‘School Girls’ Broadway Review: Denée Benton Isn’t Just Mean, She’s a Teenage Lady Macbeth

The Broadway revival of "School Girls, or, the African Mean Girls Play" opened recently at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. The cast is notably more star-studded compared to the ensemble that performed it Off Broadway in 2017. Denée Benton (HBO's "The Gilded Age") stars as Paulina, the quintessential mean school girl who goes to war against Jasmine Amy Rogers (Tony nominated for "Betty Boop" and soon-to-be Maria in "The Sound of Music" at Lincoln Center), who plays Ericka, the beautiful new school girl.

Patina Miller (Tony winner for "Pippin") portrays an arrogant beauty-pageant recruiter, Patina. The rivalry and confrontations between these characters surpass anything found in Clare Boothe Luce's "The Women." However, the play's humor sometimes falls flat, which some may attribute to Bioh's comedy potentially being written by teenagers themselves.