Initial Casting Announced For Mean Girls coming to Bradford in 2026

Today, 3 October, ‘Mean Girls Day’, Lorne Michaels, Crossroads Live and Sonia Friedman Productions are delighted to announce initial casting for the 2026/2027 UK and Ireland tour of the award-winning MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL coming to the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford in October 2026. 

Emily Lane will star as Cady Heron, alongside Vivian Panka as Regina George, Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith, Georgie Buckland as Janis Sarkisian, Max Gill as Damian Hubbard, Karim Zeroual as Kevin Ganatra and Joshua Elmore as Mr Duvall. Further casting to be announced.

Emily Lane’s West End credits include playing Anna in Frozen at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, Hello Dolly! at the London Palladium, and Evita in Concert at Theatre Royal Drury Lane. Her other theatre credits include Starter For Ten at Bristol Old Vic and, most recently, playing Anne Boleyn in Anne Boleyn, The Musical at Hever Castle.

Vivian Panka was most recently seen playing Alana in the UK tour of Dear Evan Hansen. Her previous theatre credits include Heathers the Musical at The Other Palace and the UK Tour of 9 to 5 The Musical. She also appeared in the film of Heathers: The Musical.

Sophie Pourret  will soon appear in Elf the Musical at the Aldwych Theatre. Most recently, she was seen as understudy Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum, and her past theatre credits include Guys and Dolls at the Bridge Theatre, La Cage Aux Folles at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and 42nd Street at the Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris.

Georgie Buckland can currently be seen playing the leading role of Andy Sachs in the musical The Devil Wears Prada at the Dominion Theatre. Her previous theatre credits include UK tours of Shrek The Musical and Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Claus – The Musical at the Lowry, and Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella at the Hope Mill Theatre.

Max Gill’s theatre credits include Charley's Aunt at the Watermill Theatre, Fly More Than You Fall at Southwark Playhouse, Fangirls at the Lyric Hammersmith, The Boy in the Dress for the RSC and Bugsy Malone at the Lyric Hammersmith. Their film credits include The Lost Girls and Dumbo.

Karim Zeroual is a British television presenter and actor, best known for his work presenting on CBBC and his appearance on Strictly Come Dancing when he reached the 2019 final. His screen acting credits include EastEnders, Da Vinci’s Demons and CBBC sci-fi drama The Sparticle Mystery, and his West End credits include The Lion King and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Joshua Elmore’s many opera credits include La Traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Pagliacci and La Boheme, all at Opera Holland Park, Seven Last Words at the English National Opera, Queer Staged Messiah and La Contesa di Pallade e Venere for Les Bougies Baroques, Fame and Envy for the Oxfordshire Contemporary Opera, Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica for the Carmina Priapea Opera Company and Brundibar for Boco Arts.

Meet The Plastics – Regina, Gretchen and Karen. They rule North Shore High and will burn anyone who gets in their way. Home-schooled Cady Heron may think she knows a thing or two about survival of the fittest thanks to her zoologist parents, but high school is a whole new level of savage. When Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung. Expect iconic characters, razor-sharp wit, and killer songs.

MEAN GIRLS, the smash-hit musical comedy based on the iconic Paramount Pictures film of the same name, had its first West End performance at the Savoy Theatre on 5 June 2024, where it was seen by over 330,000 people and played until 8 June 2025. MEAN GIRLS recently took home the coveted ‘Best New Musical’ award at the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards. 

MEAN GIRLS had its world premiere in 2017 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre to ecstatic responses, where it played to packed houses. The show then went on a hugely successful US tour in 2019 and recently completed a second US tour. In addition, in 2024, Paramount Pictures released a new twist on the fan-favourite film from the comedic mind of Tina Fey with a fresh and fun re-telling of the story featuring sensational musical performances.

The musical MEAN GIRLS has a book by Tina Fey, music and vocal arrangements by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Brian Ronan, hair design by Josh Marquette, musical supervision/vocal, dance, incidental and additional music arrangements by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, orchestrations by John Clancy and dance and incidental music arrangements by Glen Kelly. 

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