Mean Girls, Dream Girls, and more. The Ned announces their Fall Season lineup

The Ned Performing Arts Center announced their upcoming shows Thursday. The lineup includes Dream Girls, Matilda Jr.: the Musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Julius Caesar, Mean Girls: High School Version, and Cinderella: the Musical. 

The diverse list of shows reflects the hard work from the employees at The Ned, as well as the community partners and volunteers. 

“I have a list of shows that I would like I selfishly would like to see done in Jackson, as we all do, processes are productions that we think would be great for our community, great for the folks that we work with, great for reaching beyond our immediate community. And so it has been a big game of college Jenga, I guess. Even in the last 24 hours we had to make some adjustments,” David McCall said. McCall joined The Ned as director in 2022, and is a well-known vocal coach and masterclass instructor.

“We started the season planning much more in advance and you probably would have for a theater of the size and what we do,” McCall said “So my mantra has been ‘no surprises.’ Let's make sure we have everything nailed down. So we know when it's coming in, we can do as much planning for it as we possibly can.”

Notably, this will be the first time Mean Girls: High School Version will be performed in the country. The Tina Fey production has been altered to fit a younger cast and audience. McCall and his team were able to secure the premiere.

“So this gives us options that we can change certain parts of the script. Tina Fey has already given us options to say, ‘well if you feel like your community would prefer to hear this version or would respond better to this joke, you can plug that in.’ So it's kind of a choose your own adventure for us.”

Dream Girls will be directed by Monola Patterson and choreographed by Mona Lisa Lanier. The duo taught together, and said they’re excited to work on this project with the help of James Henning, who is directing the music. The show is also expected to accompany an exhibit of “Dream Girls” from Jackson. 

“So one thing that we do have planned for Dream Girls is that we would have an exhibit downstairs that's the ‘Dream Girls of Jackson’ so that we have all the women of color who have touched the music industry or affected the music industry on display as you go in. so that you can take that in. But then you can walk in and see a fictional depiction of that and be swept away,” McCall said.

Dream Girls will kick off The Ned’s Fall season in August, with the rest of the shows to follow. The theater will have shows all spring, and camps into the summer. You can find more information at thened.jacksontn.gov or visit their Facebook page. 

Julia Ewoldt julia@jacksonpost.news