After nearly three months of hard work, the Edina High School Thespians perform the hit musical “Mean Girls” this weekend.
In typical high-school spirit, preparation for “Mean Girls” was fast and full of drama. With a runtime of around two and a half hours and several choreography-heavy songs, it is ambitious. Last year, the fall show, “Alice By Heart,” was only 90 minutes long.
“We jumped in right away, headfirst, and we’ve danced, sang, and blocked with every snippet of time we could find,” senior Daniel Fenske said, who plays Aaron Samuels and understudies Damian for the show.
Auditions began the last week of August with the cast list coming out that Sunday. From there, the cast learned their lines and developed harmonies and choreography. On the crew’s side, senior and Head Stage Manager Zed Thompson works with four other stage managers to make the playbill, t-shirts, prop lists, and sound cue documents.
One of the production’s biggest challenges is the limited rehearsal spaces. With Fick Auditorium under construction, the use of the Edina Performing Arts Center (EPAC) is competitive among EHS arts programs. Fenske said most rehearsals occur in the Black Box or the hallways.
“It adds a lot to the process because it really challenges you as an actor to work with the space you have,” Fenske said.
Director and choreographer Ella Williams said the thespians have handled the intensive preparation process “like champs.”
“With theater, we’re always improvising, so I think it’s a good challenge to show that you don’t always have all the tools necessary to put on a show, but look what you can do with just the people,” they said.
Fenske said the musical is more well-known than previous shows, so it resonates more with EHS students, and anticipates an energetic audience opening night.
“Mean Girls” portrays issues relevant to high schoolers, with bullying being the catalyst for the musical’s central conflict. Williams found that adapting the original script for high schoolers opened up conversations about language and sexuality with the cast as they identified what modifications were necessary and what parts they felt comfortable keeping in.
“My first [show] was ‘A Chorus Line,’ which was all [about] grownups… so seeing a play made in a place you’re a part of is fun,” Thompson said.
The performances are in EPAC at 1 p.m. on Nov. 8 and 9 and at 7 p.m. on Nov. 7 and 9. Both Thompson and Fenske said they hope the production will demonstrate how talented the EHS Thespian program is.
“They really rock it, in my humble opinion,” Williams said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on Nov. 6, 2025
