BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL by Jeff Whitty, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Kitt and Amanda Green (Mirvish). At the Ed Mirvish (189 Victoria). To June 3. $25-$130. 416-872-1212. See listing. Rating: NNNN
Just to be clear: this isn’t really a musical adaptation of the 2000 Kirsten Dunst movie.
Sure, there’s a climactic cheerleading competition between rival squads, but the plot’s radically different and references to Skype, Facebook and biatches give it a contemporary snap.
And seeing cheerleaders do their thing live provides added kicks.
Campbell (Taylor Louderman, a dead ringer for Clueless’s Alicia Silverstone) is the perky squad captain of a preppy suburban high school team who’s suddenly transferred to an inner city school where she’s low on the popularity totem pole. But through persistence and loneliness, she befriends her new school’s alpha female, the hip-hop dancer Danielle (Adrienne Warren), and soon they’re competing against Campbell’s former team, now helmed by the seemingly nice Eva (Elle McElmore).
There’s a bit too much story in Jeff Whitty’s book, which sends up everything from cheesy white-girl-in-the-hood movies to All About Eve. But the central character is more complex than she is in the movie, and there’s a refreshing approach to gender, bullying and sexual orientation.
Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt’s songs are always tied to character, whether they’re pop, hip-hop or even folk. But the real star of the show is director Andy Blankenbuehler’s choreography, which gets the versatile cast to flip, twirl, balance on shoulders and land – all without wires or nets – in one jaw-dropping number after another.
