![Hosting the SCLA Casptone Mentor Dinner outside allowed for more attendees on September 27, 2021 at Silver Creek. This event would’ve usually been held inside. According to Lauren Kohn, a SCLA 12 teacher, “If we have a higher number of people, as long as we can host the event outside, then that seems to be keeping every[one] safe”.](https://schsnews.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/sxMAIGbSYGodZkqmrvTi5YWcJ1ssWA08ApkeMLpp-900x675.jpeg)
On February 27, Tracy Knick and her cast went through their first full run-through of “Mean Girls: The Musical” in preparation for opening night. That night she saw all of the cast supporting one another as a whole community, helping to perfect the musical before the big release.
The school’s musical is about to come into full form on March 5-8, 2025, which means the cast is in the final stretch of rehearsing. Knick has been directing the school’s musical since November of last year and now she finally saw all the hard work and long rehearsals pay off.
“Last night we did a full run,” Knick said. “But it was that moment when I saw them not only perform their own roles with such pride and energy but were so helpful to each other to make it a smooth run.”
While producing a directing a musical can be tedious and intense, preparation and time pay off.
“You don’t just get to do a musical,” Knick said. “You have to apply for rights, and the production companies decide. Since we had such a great musical last year with ‘Grease’, we wanted to make sure we followed it with something people would still be excited about.”
Although the selection of “Mean Girls” took so much time, that’s not the reason Silver Creek sophomore Coral Buchalter joined this year’s musical production.
“I’ve always loved theater, but it wasn’t easily accessible or affordable to me in middle school,” Buchalter said. “So when I came to Silver Creek, I took the opportunity to really be part of the theater.” Buchalter is the actor of the characters, Janis Sarkisian and Lizzie.
Everyone who’s a part of this production of “Mean Girls” is a whole community and a mini family. They support one another and join to have a sense of togetherness that is hard to find elsewhere. Theater is known to bring all different kinds of people together, and that is why Knick finds it so special that the play is being held during the Week of Inclusion.
“We happen to be debuting during the Week of Inclusion and I think that inclusion is one of the big messages [of the musical],” said Knick. “There’s room on the planet for every single person and we need to value what people bring and how they all add joy, no matter who they are.”
The musical is double cast (two separate casts) this year, leading to some changes behind the scenes of “Mean Girls.” Double the actors and one set of ensemble members leave two separate versions of the musical to watch.
However, she wanted to change how few students got to experience being a part of the musical, so she switched to a double cast.
“Casting is always super hard. But when you have so many talented people that would be perfect for a role. If you don’t double cast, there can only be one,” Knick said.
“[The ensemble] still plays every night, so we get to back up booth casts,” sophomore Gavin Kim, a member of the ensemble said. “It’s fun to play with different people singing. It’s cool to hear her different interpretations and acting methods.”
While Ensemble doesn’t have many differences with a double cast, Knick prepares for a lot of differences for the actors. She’s had to pivot how she directs and how she handles rehearsals.
“We weren’t really sure how to do it,” Knick said. “I reached out to the high school theater community to see what worked for people. You ask someone how you should do something and you get 4,000 responses when you really only wanted three. So we bumped around for a while to try and get what worked for us.”
Mean Girls incorporates so many different types of people and that is why Buchalter joined.
“I love Mean Girls, but it’s not the reason I’m here,” Buchalter said. “I’m here for the people and the friends I’ve made.”
“It’s just a great night. There’s just this energy in the air that’s really infectious and fun,” Buchalter said in an effort to persuade Silver Creek students to attend.
“It’s one of those shows everyone knows about, and maybe we’ve all seen the original movie or the new musical,” Knick said. “But the translation to stage is really fun. It’ll give us a new way to see it.”
Silver Creek students have a wonderful opportunity to see a different interpretation of an already popular production, but this time students will see a new side of their classmates that isn’t seen in a classroom. It will be an exciting experience for all viewers and a great way for students to support their classmates and the program!
March 5 – 8, 2025, 7:00 p.m., Mean Girls The Musical is performing at Silver Creek High School. You can order your tickets here.
