Mean Girls musical to open UK and Ireland tour in Manchester next year

Saturday, 4 October 2025 12:31

By David Murphy

Vivian Panka (Regina George) and Emily Lane (Cady Heron). Photo Matt Crockett

Full cast revealed as stage version of teen comedy classic kicks off national run in February 2026

Smash-hit West End production Mean Girls will begin a nationwide tour of the UK and Ireland in early 2026, with its opening performances confirmed for Manchester Opera House from 23 February.

Producers have now announced the first round of casting for the highly anticipated run. Emily Lane takes on the lead role of Cady Heron, joined by Vivian Panka as Regina George, Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith and Georgie Buckland as Janis Sarkisian. Max Gill, Karim Zeroual and Joshua Elmore complete the main ensemble.

Lane is best known for starring as Anna in the West End’s Frozen, while Panka previously appeared in Dear Evan Hansen and Heathers. Buckland currently stars in The Devil Wears Prada musical, and Zeroual is familiar to viewers of Strictly Come Dancing and children’s television.

The UK and Ireland tour will run until the end of January 2027, with confirmed stops in over 30 towns and cities including Edinburgh, Belfast, Cardiff, Leicester and Dublin. All dates and ticket links can be found at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/mean-girls/opera-house-manchester/

Following its Broadway debut in 2018, Mean Girls became a critical and commercial success. Its 2024 run at London’s Savoy Theatre was attended by more than 330,000 people and won the WhatsOnStage Award for Best New Musical.

The production is directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, with a script by Tina Fey, music by Jeff Richmond, and lyrics by Nell Benjamin. The musical was inspired by Fey’s original screenplay for the 2004 cult film of the same name, which was reimagined for a new generation in a 2024 movie remake featuring updated musical performances.

The story follows Cady Heron, a home-schooled teenager navigating the brutal hierarchy of American high school life. When she sets her sights on dethroning the school’s queen bee, Regina George, things take a turn, and she soon realises that fighting fire with fire can get you badly burned.

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