Oakmont’s Mean Girls wins several TAMY Awards

Reagan Bouchard and Mikaela Groncki|May 5, 2023

Best featured ensemble

By Reagan Bouchard and Mikaela Groncki

OAKMONT WINS TAMYS!!!

BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Lydia Kriedler as Janis SILVER TAMY
BEST DANCE ENSEMBLE (Small School Division) WON
BEST FEATURED ENSEMBLE – The Mathletes (Ryan Rollo, Blake Ross, Jonny Currie) WON
SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TAP – Stop! WON
Not Your Average Chorus Number – Max Sikora

Opening on Friday, April 28th, Oakmont students performed the play Mean Girls.

After practicing for months, 2-3 days a week, the cast sang and danced their hearts out on stage. The play really captured the movie’s high school comedic essence. The props they used to capture the picture of Africa and the school throughout the play made it feel more real and alive.

The story follows the story of a new girl at school who is navigating the ropes of high school and learns the lesson that judging others will not make you feel any better about yourself. She encounters many challenges that include trying to “fit in”, boys, and overall high school drama.

Mean Girls was first produced on Broadway by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, and Sonia Friedman. The music was by Jeff Richmond, the lyrics were by Nell Benjamin, and the book was by Tina Fey. At Oakmont, the play was produced by the director, Mrs. Tanya Leblanc, the music director, Mr. Kris DeMoura, and the choreographer, Dawn Ross.

The students did an outstanding job; the play was very entertaining and hilarious. It was clear from the sweat and the smiles that all the students and staff that were involved put in a lot of effort, and it paid off! The impressive full group stage movement, grapevines, and dramatic center-stage song solos made the play very diverse.

The cast made the audience a part of the show, which made it way more exciting. They also talked to the audience like they were the incoming freshmen in the play. The outfits represented the movie’s characters by speaking for their personalities. When Regina was hit by the bus the audience laughed at the bitmoji that flew across the back screen.

Another thing that was really unique about the play was the songs. Especially, the songs I’d Rather Be Me, What’s Wrong With Me, and Revenge Party. Everyone had great voices to sing as many songs as they did, all the voices blended together great.

With all the comedy in the play, you could never get bored. Director Leblanc agrees, “Mean Girls is one of my favorite musicals; I love the message of treating others the way you want to be treated and being comfortable in yourself.” Mean Girls creates a perfect combination of humor and something to learn from.

It was astonishing how well the cast members memorized all the lines and songs when performing for over 2 hours. “The students embraced this show from day one and knocked it out of the park for the audiences,” says the music director, Mr. DeMoura. He is very proud of all the students and wishes the seniors good luck. He can’t wait to see what they can accomplish in the future!

Senior Ciara Lordan, who played Cady, thinks this was a great experience for her senior because it’s not like anything they’ve done before. She explained, “The rights to the show were just released at the end of last year; not many schools have done it.” They had no show to base anything off of. They had to create it from scratch, come up with new ideas, and create their own kind of perspective on the show.

Lordan mentioned that her role, Cady, was very demanding because of her strong solo songs and scenes. She believes it is one of her favorite characters she has ever played. Ciara also adds how talented the AV crew and stage crew were in putting the whole show together. The effects of the lighting, sound, and even projections across the screen added to the production.

Emma Cruse, who played Regina says, “We definitely were all nervous for the end result as we got closer to show dates, but we all really worked hard and got where we needed to be.” Emma really enjoyed her role in the play: “My favorite part was definitely playing Regina. She is such a fun character to play, and she’s iconic.” Emma did fantastic work by making Regina as iconic as she was in the movie.

Cruse seemed just like Regina in the movie. She showed Regina’s craving for being the best and her style with the outfits. Regina’s attitude in the movie was shown throughout the play especially in scenes like when Emma sang the song Watch the World Burn. Overall, throughout the play, even the smallest details like the way Emma spoke and walked reminded us of the famous character, Regina.

“The cast worked extremely hard and took everything that was thrown at us and ran with it to make an excellent production,” said Thomas Paine, who played Damian. He says that his favorite part of the show was learning how to tap dance. “I’ve found it’s really fun to do.” Senior Thomas Paine did a wonderful job playing Damian. He really grasped all the comedic aspects of this role and did a great job.

The comedy in this production was definitely PG-13. It was surely fitting for the high school audience. Thomas says, “At first I couldn’t really believe they were allowing us to do a show like this, I’m even more shocked with what they let me get away with.” There were some scenes that was for the older teen crowd which made it perfect for the high school audience.

The Mean Girls play was nominated for the 2023 TAMY Awards! The categories are…

BEST OVERALL PRODUCTION (Small School Division)
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A LEADING ROLE – Emma Kruse for Regina
BEST PERFORMANCE IN A SUPPORTING ROLE – Lydia Kriedler as Janis SILVER TAMY
BEST CHORUS (Small School Division)
BEST DANCE ENSEMBLE (Small School Division) WON
BEST PRODUCTION NUMBER (Small School Division)
BEST STAGE CREW (Small School Division)
TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE – LIGHTING (Small School Division)
TECHNICAL EXCELLENCE – SOUND (Small School Division)
BEST COSTUMES, HAIR AND MAKE-UP (Small School Division)
VISUAL EXCELLENCE (Small School Division)
BEST FEATURED ENSEMBLE – The Mathletes (Ryan Rollo, Blake Ross, Jonny Currie) WON
SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TAP – Stop! WON
NOT-YOUR-AVERAGE CHORUS MEMBER (All to receive NYACM Medal)