PicksInSix Review: Mean Girls - Paramount Aurora

Finds the Edge Beneath the Pink.
PicksInSix® Review | Guest Contributor | Joan Curto

There is a reason “Mean Girls” has endured. Beneath the pink, the catchphrases and the perfectly calibrated teenage cruelty, lies a story about something far less frivolous: the complicated business of figuring out who you are when everyone around you seems determined to tell you who you should be. Based on the 2004 film with a book by Tina Fey, the musical retains the movie’s rapid-fire wit while giving its characters room to explore the insecurities, ambitions and social hierarchies of adolescence. At Paramount Theatre in Aurora, director Devon Hayakawa keeps the production brisk, energetic and surprisingly heartfelt.

At the center are Janis and Damian, played by Lucy Godinez and Steven Klenk, who serve as our guides—and occasional co-conspirators—at North Shore High. Both are terrific. Godinez brings a powerful vocal presence to Janis, particularly in “I’d Rather Be Me,” while Klenk delivers Damian’s comic timing with precision. Together, they provide the production with an appealing combination of wit and heart. But this is very much an ensemble show and Paramount has assembled a cast that knows how to make even the broadest comedy land.

The Plastics—Regina George, Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith—are played by Dariana Mullen, Angel Alzeidan and Julia Hope Budd, respectively. Each brings her character’s distinctive personality and vulnerability to life, particularly in song. Mullen’s massive deal-Regina is especially formidable. She understands that Regina’s power comes not simply from being mean, but from knowing exactly how much everyone else wants her approval. As Cady Heron, Elizabeth Stenholt carries much of the show’s emotional weight. Her Cady is neither entirely innocent nor entirely culpable, making her transformation—and eventual reckoning—more compelling. Vocally, Stenholt is impressive, particularly in the soaring “I See Stars.”

Veronica Garza deserves special mention for her work in three roles: Mrs. Heron, Ms. Norbury and Mrs. George. Each is sharply drawn, but it is Mrs. George, Regina’s gloriously inappropriate mother, who delivers some of the evening’s biggest laughs. And then there is the ensemble, which rarely gets a chance to catch its breath. Choreographer Kasey Alfonso keeps the movement crisp and energetic, while the clever use of desks on wheels turns the architecture of high school into part of the choreography. The Mathletes, naturally, get their moment in the spotlight.

Paramount’s production itself is another star. Milo Bue’s scenic design with a stage revolve, mobile desks and fluid transitions together with Greg Hofmann’s effective lighting and Kotryna Hilo’s teen-era appropriate costumes, create a surprisingly cinematic sense of movement, allowing classrooms and hallways to materialize and disappear around the characters. The rain curtain used for projections is an ambitious touch, although from my vantage point some of the images were difficult to decipher. Still, the production succeeds in creating a vibrant theatrical world that matches the show’s pop sensibility without losing sight of its darker themes.

What makes this “Mean Girls” particularly enjoyable is its willingness to embrace both the exuberance and the vulnerability of the material. Bullying, belonging, identity and the intoxicating power of popularity may be timeless subjects, but Fey’s observations still have plenty of bite. The enthusiastic opening-night audience on Friday certainly seemed to agree. The film’s devoted following may bring audiences to Aurora, but this production gives them plenty of reasons to stay: strong performances, energetic choreography, clever staging and a cast that understands the human being hiding beneath the stereotype. And yes, there is pink. Lots of pink. For a few hours, at least, it is perfectly acceptable to call something “fetch.”

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR | JOAN CURTO is a Chicago-based, award-winning vocalist, director and producer. Most recently, she has collaborated with The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, directing and producing several acclaimed productions.

PHOTO|Boris Martin

Paramount Theatre
presents
Mean Girls
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL
through October 11, 2026

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PicksInSix Review: South Pacific - Paramount Theatre

“There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame!”
PicksInSix® Review | Ed Tracy

The first decade of the impressive creative collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II spawned “Oklahoma! (1943),” “Carousel (1945),” “Allegro (1947),” “South Pacific (1949)” and “The King and I (1951).” Many followed—including “The Sound of Music (1959),” shortly before Hammerstein’s death—characterized by lush vocal arrangements, robust orchestrations and stories that challenged social norms. These stories, in some cases based on real people, changed how their audience viewed musicals, peeling back our own biases and revealing the raw, powerful emotions of love, loss and survival.

“Oklahoma!” received a special Pulitzer Prize Citation in 1944 for elevating the art form, but it was “South Pacific” that earned the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, one of only ten musicals to date to hold that distinction. Beyond the memorable score and compelling story adapted from James A. Michener’s own Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Tales of the Pacific” with the steady hand of Joshua Logan, the musical was controversial, epic and a colossal success, running for 1,925 performances.

And now, over 75 years later, the soaring melodies at the heart of “South Pacific,” as evidenced by the exceptional production now playing at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora, still stay with you long after the final curtain. The Devon Hayakawa|Trent Stork directed revival stars the diminutive powerhouse Allsun O’Mallory as Nellie Forbush and a commanding performance by Devin Archer as Emile De Becque who find love on a south seas island during World War II.

The other love story, the developing relationship between Lt. Joseph Cable (Anthony Maggio) and Liat (Louisa Darr), leads to De Becque and Cable forming an alliance and teaming up for a dangerous mission to gather information on enemy positions and movements in the region, a serious departure from the fun and frivolity early on.

With a cast of over thirty, many making their first appearance at Paramount, and more than a dozen musicians under the musical direction of Kory Danielson who conducts, this is as massive a production of this classic that you will see. With Morgan DiFonzo’s fast-paced choreography, particularly in the O’Mallory-led ensemble numbers “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” and “I’m In Love With A Wonderful Guy,” and in the high-flying “Honey Bun” showcasing the belly-dancing skills of Matthew Michael Janisse who shines as the hilarious wheeler-dealer Seabee Luther Billis. Competing for Billis’s business is Liat’s mother Bloody Mary played by Cindy Chang, who pushes grass skirts and shrunken heads for a price while scheming to match her daughter with a husband. Mary’s tender homage to the mysterious island of “Bali Ha’i” lures Cable there to find and fall for Liat, that has all the signs of an ill-fated match.

It is Cable’s somber “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” that strikes at the prejudicial core of “South Pacific,” both in his relationship with Liat and between Nellie and Emile. O’Mallory’s “A Cockeyed Optimist” and Archer’s “Some Enchanted Evening” and “This Nearly Was Mine” are terrific. And the always boisterous and bawdy “There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame” does not disappoint, amped up a bit here by some very buff Seabee-like types who have definitely been on an island by themselves too long. It’s all in good fun and what makes Paramount Theatre’s “South Pacific” an enchanting evening out for the whole family.

PHOTO|Boris Martin

Paramount Theatre
presents
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s
SOUTH PACIFIC
23 East Galena Boulevard
Aurora, IL
through June 14, 2026

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PROGRAM

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