"MEAN GIRLS" STRUT THEIR POWER AT THE BUSHNELL

If your memory is accurate, we all know the cliques of girls and groups of boys who banded together in high school and excluded the outsiders who were never allowed into the sacred circle. Those who belonged would not dane to acknowledge the lessers who stood beyond the privileged. In the world of females, they were known as the mean girls. They were the cheerleaders who dated the captains of the football and basketball teams. They ran for prom queen and class president. They were envied and admired whether they deserved to be or not. From Tuesday, September 27 to Sunday, October 2, they are coming in full regalia and force to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford in “Mean Girls” with book by nine-time Emmy Award winning Tina Fey, based on her screen play for the film. Music is by three-time Emmy Award winner Jeff Richmond and lyrics by two-time Tony Award nominee Nell Benjamin. Casey Nicholaw, Tony Award winner, directs and choreographs. North Shore High School in Chicago, Illinois is not what the new girl Cady Heron expects when she moves there from Kenya. The color of her skin immediately labels her as different and the social group known as the Plastics, run by the Queen Bee Regina, soon set their sights on her for a special inauguration to high school life. Cady is lucky to have two real friends Janis and Damian who want to help and protect her but she is destined to make her own mistakes as she tries to fit in to this complicated new life, like a strange animal in a fierce jungle of unknowns. Which club should she join? Which boyfriend should she pursue? Which friend is really a foe in disguise? Should she run for Spring Fling Queen? So many choices, so many decisions. And who wrote the nasty and insulting Burn Book that is circulating lies all over school? Great songs and dances pop up throughout. For tickets ($34-128), call the Bushnell, 166 Capital Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.Bushnell.org. Shows are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. What is the price you are willing to pay to be popular and, in the long run, is it worth the sting of success?

A JOURNEY OF "4000 MILES" BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP IN WESTPORT

How fortuitous to view Amy Herzog’s moving generational play “4000 Miles” on Grandparents Day this past Sunday. Actress Mia Dillon who stars as grandma Vera calls it “sunny, moving and touching” and "a full (theatrical) meal.” Her co-star grandson Clay Singer terms it “a magnifying glass on humanity.” This cross country odyssey conveys challenges and losses and captures wonderful turning points in family relationships. Come experience what happens when a genuine card carrying Communist and a free wheeling hippie renew their relationship as grandmother and grandson? 91 year old Vera Joseph has no warning that Leo had plans to crash on her Greenwich Village doorstep until he arrives in the middle of the night. After suffering a great personal loss, while biking across the country, Leo seeks refuge at grandma’s house. He needs to figure things out, examine his life choices and, essentially, grow up. Using bits and pieces from her own history, playwright Amy Herzog has fashioned a play of personal exploration, “4000 Miles,” getting its wheels in gear at Westport Country Playhouse until Sunday, September 4. A finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2013, “4000 Miles” spans three generations, giving voice to many of the issues that face the elderly and the youth of today. Mia Dillon stars as Vera, the feisty and forgetful bubbe who doesn’t hesitate to take in her conflicted grandchild. She recognizes that he is lost and seeking direction. She too is searching for answers, her confusion due to a great extent to what could be early Alzheimer’s. Clay Singer’s Leo has major issues with his personal relationships, with his parents, his adopted step-sister, his girlfriend Bec (Lea DiMarchi) and even a one night pick-up Amanda (Phoebe Holden). Despite all his problems, Leo acknowledges that a family member can be “a really good friend I happen to be related to.” As Leo opens his heart and reveals his deepest thoughts, he connects with Vera in ways neither one of them ever could have anticipated. David Kennedy directs this inter-generational exploration of feelings on a deliberately dated set designed by Arnulfo Maldonado. All we need are the lace antimacaassars on the arm chairs. For tickets ($40-70), call Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Route 1, Westport at 203-227-4177 or online at www.westportplayhouse.org. Performances are Tuesday 7 p.m., Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3p.m. Masks are required. After more than nine decades of diversity, in politics and bed partners, Vera has a wealth of knowledge to impart to her young guest, whether or not he is ready to listen and to learn. Come discover the virtual joys of hugging a hippie spiritually and conjuring up memories of a beloved grandma.