'MEAN GIRLS'

'MEAN GIRLS' WHEN: Through Nov. 3. (times vary) WHERE: KeyBank State Theater, Playhouse Square, Cleveland. TICKETS: $20 to $119 INFO: VISIT Playhousesquare.org or call (216) 241-6000. ----------- 'WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME' WHEN: Through Nov. 3. (times vary) WHERE: Outcalt Theatre, Playhouse Square, Cleveland. TICKETS: $39 to $85 INFO: VISIT Playhousesquare.org or call (216) 241-6000. Girls change the nation, school social scene in "Constitution" and "Mean Girls Teen girls change the nation and change a high-school social clique on Playhouse Square this month. The goals may not be equally lofty, but they're equally engaging in two extremely different shows. "MEAN GIRLS"Some shows and films about high-school social oppression quickly wither with age, while others mine the secret of eternal youth. "Mean Girls" — based on the 2004 comedy of the same name, subsequent 2018 Broadway musical version, 2019 national tour (playing Cleveland that same year), film version of the musical this year and now a return engagement to Playhouse Square — certainly seems to be of the latter category. The most obvious reason for the success of "Mean Girls" is that it beats to the witty heart of "Saturday Night Live" legend Tina Fey. Starting with Rosaling Wiseman's 2002 self-help book, "Queen Bees and Wannabes," which dissected high-school social cliques and the damaging effects they can have, particularly on girls, Fey created a biting screenplay that also drew from her own teen experiences — and teen angst. What the screenplay and closely aligned musical book (script) may have lacked in sheer originality, it more than makes up for in sheer hilarity — set into motion in the musical version when the popular-girl antagonist gets hit by a school bus, portentously underlined in the opening number. It has Fey's stamp all over it. It's hard to say why the film and musical would or should be premised with a backstory about a home-schooled teen who comes to Greater Chicago from Africa with her biologist parents. A home-schooled student from anywhere would suffice to ignite the plot. Perhaps the "Out of Africa" concept further underscores the concept of a sacrificial lamb thrown into the lion's den of uber-popular girls, while the rest of the classmates devolve into primal animal behaviors of leaders and followers. For the purposes of Broadway, it doesn't hurt to have allusions to "Lion King" and "Book of Mormon," either. There is one jarring notion about updating the film to contemporary times. The musical version addresses how social media today has consumed teen lives — at least more so than back in 2004, when cell phones could barely accommodate text messages. But propelling the climax of the show is the discovery by the school staff of an incriminating "Burn Book," where an unknown teen maligns students and faculty with gossip and personal insults. Wouldn't a similarly untoward teen today simply create a fake troll social media moniker and accomplish the same malice with certain anonymity? Still, it's hard to quibble with the jubilance of Casey Nicholaw's direction and choreography (adapted by Casey Hushion and John MacInnis, respectively, for this tour), who turns cafeteria lunch trays into the main feature of a Busby Berkeley-style extravaganza.Likewise, it would be hard to fault the performances by Natalie Shaw as the protagonist who transitions into one of the popular girls (aka "The Plastics") and Joshua Morrisey and Alexys Morera as the two singing, tap-dancing outsider friends who first befriend her, show her the ropes and then narrate the show in befitting mock-teen omniscience. As the "Plastics," — Maya Petropoulos as the cutthroat Queen Bee and Kristen Amanda Smith and Maryrose Brendel as her sycophant underlings — never disappoint, especially Brendel as the chronically, unapologetically classic dumb blonde. More common than teen angst musicals, however, are scenic designer Scott Pask and lighting designer Kenneth Posner, who turn out to be additional stars of the show. Missing from this secondary national tour, unfortunately, are the video projection designs by Finn Ross and Adam Young. They made the backgrounds dance like a series of coordinated giant new cell phone screens as the stage playfully transitions from cafeteria, to classroom, to bedroom and even the vistas of Kenya. Pask magages to do a lot with traditional backdrops, but it's not quite the same. The score (Jeff Richmond's music and Nell Benjamin's lyrics) may not be "Lion King" or "Book of Mormon," but they certainly fill the bill for catchy pop numbers for a solid evening of entertainment and hilarity. As one of the leads of "Mean Girls" says, it's really "fetch!" "WHAT THE CONSTITUTION MEANS TO ME"Occasionally a play comes along so audaciously simple, so cunningly honest, so circuitously straightforward, it merits the New York Drama Critics Circle award for Best American Play of 2019 and also nominated for a Pulitzer and Tony Award. Although the play coincidentally came to Broadway one year after "Mean Girls," preceded by regional and Off-Broadway productions since 2017, it seems uncannily relevant during this current election cycle. Women's rights, immigration, domestic abuse and the sometimes uncomfortable realities of American history are all put into the spotlight in "What the Constitution Means to Me." But don't expect some extreme-leftist diatribe, like being trapped at an Ivy-league encampment. Rather, the audience gets the ingratiating, personable actress Maggie Lacey portraying the ingratiating, personable actual playwright Heidi Schreck. With virtually no fanfare, the stage lights go up, and Lacey (Schreck) enters the stage and proceeds to recount her history as a lifelong U.S. Constitution prodigy, arguing and debating both its infallibilities and shortcomings, depending on the public-speaking program, mostly at a Shriners event (hence, Raul Abrego's detailed town-hall set), Part endearing recollection of a dedicated school girl who loves her country, part dialectic about freedom in the U.S., part actual debate with an actual contemporary high-school girl (Logan Dior Williams in the performance I saw, who alternates with Taya Offutt Decker), the production remains compelling throughout. Linsay Firman directs with nuance and subtlety. She clearly takes her cue from the playwright herself as the audience becomes engrossingly challenged in a subject that unfortunately has long become too polarized in most any other venue than a sure-footed theater company such as Cleveland Play House. Contact Howard Gollop at howieeg@hotmail.com.