MEAN GIRLS Tour to Launch from Buffalo in Fall 2019

Mean Girls will launch a National Tour in the Fall of 2019 beginning at Shea's Buffalo Theatre. The show will also tech and rehearse at Shea's in the weeks preceding public performances. Mean Girls features a book by nine-time Emmy Award winner Tina Fey, based on her screenplay for the film, music by three-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond; and lyrics by two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin. Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw directs and choreographs.

Performance and on-sale dates, along with casting, additional tour cities, and other information, will be announced at a later date.

President of Shea's Performing Arts Center Michael G. Murphy was in New York City last week attending the Broadway League Spring Road Conference where Mean Girls writer Tina Fey announced that the show will begin its tour at Shea's Buffalo Theatre. Murphy said, "The 750 industry members in the room burst into applause and cheers when Tina announced that Buffalo will tech and launch the National Tour. I extend deep thanks to our subscribers, donors, volunteers, sponsors, and the entire Buffalo-Niagara community for their continued support of Shea's. This support along with the tax credit legislation passed in Albany has resulted in the opportunity to launch major National Tours in Buffalo, which provides substantial economic benefit to Western New York and places a spotlight on our community as a leading presenter of touring Broadway productions."

Co-Presenter of Broadway productions at Shea's Buffalo Theatre for over 30 years and Producer Albert Nocciolino expressed his excitement for the announcement of the Mean Girls tour opening in Buffalo. "It has been a pleasure working with the producers of Mean Girlsto secure the tour launch at Shea's Buffalo Theatre in the Fall of 2019. The growth of our subscription base and the continued support of Western New York have given Shea's Buffalo Theatre a reputation of excellence in the touring Broadway community. Thank you to our subscribers for their support over the years. Your dedication enables us to be one of the top one-week subscription markets in the country."

Mean Girls on Broadway is now nominated for 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical; Best Book for Tina Fey; Best Original Score for Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin; Best Direction of a Musical and Best Choreography for Casey Nicholaw. Fey is this year's Outer Critics Circle Award winner for Outstanding Book of a Musical, and the show won the Helen Hayes (Washington D.C.) Award for Outstanding Visiting Production as well as eight Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards including Favorite New Musical. The production is also nominated for 10 Drama Desk Awards including Outstanding Musical.

Mean Girls opened on Broadway last month to rave reviews at the August Wilson Theatre (245 West 52nd Street), where it has played to sold-out houses since beginning previews in March. The show had its world premiere at the National Theatre in Washington D.C., playing a sold-out run October 31 to December 3, 2017.

New York Magazine calls Mean Girls "HILARIOUS! A smart, splashy new musical that delivers with immense energy, a wicked sense of humor and joyful inside-jokery." Chicago Tribune said "Tina Fey writes FUNNIER, SMARTER, SHARPER satire than anyone else in the business." People Magazine calls the show "FRESH, FUN AND INFECTIOUS - Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin's songs keep the laughs coming!" The New York Daily News said Mean Girls "TICKLES THE EARS, EYES AND FUNNY BONE - the direction by Casey Nicholaw packs style, invention and red bull-force energy." And, Entertainment Weekly calls it "A MARVEL: DAZZLING & HILARIOUS!"

Cady Heron may have grown up on an African savanna, but nothing prepared her for the wild and vicious ways of her strange new home: suburban Illinois. How will this naïve newbie rise to the top of the popularity pecking order? By taking on The Plastics, a trio of lionized frenemies led by the charming but ruthless Regina George. But when Cady devises a plan to end Regina's reign, she learns the hard way that you can't cross a Queen Bee without getting stung.

Mean Girls' creative team includes Scott Pask (Set Design), Gregg Barnes (Costume Design), Kenneth Posner (Lighting Design), Brian Ronan (Sound Design), Finn Ross & Adam Young (Video Design), Josh Marquette (Hair Design), Milagros Medina-Cerdeira (Make-Up Design), Mary-Mitchell Campbell (Music Director), John Clancy (Orchestrations), Glen Kelly (Dance and Incidental Music Arrangements),Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Jeff Richmond, and Natalie Tenenbaum (Vocal Arrangements), Howard Joines (Music Coordinator), and Telsey + Co / Bethany Knox, CSA (Casting).

Mean Girls is produced by Lorne Michaels, Stuart Thompson, Sonia Friedman, Paramount Pictures, Marisa Sechrest, Ars Nova Entertainment, Berlind Productions, Steve Burke, Scott M. Delman, Roy Furman, Robert Greenblatt, Ruth Hendel, JAM Theatricals,The John Gore Organization, The Lowy Salpeter Company, James L. Nederlander, Christine Schwarzman, Universal Theatrical Group.

Mean Girls (Original Broadway Cast Recording), produced by Atlantic Records, is now available at digital retailers nationwide. Physical albums will arrive in stores nationwide on Friday, June 8. For a full track listing, cover art, and additional details on the Cast Recording, please visit http://www.atlanticrecords.com/meangirls.

Mean Girls is presented in Buffalo by Shea's Performing Arts Center and Albert Nocciolino and is sponsored locally by M&T Bank, The Buffalo News, and WKBW-TV.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus