Mean Girls – Review – Alhambra Theatre, Bradford

By Alex Crabtree, October 2026

I remember watching the original Mean Girls film back in 2004, chuckling along to the sharp one-liners and the absolute madness of high school politics.

Most of us can cast our minds back to the sheer pressure of school – trying to wear the ‘right’ thing, hang out with the ‘right’ crowd, and survive the daily social minefield. Nowadays, it still gets air-time in our house. My daughter Meghan and I enjoy putting it on when we have a girlie night in. So, heading up to Bradford’s Alhambra Theatre with her, we were looking forward to seeing how all that teenage chaos translated into a full-scale stage production.

Arriving at the Alhambra, there was all this excitement spilling out into the foyer. It was clearly a massive night for teenage girls, alongside plenty of mums who, like me, remembered the film the first time around. It was an exciting atmosphere and you could feel that the crowd was up for a laugh.

Mean Girls delivered comedy from the very off, setting the lively tone right away with the opening number ‘A Cautionary Tale’.

“Brilliant fun”

The story goes headfirst into the brutal hierarchy of teenage life, playing out the absurd scenarios through great numbers like ‘Stupid With Love’, ‘Someone Gets Hurt’, and the riotous ‘Revenge Party’.

And the performances across the board were thoroughly entertaining. Georgie Buckland as Janis Sarkisian and Max Gill as Damian Hubbard were the standouts on the stage for me. My personal favourites of the whole night. Janis blew us completely away with her incredible vocals during ‘I’d Rather Be Me’, getting one of the biggest reactions from the crowd.

Meanwhile, Kiara Dario as Gretchen Wieners and Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith sat perfectly in their roles, creating many laugh-out-loud moments as Regina’s loyal sidekicks, ‘The Plastics’.

Faye Tozer was brilliant fun too, switching between her roles effortlessly as Ms Heron, Ms Norbury, and Mrs George.

A song like ‘What’s Wrong With Me?’ brought in a quiet, emotional toll that both Gretchen and Mrs George feel underneath all that gloss.

“Choose to be nice”

The story sticks to that of the original, pretty much.  And the older you get, the more profound some of the events in the show feel. Beyond the biting humour and the slick musical numbers, Mean Girls works because it hits on a universal truth. It carries a great lesson about staying true to yourself, remembering that everyone has the power to choose to be nice, and bringing us back around to realising that everyone is unique and special in their own way.

Behind the scenes, the set design works wonders. The mobile set pieces are fab, sliding effortlessly around the Alhambra stage to allow lots of quick, seamless movement between classrooms, hallways, and bedrooms without missing a beat.

And as for vocals, Vivian Panka as Queen Bee Regina George stood strong and fierce, completely owning the room. Her powerhouse pipes really soared through ‘World Burn’, and the clever set and lighting design brought another level to the song: a spotlight cutting directly onto her face with lights running across the top of the stage to mimic a photocopier silhouette. It was one of a number of visually striking moments throughout the show.

As the end of the show draws in, we’re given a beautiful rendition of ‘I See Stars’, sending everyone out into the Bradford night smiling. Especially me and Meghan. We loved it, and it showed both of us that Mean Girls is a production that’s fun, uplifting, and proves high school drama never really goes out of fashion!

Mean Girls continues its run at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, until Saturday 10th October 2026.