How much can fans listen to the Mean Girls songs? Apparently, the limit does not exist. According to Spotify data obtained exclusively by Playbill, the release of the new Mean Girls movie musical has caused a major spike in streams of the musical's 2018 Broadway cast album.
The album as a whole saw an increase in streams of more than 200% compared to the U.S. daily average from before the film's release, but the largest gains were seen on specific tracks. "Fearless," one of the many songs cut in the transition to the screen, saw an increase in excess of 250%, but fans were also apparently interested in revisiting tracks that were included in the movie with new arrangements and performers. Streams were up for Kate Rockwell's take on "Sexy" by more than 240%, and streams of Erika Henningsen's "Stupid With Love" rose by more than 230%. "Meet the Plastics," which is drastically cut down in the film version, saw an increase of more than 230%, and Ashley Park's "What's Wrong With Me?" saw an uptick in excess of 220%.
None of those original Broadway cast members reprised their work on screen, though Park makes a cameo appearance as French teacher Madame Park. Broadway Mean Girls alum Reneé Rapp reprises her stage performance as Queen Bee Regina George in the new movie musical, but is not featured on the original Broadway cast album.
READ: Which Songs Were Cut From the Mean Girls Movie Musical?
Spotify isn't releasing total numbers, so we were unable to compare streams of the Broadway album to the new film's soundtrack. But whether comparing and contrasting the two takes on the musical's songs or revisiting the material left on the cutting room floor on the work's journey back to the screen, it seems the film's January 12 release sent fans looking back to its source material.
All of the data reflects streams on January 13 and is presented in comparison with average U.S. daily streams.
READ: Mean Girls Star Jaquel Spivey's Damian Contains Fabulous Multitudes
Adapted from the 2018 Broadway musical, the film features a host of stage and screen favorites in the cast, including Rapp as Regina George, Park as Madame Park, Broadway alum and Tony nominee Jaquel Spivey (A Strange Loop) as Damian, Auli'i Cravalho (Moana, Little Mermaid Live) as Janis, Angourie Rice (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as Cady Heron, Avantika (Senior Year) as the ditzy Karen, Bebe Wood (Love, Victor) as toaster strudel heiress Gretchen, Christopher Briney (The Summer I Turned Pretty) as Regina's boyfriend Aaron Samuels, Girls5Eva star Busy Phillips as Mrs. George, The Office's Jenna Fischer as Ms. Heron, Mean Girls stage and screen writer Tina Fey as Ms. Norbury, SNL alum Tim Meadows as Mr. Duvall, Mad Men star Jon Hamm as Coach Carr, Mahi Alam (American Born Chinese) as Kevin Ganatra, and Connor Ratliff (Search Party) as a new teacher character, Mr. Rapp.
Fey penned the new film's screenplay after writing the 2004 original and the stage musical's book. The score features music by Jeff Richmond and lyrics by Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde). Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez, Jr. co-direct the project, with choreography by Kyle Hanagami.
Read reviews for the new film here.
The Broadway version premiered at the August Wilson Theatre in 2018, starring Erika Henningsen as Cady, Taylor Louderman as Regina, Ashley Park as Gretchen, Kate Rockwell as Karen, Kerry Butler as Ms. Norbury, Grey Henson as Damian, Cheech Manohar as Kevin Gnapoor, Kyle Selig as Aaron Samuels, Barrett Wilbert Weed as Janis Sarkisian, and Rick Younger as Mr. Duvall. The musical would ultimately close during the pandemic in 2020.
Stream the Mean Girls Broadway album on Spotify here and the new film's soundtrack here.
