Ikuta Erika Commentary on Mean Girls Musical 2023

(original : Mean Girls Musial 2023 Programme)

Ikuta Erika (cast for Cady Heron)

Erika was born in Düsseldorf, Germany, on January 22th. She won the 8th Iwatani Tokiko Awards and the 44th Kikuta Kazuo Theatre Awards. Some of the notable works she performed in are 「Shigatu wa Kimi no Uso」(directed by Ueda Ikko), 「Les Misérables」 as Cosette in 2017 and 2019, and as Éponine in 2021 (directed by Lawrence Konner and James Bauer), 「Whistle Down The Wind ~ Kegarenaki Hitomi」(directed by Shirai Akira), 「KIREI ~ Kami-sama to Machiawaseshita Onna"」(directed by Matsuo Suzuki), 「"Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812」(directed by Kobayashi Kaori), 「Romeo & Juliet」, 「Mozart!」(directed by Koike Shuuichirou), Drama 「PICU - Pediatric Intensive Care Unit」(CX TV), Sunday theater 「Old Rookie」(TBS TV), Movie 「Dr. Koto's Clinic」(directed by Nakae Isamu), 「The Confidence Man JP: Episode of the Hero 」(directed by Tanaka Ryou) among others.

For starters, let us know what did you feel right after the casting was decided.

I've always wanted to perform it ever since I watched the Tony Awards ceremony, that I even went all the way to Broadway and watch the play. So far, I've been performing a lot in plays about tragedy or historical event. I think a contemporary musical in which girls are taking the active role is very attractive. So, I was surprised but really happy when I heard about the casting decision.

What was your initial impression about the Japanese version script?

I think it has more "punch" in the Japanese version, since I could understand the meaning more clearly (www). For example, when I watched the Broadway I love all the songs, but  "REVENGE PARTY" left the most impression in me. There is one part of the lyric for that song that becomes like "guts will scatter all over the yard" (in Japanese), and I was like "What is that about!?" (www).

I said that this musical is "contemporary and cute" when I was introducing it, so perhaps people who come with such impression in mind might be surprised. However, I believe the strength of this musical comes from those "punches" and humor that become its charming points. It has this "Cute yet tenacious", if you ask me (www).

What are your thoughts about the character Cady?

Right now in the rehearsals, I'm only doing the part where the "African bits" are prominent, yet I feel that it is very difficult to portray a girl who grew up for like 16 years in Africa. She's pure but unlike a girl who's being sheltered for her entire life, she's more like unbridled, unrestrained, and a also a bit insensitive... (Kobayashi) Kaori-san (director, translation, japanese lyrics) keeps on telling me to perform the character in a more "innocent" way, so I believe it must be something different with the portrayal of innocence that I did so far, which makes it difficult.

The parts after she's tranforming her image which will come later is also different with the typical "High-school debut" situation because the character doesn't change completely, so I believe it will be difficult to grasp it well. I need to make sure that the audience get how she's changing step-by-step, so I have to properly nail each point.

Are there things that you can empathized with Cady?

Actually I have many experiences that are similar with Cady's. Up until I was 5 years old, I lived in a place surrounded by nature in Germany. At the time I moved back to Japan, I was surrounded with a cityscapes full of concretes, and I'm surprised that even in the kindergarten "The group for going to the toilet together" is already formed (www). Also, during my high-school years I didn't belong to any group, so I kind of understand her needs to find the place she belongs to.

But it kind of puts me to shame if I'm to compare myself with Cady. I'm still trying to figure out how to have such liveliness like Cady has. Kaori-san told me that Cady is so lively that even when she's feeling down she will be just like "Let's just eat sandwich for the time being".  I'm also a person who will just eat no matter what happens (www), so I guess that can be a hint.

What are the charms of this stage play that you'd like the audience to know?

It is a play mainly about school girls which has some comedy in it, but I think lack of communication with others and identity crisis is something that everyone has, especially for the current generation. I hope that you can feel refreshed by watching this play through our performance, such that all the bad feelings that have been lingering inside you all will burst out like a fountain.

(P.S.: In the programme, there is also an interview with Ikuchan and the three actress for the "Plastics" role, but I'll pass... 🙃)

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My Personal Notes & Commentary:
(Please be aware that some parts contain spoilers!)

So this would be my 3rd musical that I watched in Japan (first was Curtains and then Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso in 2022). I was supposed to watch Dorothy (The Wizard of Oz) in 2022 as well, which featured Sakurai Reika, but the entire play got cancelled due to covid hitting the cast members, which was a shame. I went for the afternoon performance at Saturday, Febuary 11th. I was not initially planning to watch since my business trip schedule was kind of packed, and I just return to Tokyo, Friday before the play. But then I realized the last performance in Tokyo will be on the upcoming Sunday, so I was like "screw this!" and hurriedly went to Ikebukuro and wishing for my luck to get the ticket on the spot.

The play was held in Brillia Hall, Ikebukuro. Somewhat I'm finally watching Ikuchan in this place. Back in 2020 she was supposed to perform 「Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso」 there before it got cancelled and then the venue moved to Nissay Theatre in 2022. The building itself looks more contemporary though the theatre itself is not necessarily larger than Nissay. Luckily I was the 3rd in line so I was pretty confident that I'll be getting the ticket.

That day I actually have another ticket already to watch Sugai Yuuka's stage play (more on that later) with my friend, and I told her about this one and she was like "WTF! GET ONE FOR ME AS WELL!". Luckily, I managed to secure two seats without issues, not to mention the good ones, in my opinion.

(we are allowed to take pictures before it started and also during intermission)

Now, I guess "Mean Girls" movie was popular to the point that it is even adopted into a Broadway musical, but personally I've never seen the movie nor the original musical. So in that sense, everything feels new and fresh for me. Since the theme is also about life as a high-schooler (though it is surely more dramatized), it was very easy to grasp the story even through the Japanese interpretation of the songs.

There is no double-cast in this musical, so no matter when you're going it's going to be the same performers everytime. I have no idea about all the other cast members, but boy, they sure sing really well. The vocal qualities of the casts are so good that even during ensemble, Ikuchan didn't feel like dominating over the others. In particular, I really like the portrayal of the original "Plastics" trio (Ishida Nicole, Matsubara Rinko, Matsuda Ruka) since I could notice how they're not just singing but adjusting their vocalization to match each of their character portrayals. Naito Taiki who took the role as Damian also has a very good and playful vocal techniques.

I believe the script itself is adapted so that the jokes are "Japan-ish". The jokes sometimes have some sexual innuendo in it, be it a subtle one or a blatant one, yet the audience either didn't understand or were just hesitating to laugh. So, I was kind of giggling by myself both because of the jokes and the audience response to them. The script itself has a good balance of dialogs and singings, so the story is properly conveyed.

I feel like Ikuchan also has become even more mature and proficient with her performance. Before, I kind of noticed that even though she had a powerful voice, her breath was kind of short, so it was hard for her to maintain a long note. However this time, I think she understood how to control her breathing and balancing it out with her power better. Perhaps performing with many more people of her generation also adds the pressure to do even better, especially given the quality of the casts this time. Her other stage plays before Kimi Uso were kind of having more people of an older generation than her in the cast.

She also shows a lot of different faces and changed her method of conveying the song well in each instance. Starting from the cheerful and innocent girl-vibe when Cady just moved from Africa to the states, changing into cutesy and bashful girl who has a crush over a boy, then changing to a more confident yet becoming kind of an arrogant girl, getting drunk due to alcohol etc... I think the fact that the character Cady itself is quite multi-dimensional also helped to bring out all of these qualities from her.

As a Nogizaka fan myself, there is one moment that really got me where Ikuchan is dressing up like a corpse bride and also wearing vampire fangs. They purposedly use a larger fangs so that she couldn't close her mouth properly, and her face became like that very meme-able one in Nogizaka Koujichuu October 6th, 2019 episode.

There are a total of 24 songs, including reprisals, and they are all great. But, kind of surprisingly, the ones that left impressions in me were not the ones with Ikuchan as the leading vocal. "Where do you belong" has Naito Taiki in the lead, "Meet the Plastics" has the original "Plastics" trio with Ishida Nicole in the lead, "Whose House Is This?" with a rap lead by Nakatani Yuushin, and "Watch the World Burn" led by Ishida Nicole. I guess it is because all those songs has more kicks and character into them, including the stage performance.

The song "Revenge Party" that Ikuchan mentioned in her commentary was also memorable, but for me its more about the stage performance. The song itself sounded cheerful but the lyrics are devious. It is portrayed well with the change of the atmosphere on stage where things started from calm and gradually becoming more chaotic. The final part even has a man in lion costume (the high-school mascot) suddenly showing up and dance a long with the others (why the lion showed up has something to do with the lyrics).

Perhaps, because the songs are more on the pop-ish genre, they're not that memorable for me. It's kind of a similar feeling with watching "High-School Musical". It was great when it last, but you might forget it real soon. I'd say the songs from Curtains are more "classic", in that sense.

Overall, it was a really high quality play. Good use of stage props, great vocal qualities, wonderful stage performance, etc. I guess coming from its Broadway origin, there are certain standards that they need to maintain (just like Curtains). I'm glad that I grabbed the chance on that day instead of giving up on it. I bought the programme and a photocard set of the "Plastics" (which will just get buried under my treasure trove...). My friend wanted the tote bag, but it was already sold old when I'm still lining up halfway through the entrance for the goods. The programme is designed to look like the "Burn Book" which is an important aspect of the story, and even has some empty pages for you to write on it (in case you want to burn someone... 😂)

Oh... One particular scene that showed up a lot in Twitter is where Ikuchan is dancing in the sexy santa outfit. Well, that scene ended up in a flash on stage (not even like 20 seconds). But the scene itself was actually crucial as it is becoming the trigger of the biggest conflict in the story.

(stills from the play are from the stage play official Twitter account)