Aurora Cothran, left, and Ivy Edwards rehearse for "Mean Girls Jr." at Yokota High School on Yokota Air Base, Japan, April 24, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — The curtain will rise Friday on the first student musical at this airlift hub in western Tokyo in nearly a decade.
Thespians from Yokota High and Middle schools are putting on “Mean Girls Jr.,” a family-friendly version of Tina Fey’s popular Broadway musical “Mean Girls,” which is based on the 2004 movie of the same name.
The revival of performing arts at this Defense Department school may bode well for the students involved.
Typically, students who participate in such productions do better on standardized tests, according to the American Alliance for Theatre and Education, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that supports theater in education.
Those students also show better reading comprehension, maintain better attendance and stay more engaged in school, according to studies cited on the alliance’s website.
Yokota High staged a one-act play by drama students in January, but “Mean Girls Jr.” is the first performance open to any student who wanted to audition since “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” in 2015.
Students perform "Revenge Party" during a rehearsal for "Mean Girls Jr." at Yokota High School on Yokota Air Base, Japan, April 24, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
Andrew Quinn dances during a rehearsal for "Mean Girls Jr." at Yokota High School on Yokota Air Base, Japan, April 24, 2024. (Kelly Agee/Stars and Stripes)
In the interim, Vivace, an amateur theater group at Yokota, staged several productions at the Taiyo Community Center, Greg Holladay, Far East drama director for Yokota High, said via email Wednesday.
Some Vivace productions featured only students; others included students and adults, he said. The last Vivace production, “Mary Poppins,” included children and adults and was staged in March 2020, just before the pandemic was declared.
“Mean Girls Jr.” is the story of Cacy, a teenage girl who was home-schooled in Africa before transferring to a public high school in America, and the challenges she faces in a new environment filled with cliques.
The 32-member cast uses the entire performance space, including the audience, which also has a role.
“The audience are the freshmen who are coming to the school,” Yokota Middle drama teacher Jackie Rebok said during a recent rehearsal. “It’s like they’re automatically a part of it; we break the fourth wall a lot.”
Yokota senior Ivy Edwards auditioned for the antagonist, Regina George.
“I had some really good competition, but I made it and I’m excited,” she said. “It’s going to be fun.”
Her character is cold hearted, Edwards said.
“She does not care about other people’s opinions; she is the queen bee,” Edwards said. “She runs the school, and everybody are little drones that work for her.”
Edwards isn’t new to the stage, having performed in the musicals “Hamilton,” “Fiddler on the Roof” and “The Greatest Showman” at other Department of Defense Education Activity schools.
The 60-minute “Mean Girls Jr.” takes more coordination than a one-act play, and has lots of singing and dancing, said Rebok, who solicited military spouses to help with the choreography and music.
Yokota senior Andrew Quinn is acting for the first time.
“I do a lot of musical things,” he said. “I play piano, I’m in the band and I’m in the choir. And I’ve liked to sing and dance for a long time, so I just thought it would be fun.”
“Mean Girls Jr.” opens 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Yokota High School Commons, with seating for just over 100 people. Performances are also scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 pm. Saturday. Admission is free and seating is first come, first served.
