Jesse McInally: That that made me hate Hugh Jackman.

[20:15] Brianna Jones: Oh, I didn't actually know that, but uh yeah.

[20:19] Jesse McInally: But um, so this was nominated in like almost every category. Orchestrations, choreography, direction, sound design, costume design, original score, book of musical. Guess how many it won?

[20:29] Andrew DeWolf: Um, none.

[20:31] Jesse McInally: Correct! But they changed the entire Tony order, um, to try to fit in Tina Fey, because they were so convinced she was gonna win best book. So they got rid of like best orchestrations and best score to try to make best book to be the one that won gets the on air Tony Award speech, because you can only fit so many on, and the other ones they just air during the commercials.

[20:54] Brianna Jones: Oh embarrassing.

[20:56] Jesse McInally: And then some the guy who fucking wrote the the band's visit goes up there. Thank you, I I wrote this, I love my book, and they're like, fucking Tina Fey, goddamn it. Tina Fey, can you come up and talk about his book? Accepting the award for the person who did the band's visit is Tina Fey. Yeah, his book was great. Uh also my book was okay too, you know. My book almost won actually. I was nominated. That was a little Ben Shapiro coming out there. I was this close to winning.

[21:26] Andrew DeWolf: Oh yeah, I just I can't help the Ben Shapiro. I can't keep him in.

[21:30] Jesse McInally: He just wants to talk so let's talk a little bit about um our own experiences in high school. Did we did we get bullied where we're girl groups in our high school?

[21:46] Brianna Jones: Well I was always very catty and crass when I was in high school so one could say I was the mean girl did you not let people sit next to you unless they're wearing the right clothing?

[21:59] Andrew DeWolf: I wouldn't sit next to anybody. That's how mean I was no one was allowed at my table it was that exclusive I sat at the table and whoever even tried to come to that table I told him get out of here.

[22:10] Jesse McInally: And you know how many times I said get out of here in high school not once they knew what they were getting into.

[22:19] Brianna Jones: Yeah they didn't even bother coming over to my table and trying to sit with me.

[22:24] Andrew DeWolf: Damn damn son what about you Bree were you you a part of a mean girl group?

[22:29] Brianna Jones: No definitely not you knew who I was friends with in high school.

[22:33] Andrew DeWolf: Oh yeah Jenna right yeah yeah Jenna's the nicest girl yeah so no uh I went to Lincoln Park High School you know it was just weird.

[22:42] Jesse McInally: It doesn't even matter they had a MTV show called Wait Till Next year. It was about our uh horrible football team.

[22:50] Brianna Jones: Damn.

[22:50] Andrew DeWolf: Why did they get a show?

[22:52] Brianna Jones: Because they hadn't won a game in like nine years or ten years.

[22:56] Andrew DeWolf: Wow.

[22:57] Brianna Jones: So they got a TV show for being terrible.

[23:00] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, so basically it was uh it was a show on MTV that followed our football team in hopes that they would win uh that year. Uh and I guess they didn't.

[23:09] Brianna Jones: No, they didn't.

[23:11] Andrew DeWolf: So that's hilarious.

[23:13] Brianna Jones: Fucking crazy. It's on MTV still. I think you can find it.

[23:16] Andrew DeWolf: It's like uh it's like that episode of SpongeBob where Patrick wins a trophy for doing nothing longer than anyone else.

[23:22] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[23:23] Jesse McInally: Yeah. It was a really weird experience, but um there was really not much going on at Lincoln Park High School. There wasn't any mean girls, there wasn't like the jocks. It was there was no clicks. I feel like that that's our generation. Like all the zoomers and the boomers and all that, they have their clicky bullshit, like, and I feel like most of us, which were like late millennials and like we're mostly like, eh, we're all fine.

[23:49] Brianna Jones: Oh, you're nice.

[23:50] Jesse McInally: Yeah, like you were friends with everybody.

[23:52] Brianna Jones: Friends with everybody.

[23:53] Jesse McInally: Yeah, that was me. Or not with nobody at all.

[23:56] Andrew DeWolf: I'm sorry, Edgar.

[23:58] Brianna Jones: Well, I went to a um uh a sm a cheaper high school. I was very close to Detroit. Um Romulus, um, which is a city that doesn't even exist really, if you think about it.

[24:06] Jesse McInally: If you think about it.

[24:13] Brianna Jones: Um, it was a ratio of like people of color 70 to like 10% other and like 20% white. Just a minority. I was a minority there, and it was kind of great. It really was a wonderful way to go to school because everyone was so nice.

[24:32] Jesse McInally: Yeah, my high school was incredibly diverse and it was uh a great environment to grow up in.

[24:37] Andrew DeWolf: I don't think I've seen a black person before.

[24:40] Brianna Jones: Really?

[24:40] Andrew DeWolf: Are you I'm trying to remember though where I was then it turned out it was just Justin Trudeau. Where I went to high school, I think I think there was like maybe it had to be like 99% white. It was really that bad.

[24:54] Brianna Jones: That's a depr it's a depressing way to live.

[24:58] Andrew DeWolf: I'm not gonna lie, anytime I'm in a room and it's mostly white people, I gravitate towards the one person of color because I don't like white people.

[25:05] Jesse McInally: Jess is a confirmed liberal feminist.

[25:08] Brianna Jones: I am a liberal feminist.

[25:15] Jesse McInally: Um, all right, is there anything else you want to talk about before we go into a mid show?

[25:19] Brianna Jones: I know one thing.

[25:20] Jesse McInally: What do you want to say?

[25:21] Brianna Jones: It's time for our favorite segment of the show. It's a Breeze Views, where we get to talk hear what the New York theater critics got to say about mean girls and compare it to what Andrew and Jess had to say.

[25:32] Jesse McInally: I'm sure they have a lot of nice things to say about this show.

[25:35] Brianna Jones: Well, let's go.

[25:36] Jesse McInally: Okay, so today on Breeze Views. Are we gonna visit our sub-friend Ben Brantley again?

[25:42] Brianna Jones: We sure are.

[25:43] Jesse McInally: Okay. So David Rooney in his review for the Hollywood Reporter wrote If the songs composed by Faye's husband, Jeff Richmond with lyrics by Nell Benjamin more often fall into work man-like pestiche than inspired musical storytelling. Too seldom developing robust melodic hooks, and the score at least wins points for democratization. Every one of the principals gets a musical moment that tells us who they are, both the protective outer shell developed to survive this uh savage jungle of high school, and the tender Human core yearning to connect. While the show's book outshines the score, the songs pack in their share of wit, both in Benjamin's Nimble lyrics, recalling her work on the Legally Blonde musical and Richmond's Blant Tunes, which borrow with a wink from a variety of styles.

[26:37] Brianna Jones: Um the New York Times reviewer Ben Brantley wrote.

[26:42] Jesse McInally: Motherfucker Rip. The trouble lies in the less assured translation of Miss Faye's sly take on adolescent social angst into crowd pleasing song and dance. Mr. Richmond and Miss Benjamin's many, many musical numbers are passable by middle of the road Broadway standards. Yet they rarely capture either the tone or the time of being a certain age in a certain era. The show weighs in at two and a half hours as opposed to the movie zipping 97 minutes.

[27:16] Brianna Jones: It is very long.

[27:17] Jesse McInally: I I feel like comedy musical. Say what you will about Be More Chill, but that's like less than two hours.

[27:23] Andrew DeWolf: You know what I'll say about Be More Chill? It has like the same plot as this. Except done better, because at least that had something interesting to say and an interesting way to do it.

[27:31] Brianna Jones: Yeah, and they had the cool like sci-fi stuff.

[27:34] Andrew DeWolf: I I would rather watch that than this. Anyone should rather watch Be More Chill than this.

[27:39] Jesse McInally: Oof. It's true. But no. Um Mean Girls is the one that's still on Broadway, technically. It's the one that financially succeeded because name recognition.

[27:48] Brianna Jones: That's all you need is name recognition.

[27:50] Jesse McInally: I mean, as sad as that is, that's it. Yeah. That's what I agree with the critics. Do I agree with the critics? Um, I feel like these two reviews are actually kind of in opposition to each other. But I'm gonna I'm gonna actually agree with her a bit my boy uh Ben Brantley here.

[28:05] Brianna Jones: Oh my god.

[28:07] Jesse McInally: It's fucking monster. It's too long, and the songs are kind of lame. Uninstalled. It goes to show how much um of what was great about legally blonde came from the music and not the lyrics.

[28:19] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[28:20] Jesse McInally: And I think legally blonde just has a more interesting concept. I mean, how many how many shows are about high school clicks? It's just like it's such a boring like idea. High school musical does this shit. Like, you know?

[28:35] Andrew DeWolf: And I think High School Musical did it better, because at least that was like trying to have something to say.

[28:40] Brianna Jones: Yeah, well, I don't know if it was actually trying to have anything to say, but it did have something to say, sort of.

[28:45] Andrew DeWolf: Um, I don't know, Legally Blonde actually has like the whole law and the mystery aspect to it a little bit. The court case kind of interesting. I don't know. There's a bit more going on to that than this. This is just, it's just Mean Girls.

[29:01] Brianna Jones: Can we talk a little bit about Heathers before we go into a mid-show?

[29:04] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[29:05] Brianna Jones: Why don't you do it?

[29:06] Andrew DeWolf: Because I think you're the one that has everything to say about this.

[29:09] Brianna Jones: Well, no, this is mostly I'm gonna draw you a fucking diagram here.

[29:14] Andrew DeWolf: Draw me a picture.

[29:15] Brianna Jones: I will. So Heathers came out in the eighties. It was a film and it was written by, oh, I think his last name was Waters.

[29:24] Andrew DeWolf: Daniel Waters.

[29:24] Brianna Jones: So we have the Heathers movie, which is gonna be this dot right here. That's the Heathers movie, right there.

[29:30] Andrew DeWolf: Okay, so there's a dot, and that's the movie.

[29:32] Brianna Jones: That is the movie. And then his brother decided he was gonna go direct Tina Fey's script of Mean Girls, and that is there, right there.

[29:43] Andrew DeWolf: So we got the Mean Girls to Heathers, and they're related by blood, the two writers.

[29:47] Brianna Jones: Okay.

[29:48] Andrew DeWolf: Okay. Then we're gonna go in the other direction where Heathers was adapted into a musical in 2013 or 2014, starring the actress that plays Janice as Veronica Sawyer.

[30:00] Brianna Jones: Okay.

[30:01] Andrew DeWolf: The main lead of Heathers. So we're gonna have the Heathers musical right there. And that was written by Lawrence O'Keeffe and Kevin Murphy.

[30:07] Brianna Jones: And now, over here in its own little bubble, we're gonna have the Legally Blonde musical, um, that was written by Lawrence O'Keeffe and his wife Nell Benjamin.

[30:16] Andrew DeWolf: So that's all the way over there.

[30:17] Brianna Jones: Now for reference, Jess is drawing a penis.

[30:24] Andrew DeWolf: Um, so the Heathers musical was then adapted, um, well, no, because Mean Girls is a spiritual successor to Heathers.

[30:33] Brianna Jones: Okay.

[30:33] Andrew DeWolf: They're both basically the same movie, except Heathers did something more interesting by dealing with suicide, sexual assault, and school shootings, basically.

[30:41] Brianna Jones: It took the idea of high school clicks and been like, what if it could have a body count?

[30:45] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, what if someone brought a gun into school and then fired it and then nothing happened because it was the eighties?

[30:52] Brianna Jones: Yes, basically. Um, so, yeah, then it all ties together, but in this big ol' fucking circle of nonsense.

[31:00] Andrew DeWolf: That's not Dess.

[31:01] Brianna Jones: You didn't even draw a circle.

[31:02] Andrew DeWolf: I did. What I'm saying is these are all symbiotic circles, they all sound the same, and Heathers is always the better one, whether it's a ripoff of the movie or a ripoff of the musical.

[31:12] Brianna Jones: So basically what you're saying is Tina Fey is not nearly as good as Daniel Waters.

[31:18] Andrew DeWolf: I'm not saying that, but Daniel Waters did write Batman Returns, which is the best Batman movie.

[31:23] Brianna Jones: That's true. That's a fact.

[31:26] Andrew DeWolf: So I I'm saying that Daniel Waters could write Mean Girls. Tina Fey could not write Batman Returns.

[31:33] Brianna Jones: I am also saying that Batman Returns should get a musical.

[31:37] Andrew DeWolf: Um, more deserving of the Batman film. Um, but it bothers me that Heathers is so good and never made it to Broadway.

[31:45] Brianna Jones: Um, but Mean Girls got fast tracked because of the name recognition of Tina Fey. Despite Heathers being a significantly better show that's based on a significantly better movie.

[31:54] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, but I'll be honest, I've never heard of the Heathers movie until we did the episode, whereas I've heard of Mean Girls even though I've never seen it.

[32:01] Brianna Jones: Well, that's just a generational thing where there's like a 20-year difference.

[32:06] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Well, life isn't fair, Jess.

[32:09] Brianna Jones: You're right. If it was Spongebob would still be running, Beetlejuice would still be running, Be More Chill would still be running, and Mean Girls would have closed before opening night.

[32:21] Andrew DeWolf: Yes.

[32:23] Brianna Jones: Time for How about we go into a mid-show?

[32:25] Andrew DeWolf: Hell yeah.

[32:32] Brianna Jones: Hello everybody. Today's show is brought to you by the extremely kind donations by our donors at Patreon.

[32:39] Andrew DeWolf: Jess, why don't you tell us about Patreon?

[32:42] Brianna Jones: Patreon's a place where we have a bunch of shit. I'm not sure how it went, but we just had our one our monthly Patreon hangout where we played games and stuff.

[32:57] Andrew DeWolf: I don't think I was. I'm willing to bet I wasn't just.

[33:04] Brianna Jones: I'm sure everyone's gonna be like, Jess, you were so professional and so nice.

[33:08] Andrew DeWolf: This hasn't happened yet when we're recording this.

[33:10] Brianna Jones: Jess was fucking wasted. It was amazing. Um, but if you're a $10 up patron, you get to hang out with us, all three of us, and sometimes more. We had a guest and a cup, maybe two, I don't remember. Uh, I was so drunk, maybe. Jess can't even remember last night. It's crazy.

[33:29] Andrew DeWolf: Um, but we also have commentaries. We have an entire separate podcast called Patreon with Cheese. Currently, we're talking about Fosse/Verdon on there. Actually, we might be done with Fosse/Verdon by the time this comes out if the math equals outright.

[33:41] Brianna Jones: No, I think the last one just got posted, so it's still relevant.

[33:44] Andrew DeWolf: Cool, cool. Um, all right, but you know who's supporting us on Patreon, Andrew.

[33:49] Brianna Jones: Yeah, go for it.

[33:50] Andrew DeWolf: We got Melissa Goldman, Terry Needleman, John Donna, Max Lunig, Benjamin Lara, Lily Accles, Haley McDonald, Jess the Stampede, Ewan Cassidy, Caskeer, Fire of September, Monica Thoreau, Mina Mani, Brent Black, Haley Murray, Alice in Wonderland, B Way Flix, Kyle, Christina Francis, Jess A, Skyler, Liz Limb, Colery, Wilmarth, Alison Steller, nothing is certain, except Beth and Taxes, Elizabeth, John Van Ales, Lathaniel, Stacey Coomb, Joseph Evans Green, Carrie Ahern, Irigale Dwayne Whiter, Christine Malmadel, Cole Birchfield, Mary Lou Choquette, John Van Alz, I said Holly Stistically, Russ Walker, Musical Hell, Emily Gracie, Andrew Van Barsen, Emily Stack, Tablam, Kyle Summers, Jen A C, Thesbian, Ren Cullen, Alex, Jamie Holland, Wait in the Wings, Lady Malvolia, Spectacle Machine, and Will Lowery.

[34:47] Brianna Jones: They give us a little extra financial support that helps us keep the lights on here, Musicals with Cheese. And keep Brie employed, and we like giving Brie Bunny. Like that's just the best thing in the world. Um, if you would like to join them in supporting us and get tons of fun perks, such as patron-only commentaries, our episodes a day earlier, even earlier, and video versions of the podcast. Come join us there. Also, we've got merch. Um, if you want to buy our merch, check the link in the description, or you can go to our website, musicalswithcheese.com and click the merch button.

[35:17] Andrew DeWolf: Alright, let's get back to the show.

[35:24] Brianna Jones: Let's talk about it roars.

[35:26] Andrew DeWolf: It roars, the uh the jungle song?

[35:29] Brianna Jones: The I Want song, Andrew. God, you should know better than this.

[35:33] Andrew DeWolf: Oh, sorry. You ever get a feeling?

[35:36] Brianna Jones: Everybody else is happy. Everybody else has friends, and they're better friends than yours.

[35:43] Andrew DeWolf: It's a very recent feeling, but it's running through my body, and it roars.

[35:55] Brianna Jones: Binti, we've lost our funding. We're gonna have to go back to the US. Maybe I could meet an obese person. It's gonna be a difficult adjustment.

[36:02] Andrew DeWolf: You'll have to go to a real school.

[36:03] Brianna Jones: Boom, I would love that. Let's all try something new.

[36:12] Andrew DeWolf: I got no time to cry. I got new things to try. Like high school and skateboard and rapping and Starbucks venti chai.

[36:23] Brianna Jones: Well, it's fine. What do you what do you think of this? Because honestly, I didn't get a huge impression from the music in this.

[36:30] Andrew DeWolf: Um, I remember that the cool costumes they did with the ostriches and the zebra poop. It sets up a motif that high school is a lot like the jungle, so they start off by showing the kids as the jungle animals and slowly become the kids. And throughout the show, they will still be represented as the ch as the animals throughout, and they will occasionally move like birds or like giraffes and shit, despite being humans. It was used to great effect in the movie. I will say that the director did a very, very good job with that in certain sequences, but here it just kind of feels out of place.

[37:08] Brianna Jones: They don't really go hard enough on it, but it's just like Gretchen will make a bird noise every now and then, and it's obnoxious.

[37:15] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[37:16] Brianna Jones: I didn't even catch that, to be honest. I just thought she was making weird noises.

[37:20] Andrew DeWolf: It's like she's a bird, get it? Because Africa.

[37:23] Brianna Jones: I guess. Maybe if I had seen the movie, I would have expected that that was what they were going for with it. Because I didn't really even catch that.

[37:28] Andrew DeWolf: Um, yeah. Um also the idea that she just kind of wants to be friends. Um, she doesn't ring true of the character that Lindsay Lohan plays in the movie. She rings more true to Kimmy Schmidt from Tina Fey's newest show, where she's kind of like, which is about a girl that's been trapped in a bunker since she was a child and then is released and basically is the mindset of a 12-year-old. And I feel like that's what Katie has, and it's not an engaging way to start a character, not gonna lie.

[37:58] Brianna Jones: Where they feel like they're borderline, like unable to connect with people.

[38:03] Andrew DeWolf: Well, they're making it out as if she had lived like literally in the jungle with no human contact whatsoever for like years.

[38:12] Brianna Jones: Which maybe I mean, yeah, and like her only contact with like animals, except for the boy that she had a crush on that ran away from her fast because Africa.

[38:22] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, because Africa.

[38:26] Brianna Jones: I didn't say they got rid of all the problematic shit, but well, yeah. What did you think of the zebra poop?

[38:33] Andrew DeWolf: That was funny.

[38:34] Brianna Jones: It was fine.

[38:35] Andrew DeWolf: No, I was holding it. I don't find poop, poop isn't funny, guys.

[38:39] Brianna Jones: She left some of it on the floor, and I got a little upset. Why does the zebra get to take a poop during the show, but if I have to take a poop of the show, like I have to go to the bathroom, yeah.

[38:50] Andrew DeWolf: Well, this is what's just wanna poop on the stage.

[38:52] Brianna Jones: Just take two poops before the show, you're gonna be all set.

[38:55] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, um do you want to explain to Brie the two poops thing?

[38:59] Brianna Jones: I don't think the two poops thing has ever come up.

[39:01] Andrew DeWolf: No, not in a good while.

[39:02] Brianna Jones: Well during extremely long shows such as Mean Girls, which goes on for almost three hours, um, generally speaking, you'll have to go to the bathroom. And if you go to the bathroom on Broadway, you're gonna be waiting in a very long line because everyone goes during the intermission. So what you should always do is take some laxative before the show and take two poops at the start, so you won't have to go halfway through.

[39:27] Andrew DeWolf: That's kinda smart.

[39:29] Brianna Jones: Very smart.

[39:30] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, it is. Uh, that we go by.

[39:32] Brianna Jones: Yeah, if you go to musicalswithcheese.com slash merch, uh we have the Musical with Cheese emergency musical kit and it comes with laxatives built into the kit. So you can actually use that um to take the two poops. You gotta make sure to take it well before the show. You gotta digest it so you're not pooping twice during the show. If you poop twice during the show, you may get kicked out of the theater.

[39:55] Andrew DeWolf: We are living in COVID times though, so no one really has to go to the theater right now.

[40:00] Brianna Jones: You're right, the theaters don't exist.

[40:02] Andrew DeWolf: Theater isn't a thing.

[40:04] Brianna Jones: Why do we even do this podcast if theater doesn't exist, guys?

[40:07] Andrew DeWolf: And the theater makers hate the way that we watch them right now, the fucking bootlegs.

[40:12] Brianna Jones: You know what? It's all for the best, 'cause I hated this show. Uh, um, let's go on to Meet the Plastics.

[40:21] Andrew DeWolf: Oh yes, the uh song introducing the Mean Girls.

[40:26] Brianna Jones: Called the Plastics.

[40:28] Andrew DeWolf: Yep, in reference to, I assume Barbie dolls.

[40:31] Brianna Jones: Um, because they're shallow, fake, and hard, I think is the exact line.

[40:35] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[40:41] Brianna Jones: Oh! Who's at that table there?

[40:44] Andrew DeWolf: Don't look at them!

[40:45] Brianna Jones: Just don't! We call those three the Plastics!

[40:48] Andrew DeWolf: They're shiny, fake, and hard.

[40:51] Brianna Jones: They play their little mind games all around the schoolyard.

[40:56] Andrew DeWolf: They might insult your clothing or make fun of your name.

[41:00] Brianna Jones: Like they mocked Jen Moorecock till she bursts into flame.

[41:05] Andrew DeWolf: And Miss Moorcock was a teacher.

[41:08] Brianna Jones: Regina George is the queen bee.

[41:10] Andrew DeWolf: She's always dressed up.

[41:11] Brianna Jones: She always wins Spring Fling Queen.

[41:14] Andrew DeWolf: Or just drones who work for her, then die.

[41:18] Brianna Jones: This song felt like it lasted for ten years.

[41:21] Andrew DeWolf: Did it?

[41:22] Brianna Jones: I think it may. I feel like it might actually still be going on.

[41:25] Andrew DeWolf: I'm not. It did because there's like a bunch of dialogue that interrupts the middle of it, and then you're like, oh, the song was oh, nope, nope. We're back again.

[41:33] Brianna Jones: Yeah, that sucked.

[41:37] Andrew DeWolf: It's hard to talk about the music in this because I feel like a lot of it was like the same song.

[41:42] Brianna Jones: Yeah, and I feel like the ones that really stand out are Damien's song. I think that there's a lot of problems in like this is a very recent show, right? This is like 2018.

[41:51] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[41:52] Brianna Jones: Like a lot of these recent musicals have this issue.

[41:56] Andrew DeWolf: Like Be More Chill and Dear Evan Hansen sound identical to a job.

[42:01] Brianna Jones: I disagree.

[42:01] Andrew DeWolf: I disagree.

[42:02] Brianna Jones: I think Next to Normal and Dear Evan Hansen sound a lot more similar, where Be More Chill has a lot of that electronic sound in it.

[42:10] Andrew DeWolf: The songwriting kind of makes it stand out more.

[42:12] Brianna Jones: And I feel like this kind of fits into it too. This sounds like so many other things we've already heard before.

[42:18] Andrew DeWolf: Like it's just like a pop rock show.

[42:21] Brianna Jones: And it's just, but what makes something like Legally Blonde stand out? Because I remember every song in Legally Blonde, and they all sounded distinct despite being centralized.

[42:30] Andrew DeWolf: You know, I don't honestly know, and I feel like with something like that, it may just be better storytelling that's making you remember the songs, and less like better music. But when you have a show like this where the sh the story itself is like kind of uninteresting, then it's kind of leaning on the music to pick it up and like make it better.

[42:52] Jesse McInally: And when the music also fails, it's just like, oh.

[42:55] Andrew DeWolf: Did you ever watch 30 Rock, Andrew?

[42:58] Jesse McInally: I have not. So Jeff Richmond, who is the composer of this Antina Face husband, composed every episode of 30 Rock, and he has a very similar style, like, and he went on to compose Kimmy Schmidt, and they sound interchangeable, the scores.

[43:14] Jesse McInally: And it's like bouncy, um, to steal Ben Brantley's term, uh, gummy bear. And here I just feel like he got stuck in his ways, and the times where it really does stand out is like either Damien's song where it's like an actually fun number, or Regina's songs where it actually sounds like a fucking Disney villain.

[43:32] Brianna Jones: I mean, I wonder if it's that it's maybe it's because he didn't have anything to work with material-wise to like get inspired to make better songs.

[43:41] Jesse McInally: Because the two songs you're citing are songs that are specific to a character that actually has personality, and then he wrote the songs to fit that.

[43:50] Jesse McInally: Whereas if you're writing songs about Katie and in the Mean Girls, like, what is there to say? One's dumb.

[43:57] Andrew DeWolf: One's weird.

[43:58] Jesse McInally: Yeah, and he did that too. When the dumb one gets a song, he does that like slow, like kindergarten style melody.

[44:06] Andrew DeWolf: Yep, which is kind of weird, and I, you know, I really don't like that like, uh, trope.

[44:13] Brianna Jones: That trope of like whenever there's three people, one of them is dumb.

[44:18] Andrew DeWolf: Which one am I? We got three people here.

[44:21] Jesse McInally: Alright. Well, I'm the dumb one, I think.

[44:25] Brianna Jones: Who's the hot one?

[44:26] Andrew DeWolf: That's also me.

[44:32] Jesse McInally: I'm, uh, Gretchen Wieners. Fun fact, I don't think Brie knows this.

[44:37] Jesse McInally: Um, the first time my girlfriend ever met Brie, um, she had, uh, much bigger, shorter hair, and my girlfriend just turns to me, she's like, her hair is so big because it's full of secrets.

[44:49] Brianna Jones: Oof.

[44:50] Jesse McInally: What does that mean?

[44:51] Brianna Jones: Really? What does that mean?

[44:56] Jesse McInally: Alright, Apex Predator.

[44:58] Brianna Jones: I liked Apex Predator.

[45:00] Jesse McInally: I like Apex Predator too. I feel like this is the song I can remember the most because I think they actually got like a real melody going that's like catchy.

[45:08] Jesse McInally: And they got a singer with a distinct voice, because all the other singers kinda sound alike, where Barrett Wilbert Weed has this very intense voice.

[45:16] ♪ Musical number: "Apex Predator" — performed by Barrett Wilbert Weed ♪

[46:18] Jesse McInally: It's good. This is the best one, in my opinion.

[46:22] Brianna Jones: Um, I think I like a couple others a little more, but I get why this is your best one.

[46:28] Jesse McInally: I think it's just a personal taste thing for me. And also, not a lot of story is spat out here.

[46:33] Jesse McInally: Um, it's just like, oh, uh, I discovered Regina doesn't have my best interest.

[46:38] Andrew DeWolf: Oh no.

[46:39] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[46:40] Andrew DeWolf: Can we talk about the what's wrong with me song for like a second here?

[46:44] Jesse McInally: Oh, fuck it. I'll, uh, if you want, say what you want, Jesus Christ.

[46:48] Brianna Jones: Okay, go tell me who we hate today, and I will fall in line.

[46:59] Jesse McInally: Hug me while my shoulders tense, and we'll pretend we're fine.

[47:07] Jesse McInally: There'll be blood on the floor. But which one will betray the other more?

[47:16] Jesse McInally: What's wrong with me? Where's my mind? Where does it end? Maybe I need to find a better friend.

[47:28] Jesse McInally: What's wrong with me? What can I do? What's wrong with me? Could it be you?

[47:33] Jesse McInally: It's probably me! See that you see. What's wrong?

[47:39] Andrew DeWolf: Okay, what the fuck? The Gretchen character in this is like really cringe and hard to watch and like sad.

[47:46] Andrew DeWolf: And I feel like they never resolve it really. And I hate it.

[47:50] Andrew DeWolf: Like, what the hell? It's really nothing to do with the music of this song.

[47:53] Andrew DeWolf: I really don't care about that. It's more just like, what are they thinking with this character?

[47:59] Jesse McInally: Can we talk about Heathers again, really briefly?

[48:02] Brianna Jones: Yeah, sure.

[48:03] Jesse McInally: Um, that, much like this, has the three main popular girls and the one outside girl brought into that group.

[48:10] Brianna Jones: Yes.

[48:11] Jesse McInally: That is the basic premise of Heathers. It goes off the rails.

[48:14] Jesse McInally: But the musical Heathers, um, takes big steps and moments to really highlight each of them and give them a part that is important.

[48:23] Jesse McInally: Like one of them deals with the fact that she doesn't have value outside of where she stands, and she realizes that at any moment she can be pushed out, and because of that, she's like, her entire self-worth is based there.

[48:35] Jesse McInally: She describes it as being on a lifeboat and being ordered to jump off into the waters.

[48:39] Jesse McInally: And then the other Heather basically is trying to regain the reins after the first Heather dies horribly by suicide.

[48:47] Jesse McInally: Or suicide, big quotation marks. Um, they each get moments of standout, they explain what they want, what their fears are, and what their insecurities are.

[48:55] Jesse McInally: Um here, Karen is too stupid to have a personality, and they try, they really do, and they do very badly at it.

[49:02] Jesse McInally: And Gretchen's personality is insecurity, and that is an entire personality trait.

[49:08] Jesse McInally: They're not multifaceted in any way that I know that the Heathers musical tried to make each of the Heathers.

[49:14] Andrew DeWolf: Carrie's entire personality is just extremely dumb, kind of.

[49:20] Jesse McInally: And then there's the one moment where she's like, we should teach men not to do bad things, which is like peak liberal feminism right there.

[49:28] Andrew DeWolf: Uh, teach men not to do bad things.

[49:30] Jesse McInally: Yeah, okay, that's the solution.

[49:34] Andrew DeWolf: I mean, it kinda is, but also men don't listen, which is a whole different thing.

[49:38] Jesse McInally: Maybe, maybe there's societal issues that we need to address that aren't just individual men do bad things.

[49:45] Andrew DeWolf: Well, it's not even that we need to teach men.

[49:47] Jesse McInally: Well, the way you teach men is show that there's consequences for actions, which look at Brock Turner, like fucking walk and yes.

[49:56] Andrew DeWolf: I agree with you.

[49:57] Jesse McInally: I'm just reframing it in a way that I understand what you meant by that, but other people probably didn't.

[50:02] Andrew DeWolf: Yes.

[50:03] Jesse McInally: Okay, you're right. And then Gretchen's entire personality summed up in this song is just I hate myself, and that's why I'm with this horrible person that abuses me.

[50:14] Andrew DeWolf: Which is just so sad.

[50:18] Jesse McInally: Speaking of sad, let's talk about someone gets hurt.

[50:22] Brianna Jones: Alright.

[50:24] Jesse McInally: Yes, I look perfect. Ice Queen, that's what you see.

[50:30] Jesse McInally: So they, uh, expect from me but it's, uh, you use me, you saw the sexy clones I supermodel bows let's insume now is I a game team was I a way to be cool?

[50:56] Jesse McInally: I truly cared.

[51:01] Jesse McInally: It's fine for you.

[51:05] Jesse McInally: It's fine to fight.

[51:08] Jesse McInally: It's fun.

[51:25] Brianna Jones: Um, this is the one moment of they did this a little better than the movie that I am gonna give credit for.

[51:32] Brianna Jones: Um, in the movie, Regina George is basically a comedy antagonist.

[51:37] Brianna Jones: She's never really a threat.

[51:39] Brianna Jones: She is always kind of a goofy threat, where she's her like representation of her character is always tongue-in-cheek, and like literally the booyu whore thing is a meme.

[51:50] Brianna Jones: Um, and get it like she is the most mean character in this.

[51:53] Jesse McInally: Where this musical tries to reframe her as an actual threat and an actual person with emotions and a very serious person, um, that has needs and doesn't like things being trampled over, and I think that comes out the most during this song, someone gets hurt when she finds out that Katie has a crush on her ex-boyfriend, and she's like, Well, you don't give a shit about me, then I don't give a shit about you.

[52:18] Jesse McInally: Because before this, I actually do believe Regina kinda liked Katie and liked her, and this is where the turning point when she becomes an antagonist.

[52:26] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[52:27] Jesse McInally: This is one of those things where in some ways they really wanted to flesh out Regina and said, fuck everyone else.

[52:35] Jesse McInally: Everyone else, y'all are just what you were in the movie, if not less.

[52:38] Andrew DeWolf: But Regina, you're a character now.

[52:40] Jesse McInally: Yeah, you're a super villain now, and it's kinda cool.

[52:43] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, it is kinda cool, except for she doesn't get very much time after this moment.

[52:47] Jesse McInally: Um, she gets one other big moment.

[52:49] Andrew DeWolf: Yes, but it's not till near the very end.

[52:52] Jesse McInally: Because the plot point from here on out is, uh, Katie decides that oh, I'm too cool for my old friends and then there's the breakup and, uh, just all that stuff.

[53:05] Andrew DeWolf: The most predictable garbage you've ever seen.

[53:08] Jesse McInally: Three act structure, there's a th, oh, everyone's breaking up in this third act.

[53:13] Jesse McInally: She got everything she wanted but it turns out what she really wanted was the friends she made along the way.

[53:13] Andrew DeWolf: I don't want to talk about any of his songs or anything like that, but can we talk briefly about the boyfriend character?

[53:28] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[53:28] Andrew DeWolf: Can you Aaron call him a character?

[53:31] Brianna Jones: No, you cannot.

[53:31] Andrew DeWolf: And this is where we're gonna talk comparatively to Legally Blonde.

[53:36] Andrew DeWolf: Legally Blonde had a lot to do, but they also took the time to make sure that the love interest was someone you understood why someone would be interested in.

[53:43] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[53:44] Andrew DeWolf: They took a very two-dimensional character from the film and fleshed him out a bit and made him a real walking weaving, whereas this is like let's take the UPS man and then he will be the only love interest and everyone's fighting over him.

[54:01] Brianna Jones: And the thing is you see them fight over him and I don't know any reason why anyone would want this guy.

[54:06] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, it's like she, and like he goes back to Regina for what reason?

[54:11] Brianna Jones: He didn't even mention that he liked her or anything.

[54:15] Andrew DeWolf: She hot.

[54:16] Brianna Jones: Simply does not make any sense.

[54:17] Andrew DeWolf: Makes dollars, not sense.

[54:19] Brianna Jones: Do you think they expected people to have already seen the movie and just thought like, oh, we don't have to worry about character development?

[54:26] Andrew DeWolf: They kind of already know who this Aaron Samuels or guy is.

[54:30] Jesse McInally: You see, that's an irresponsible way to go into any form of media adaptation.

[54:36] Andrew DeWolf: I agree completely.

[54:37] Jesse McInally: Like, take a look at Beetlejuice. Everyone that's has seen Beetlejuice.

[54:41] Andrew DeWolf: Like, I'm willing to bet even Bree.

[54:42] Brianna Jones: You've seen that.

[54:43] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I've seen it.

[54:44] Jesse McInally: But if you watch the musical of Beetlejuice, it's better than the movie.

[54:47] Jesse McInally: And they go in a different way.

[54:50] Jesse McInally: Like, I mean, I guess it's arguable to say it's better, but they go in their own direction that I personally like better, and I could see an argument for either one being better because they are different things.

[55:00] Andrew DeWolf: Whereas with this one, this is the movie on stage.

[55:04] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[55:04] Andrew DeWolf: This one of the characters just don't even have anything going on.

[55:09] Jesse McInally: And I feel like I'm just missing aspects of it because I've not seen the movie.

[55:14] Brianna Jones: Right.

[55:14] Jesse McInally: And I, I that's why I was very interested in what Andrew would think, and I didn't want him to see the movie beforehand.

[55:20] Jesse McInally: Like the teacher character, there's like that scene at the end where the teacher like forgives her.

[55:25] Andrew DeWolf: Is that a thing in the movie?

[55:26] Jesse McInally: Because the teacher doesn't like exist in this show except for that scene.

[55:30] Andrew DeWolf: Guess who plays the teacher in the movie?

[55:32] Brianna Jones: Do I have to actually guess?

[55:33] Andrew DeWolf: Is it Tina Fey?

[55:34] Brianna Jones: Yes.

[55:34] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[55:37] Jesse McInally: Okay.

[55:38] Jesse McInally: Um, that's why her arcade. The teacher doesn't exist in this, and the arc is literally the scene at the very end, and that's about it.

[55:49] Jesse McInally: She likes math. That's her character, and she sees the potential and unrealized that.

[55:56] Andrew DeWolf: I don't fucking know.

[55:57] Jesse McInally: That character isn't a character.

[55:58] Andrew DeWolf: You're right.

[55:59] Jesse McInally: Is the big math moment at the beginning where we realize that she's good at math, that she figures out that forty-eight over a hundred is forty-eight percent?

[56:07] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[56:08] Jesse McInally: Yeah.

[56:08] Jesse McInally: Like, that's not even hard.

[56:10] Andrew DeWolf: Like, anyone should know that.

[56:12] Jesse McInally: Am I just good at math and I don't even realize it?

[56:14] Andrew DeWolf: Because I don't think so.

[56:19] Jesse McInally: You know what, maybe?

[56:21] Andrew DeWolf: Maybe you're just really good at good at math, Andrew.

[56:24] Jesse McInally: Um, yeah, um, let's talk about the big, uh, bouncy one that everyone tried to make a hit but no one really liked.

[56:30] Jesse McInally: Um, and that is I'd rather be me.

[56:32] Andrew DeWolf: I'd rather be me.

[56:34] Jesse McInally: Do you even remember that song, Andrew?

[56:37] Jesse McInally: We're supposed to all be ladies and be nurturing and care.

[56:40] Jesse McInally: Is that really fair, boys?

[56:42] Jesse McInally: Gets a fight we've to share.

[56:44] Jesse McInally: Here's the way that that turns out.

[56:45] Jesse McInally: We always understand how to slap someone down with our underhand.

[56:50] Jesse McInally: So here's my rude finger.

[56:58] Jesse McInally: Sometimes what's man's freak you, brave.

[57:04] Jesse McInally: So I will not act all innocent, I won't fake apologize.

[57:08] Jesse McInally: Let's just fight and then make up, not tell these lies.

[57:11] Jesse McInally: Let's call our damage even, clean the slate till it's lag new. It's a new life for me. I'd rather be me. I'd rather be me than be with you.

[57:24] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, I remember, I remember it. Yeah, I knew, I knew as soon as I said that you would be like cringe. I think I saw that actress do it on Jimmy Fallon.

[57:35] Brianna Jones: Did she sing that song?

[57:37] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, live. I'll be honest. Yeah, they've really tried hard to make that a hit. I'll be honest, I kind of got a little bit of music video and everything. I was a little bit distracted by the fact that this person like admitted to causing the problems and then is now like singing this song about how she's better than everyone else's problems.

[57:54] Jesse McInally: It's like that she caused. And then everyone suddenly loves her. And I don't know if you've ever had it where the kind of socially awkward person tries to grandstand in front of a sort of thing.

[58:05] Andrew DeWolf: Is this the uh the whole train clapped moment of the show? Like or like what is it? Like that student was Albert Einstein or something like that, and then everyone claps.

[58:19] Brianna Jones: Yeah, that happened.

[58:20] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, that's that's this moment. It's like I got up on the desk and I said, "Fuck everybody," and then everybody else was like, "Yeah, you're right." Anytime it ends with "and everyone applauded," you're like, "Yeah, that's right. Everybody did."

[58:39] Jesse McInally: Where this is the I was talking about how much I love Super Hulak and everyone laughed at me. Then the teachers said, "I love Super Hulak too," and showed this is Doctor Who playing, and then everyone applauded.

[58:53] Brianna Jones: Oh my god.

[58:55] Jesse McInally: Yeah, that happened. It's like he's reading it directly from fucking Tumblr. Circa 2008 Tumblr.

[59:04] Andrew DeWolf: Oh my god. So I think this is easily the worst attempt at a song. I think the song itself is fine. It's not the most offensive thing in there.

[59:18] Brianna Jones: No. I mean, unless you're offended by the most offensive thing in this show, honestly, is when Karen describes being a 13-year-old and sending nudes with her face not cropped out. Now they're all over the internet.

[59:28] Andrew DeWolf: I'm like, we had to talk about pedophilia somewhere, didn't we?

[59:31] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[59:31] Andrew DeWolf: Well, I mean, they cut out the other pedophilia plot lines, so I mean you had to add a new one in, right? You gotta make sure you have your pedophilia representation. You gotta get the quota.

[59:43] Jesse McInally: Like, I'm surprised, as woke as Broadway claims to be, that something like this can thrive as much as it is, with like such offensive and mean like it's mean. Like, I know the title is Mean Girls, but shit.

[59:54] Brianna Jones: The reason that's in there though is so they can get the woke points, though, because that is the part where she follows it up with "we need to teach men not to do bad stuff." Do you remember that?

[1:00:04] Andrew DeWolf: I remember that. That's why that's there, which is very sad to be honest. The thing is, I get what it's trying to say, but they're not understanding that the reason why men do bad stuff is because they get away with it. We need to change the system at systemic problems that make sure that they get away with it.

[1:00:21] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[1:00:21] Andrew DeWolf: Uh and that's on my mind a lot today, because we're recording this on the day of the fucking Brianna Taylor ruling, and I'm just so fucking pissed.

[1:00:29] Jesse McInally: That's that's fucking phenomenal. Uh I'm surprised anyone got charged though, to be honest.

[1:00:34] Brianna Jones: If I'm real. Do you know what he's charged with though? He's charged with like what, disturbing the neighbors or something?

[1:00:39] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[1:00:41] Brianna Jones: It's absolutely ridiculous. It's like, yeah, he uh the gunshots like woke up the neighbors. That's a crime. Uh that's a huge middle finger to everything they stood for. And the mayor fucking like curfew, police action everywhere, no vacations, everyone's on duty now. They like boarded up all the cities, recommended that people close down for the day. They uh gated the streets.

[1:01:05] Andrew DeWolf: It's ridiculous.

[1:01:06] Brianna Jones: Yeah, it's like it's like they know that they're doing a bad thing and everyone will be pissed off, but instead of not doing the bad thing to make everyone pissed off, they're just like do it anyway.

[1:01:15] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, they're just like, everyone, everyone hide because there's gonna be angry people because we're about to do bad things. God forbid we arrest one white police officer. Jesus Christ.

[1:01:25] Brianna Jones: But you know what they should do? That would just solve everything. They should teach police officers not to do bad stuff.

[1:01:31] Andrew DeWolf: No, no, no. You should just get up and you gotta raise your eye finger. It'll fix everything.

[1:01:38] Brianna Jones: Just listen to Mean Girls.

[1:01:40] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. If only it was that easy.

[1:01:42] Brianna Jones: Yeah, I mean, yeah, Tina Fey says it's that easy, so I mean, I mean this. I hate Tina Fey now. This show, this show is single-handed.

[1:01:50] Jesse McInally: I feel like I do that a lot of all the problems. I mean when that uh when that black girl comes up and she says, "I'm prettier than Regina Williams." That's that right there, systemic Regina Williams, whatever her fucking name is. Not Regina Williams.

[1:02:05] Andrew DeWolf: I'm sorry. Regina George, you I'm sorry, that was mean. Uh not mean, because it wasn't intentional. Mean Girls.

[1:02:14] Brianna Jones: Oh my goodness. Cut that part.

[1:02:16] Jesse McInally: I'm gonna do it again. Okay. I'm not gonna do it again. I forget what I was gonna say.

[1:02:21] Andrew DeWolf: I forget what I was gonna say, to be honest. Um let's talk about I See Stars, the finale of the show that takes place on prom.

[1:02:29] Jesse McInally: It's me and you, not us and her. Cause if we knew how strong we were say what you are time You are so huge. I see stars. We shine us by you will I see Star.

[1:03:23] Brianna Jones: Who cares?

[1:03:25] Andrew DeWolf: Boo, you whore.

[1:03:27] Brianna Jones: No, I do want to talk about this because I hate the idea behind this song. Where she was in Africa and she could see night stars at night and everything, and then suddenly she was like, "Oh no, I see it in all the people around us," when I'm like, "No, all your friends are fucking sadists. Everyone here is terrible. What are you talking about? Everyone deserves the prom crown. Honestly, the school should be fucking condemned and you all should be suspended. Also, you can't see the stars because the corporations are polluting the sky so badly that you just can't see shit."

[1:03:56] Jesse McInally: Know what you do to fix that? Uh cast Raise your right finger.

[1:04:03] Andrew DeWolf: Yep. Problem solved. Systemic issues solved. Everything's solved because you know one white girl decided that she was not gonna take no shit nowhere. Global warming? Solved. Racism? Solved. We did it.

[1:04:14] Brianna Jones: Just flip off everything.

[1:04:15] Andrew DeWolf: We did it. Using our—no, I'm willing to bet if you do that to a cop, everything will end great.

[1:04:20] Jesse McInally: You'll see stars alright.

[1:04:28] Andrew DeWolf: On that note, what is everyone's thoughts on Mean Girls the Musical and their cheese rating? You know, when we first started this show, we were like, "Let's stay out of politics." And were we? I think we at some point said that. And now we're at a point where we're not able to. And I'm sad about it a little bit. I hated this show, by the way.

[1:04:55] Brianna Jones: Why did you hate it? Why didn't you like it?

[1:04:56] Andrew DeWolf: The music is bland and the story was way too predictable and uninspired. And there was a lot of just garbage political takes that I just did not enjoy. I'm just not a fan. I did not enjoy it. Happy Halloween. I'm sorry, everyone. If you like Mean Girls, fuck off.

[1:05:22] Brianna Jones: Oh my god.

[1:05:25] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know. Cheese rating. Cheese rating. I'm gonna I'm gonna just fucking look it up on cheese.com.

[1:05:33] Brianna Jones: Brie!

[1:05:34] Andrew DeWolf: Yes. What did you think of our discussion and your cheese rating?

[1:05:37] Brianna Jones: Well, you're d I would say your discussion was great. I hate Tina Fey now, so—

[1:05:39] Andrew DeWolf: You liked her when we started this episode is the thing. You had a full transition.

[1:05:47] Brianna Jones: Yeah, you know what? It was Jacob who made me kind of like her because we would always watch um 30 Rock when we would go to bed, and I was like, "Ah, I like 30 Rock puts me to sleep." Um, but you know, she obviously has some some issues in her writing and uh Mean Girls, the musical uh felt like uh a porn parody to me, so I'm fair enough.

[1:06:20] Andrew DeWolf: I don't know what to give it for a cheese.

[1:06:23] Brianna Jones: Um, how about a porn parody? Skimorza, because it's a funny name and I like it.

[1:06:30] Andrew DeWolf: We're putting a lot of effort into this, aren't we, Andrew?

[1:06:32] Brianna Jones: I'm putting way too much effort into this. Let's look up um The Worst Cheese.

[1:06:40] Andrew DeWolf: Oof.

[1:06:42] Brianna Jones: Really, you're getting that far.

[1:06:43] Andrew DeWolf: I don't think I've ever went for the worst cheese.

[1:06:47] Brianna Jones: No, there's worse shows than this, but I I would say as far as like why this show is bad, it's kind of similar to like Dear Evan Hansen. If you don't like it, I don't think it comes anywhere close to the show.

[1:06:58] Andrew DeWolf: It doesn't. We're we're playing it up a little bit for entertainment, I think.

[1:07:01] Brianna Jones: Is Dear Evan Hansen that bad?

[1:07:04] Andrew DeWolf: Yes.

[1:07:04] Brianna Jones: Really?

[1:07:05] Andrew DeWolf: Dear Evan Hansen. You should listen to our episode honestly.

[1:07:12] Brianna Jones: I I don't know how it's popular, to be honest.

[1:07:16] Andrew DeWolf: Okay. Hey, Andrew, fun fact, we're gonna have to revisit that next year because we got a movie coming out soon.

[1:07:23] Brianna Jones: I don't want to.

[1:07:24] Andrew DeWolf: Do we have to?

[1:07:25] Brianna Jones: Yes, Andrew, we have to.

[1:07:28] Andrew DeWolf: The fuck it you're talking about, of course we have to. We had to do Cats, of course we have to do Dear Evan Hansen.

[1:07:33] Brianna Jones: Dear Evan Hansen is not as fun to watch as Cats, so this is not gonna be good.

[1:07:39] Andrew DeWolf: But we can defend Connor's honor.

[1:07:41] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[1:07:42] Andrew DeWolf: Either way, I I didn't love Mean Girls. It is not a musical I would appreciate. Um I skip over any songs that come out in my shuffle. I really do not enjoy the book. Um, especially compared to like Legally Blonde, which is on the brains code. We just recently covered that. This really isn't that great. And Heathers is just so much better.

[1:08:02] Brianna Jones: Heathers is so so fucking fun and so good.

[1:08:06] Andrew DeWolf: And this is not, and I hate white people. So in honor of Mean Girls, my cheese rating is whatever, I'm getting cheese fries.

[1:08:16] Brianna Jones: Fair enough. That you know, that's a line from it. I remember that.

[1:08:20] Andrew DeWolf: We didn't even like we didn't even like talk about how fucked up it is that part of the plot is just making this girl fat.

[1:08:27] Brianna Jones: Yeah.

[1:08:28] Andrew DeWolf: And then fat shaming her.

[1:08:30] Brianna Jones: Yep.

[1:08:30] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah. Fat shaming. Which I guess they justify by like, "Oh well, she's mean to everybody," so.

[1:08:37] Brianna Jones: But it's like, what no. She she had body dysphoria and then had to go to physical therapy after being hit by a bus and then got addicted to painkillers and eventually died a horrible—

[1:08:49] Andrew DeWolf: This is a high school student. Of course she's mean to everybody. Like, fuck off.

[1:08:54] Brianna Jones: I think Andrew, as we talked about in Heathers, Heathers actually has a really good message about mean girls and mean people in high school, where it's like, yeah, they were mean, but maybe they'd grow up and they wouldn't be mean. And now we'll never know because they're dead, and that sucks.

[1:09:09] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah.

[1:09:10] Brianna Jones: It had an actual fucking thing it wanted to say about mean girls and mean girl culture.

[1:09:16] Andrew DeWolf: Yeah, this this one just hits them with a bus and then calls it a day.

[1:09:20] Brianna Jones: And it's hilarious.

[1:09:22] Andrew DeWolf: Oh my goodness. I'm not saying Heathers handles violence against women and like death perfectly, but it handles it with some respect and has a thing to say about it. This has nothing to say except for remember Mean Girls.

[1:09:40] Brianna Jones: But you know, who doesn't remember Mean Girls? Our patrons don't wonderful patrons. Thank you guys for listening. Um please follow us on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher at Musicals with Cheese. Our Twitter is at Cheesy Musicals, our Patreon is Musicals with Cheese. Our YouTube page is Musicals with Cheese. Our Instagram is Musicals with Cheese. We have a podcast on Patreon called Patreon with Cheese, where we're covering Fossey Verden. Probably. I think I'm still going. Um, our email is musicaltheatrelives@gmail.com. Our title card was created by the amazing Jolene Casco. Go send her some love at Jolene Casco. This show is produced and edited by the absolutely incredible, the beautiful, the sweet, the kind, the absolutely wonderful Brianna Joel.

[1:10:23] Jesse McInally: Yay.

[1:10:24] Brianna Jones: Um yeah, and thank you to the Broadway Podcast Network for letting us be on your platform and not kicking us off for talking shit about Mean Girls. And for all I know, there could be cast members of Mean Girls that are on the network. I'd I they could be. It wouldn't shock me. Uh yeah, probably. Um, do you guys have anything else left to say?

[1:10:40] Andrew DeWolf: No.

[1:10:46] Brianna Jones: You can't sit with us.

[1:10:48] Jesse McInally: Don't sit with us.

[1:10:49] Brianna Jones: Actually, I can't sit anywhere because I have hemorrhoids.

[1:10:53] Andrew DeWolf: I have hemorrhoids. That's what the musical's about.

[1:10:58] Jesse McInally: Alright, guys. We'll see you next time on Musicals with Cheese.

[1:11:10] Jesse McInally: I'd rather be me. I'd rather be me. I'd rather be me. I'd rather be me. I'd rather be with you.

[1:11:18] Andrew DeWolf: Flip off the audience because fuck you. You spent money to come here. I hate you on this. Mean Girls.