Stellar Cast Makes ‘School Girls’ a Class Act

The title of Jocelyn Bioh’s “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” is something of a misnomer. Only one of the teenage girls in this comedy, now having its Broadway premiere, is really nasty in her behavior, and she ultimately becomes a sympathetic figure, whereas a middle-aged woman emerges as the true villainess.That may seem like a spoiler, but then “School Girls,” which received acclaim during an off-Broadway run in 2017, is as predictable as it is engaging. Ms. Bioh, who is also an actress, is the daughter of Ghanaian immigrants, and her mother attended the Aburi Girls’ Senior High School in that country, which provides the play’s setting.“School Girls” was also inspired by a controversy surrounding the 2011 Miss Ghana pageant, won by a biracial woman who was also American-born and bred. The play unfolds earlier, in 1986. The production features recordings by Janet Jackson and Bobby Brown — the girls share a crush on the latter — while the script references other American imports popular at the time, from Calvin Klein to Judy Blume.18-year-old Paulina Sarpong, queen bee of Aburi’s popular clique in the play, regales her minions with clearly fabricated tales of her fancy American relatives, when she’s not bullying or insulting them. Some relief arrives, at least for the minions, when one Ericka Boafo, also 18, transfers from Ohio. Ericka is not only pretty but, by all appearances, wealthy, cultured, and kind — in short, a threat to Paulina’s reign of terror.Ericka has entered the picture just as the gals are preparing to meet a recruiter for the Miss Ghana pageant. Eloise Amponsah, an alumna of the school who won the competition herself twenty years ago, as she’ll remind us repeatedly, instantly takes a shine to the new kid in town — or, more specifically, to her complexion, which is notably fairer than those of her schoolmates.Colorism, or favoritism among black people towards those with lighter skin tones — informed, obviously, by outside racism— is a prominent concern in “School Girls,” which is socially pointed in its humor. Its satirical punch is stunted, however, by its sometimes boilerplate characters, and by dialogue that solicits both laughs and indignation with little imagination.If director Whitney White milks the sitcom-like obviousness of the material, she also culls winning performances from a flawless ensemble. Patina Miller, one of musical theater’s most dynamic triple threats — that is a commanding singer, dancer, and actress — is cast as Eloise, who shows up dressed and coiffed to the nines and dripping with aspiration, in contrast to the school’s more earthily elegant Headmistress Francis. The costumes, by the red-hot designer Qween Jean, are scrumptious and character-perfect.Francis, played with great warmth by stage and screen veteran Heather Alicia Simms, is immediately established as Eloise’s foil: A humble, nurturing woman devoted to her community, in contrast to the snooty, self-centered Eloise, who seeks glamour and fortune, along with acceptance from a racist society.When Francis, appalled by Eloise’s admission that she’s seeking “girls that fall on the other end of the African skin spectrum,” asks how she can adopt that approach, Eloise responds, brightly, “Big money! Big promotion! One step closer to owning the Miss Ghana pageant.” Francis laments, “You haven’t changed one bit since secondary school. If it doesn’t benefit you, who cares!”Exchanges between the students can sound just as stilted, but this is mitigated by the youthful exuberance and charm of the players. Denée Benton, most widely known for her work on HBO’s “The Gilded Age,” brings great comedic zest and shades of poignance to Paulina; Jasmine Amy Rogers, who is set to lead a new revival of “The Sound of Music” in the spring, captures the sweetness and the elusiveness ascribed to Ericka in the character listings.Erin Morton is also a standout for her touching and funny take on a sensitive 16-year-old named Nana, whose struggles with weight make her a target for some of Paulina’s most vicious comments. Nana eventually gathers the nerve to confront her oppressor, at one point telling her, “You’re not as special as you think you are!”For all the praise it garnered nearly a decade ago, “School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play” also falls short of the extraordinary in its text, but it’s elevated by delightful performances throughout.

Stellar Cast Makes ‘School Girls’ a Class Act

Stellar Cast Makes ‘School Girls’ a Class Act

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