Kyle Hanagami, who has worked with the K-pop quartet for years, says you can see the group’s influence most in the movie’s Christmas dance
Kyle Hanagami, who has choreographed Blackpink performances for more than four years, drew inspiration from the group when working on the new musical adaptation of Mean Girls. In a red-carpet interview, he explained that he was thinking about what younger viewers might expect when he was working on the film.
When working on the infamous Christmas dance scene, in particular, he drew a connection between the fact that the film’s “Plastics” were a quartet of young women and that the artists he’d been working with in recent years were also a foursome. “I was like, ‘I feel like this is the generation that grew up watching Blackpink,’” he said. “So when I was choreographing the Christmas dance, I was like, ‘Let’s put a little bit of inspiration from Blackpink in there.’ So it’s definitely kind of inspired by some of the work that I’ve done for other artists just because I feel like it’s influenced this new generation of performers and actors.”
Some of Hanagami’s other clients include Justin Bieber, Cnco, and Chanel. He also worked on Jennifer Lopez’s Las Vegas residency performances, Ariana Grande and NSync’s Coachella performance in 2019, and Nick Jonas’ performance at the 2017 American Music Awards.
When the original Mean Girls movie came out two decades ago, the pop scene was moving away from the boy bands and girl groups that dominated the late Nineties and turn of the millennium. Its soundtrack included music by the Donnas, Pink, Peaches, and Kelis. The film also featured music by Missy Elliott, Christina Aguilera, and Beyoncé (who announced that Destiny’s Child would be going on hiatus that year).
The songs for the Mean Girls musical were written by Jeff Richmond, who composed it for Broadway. His credits also include Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, 30 Rock: A One-Time Special, and Girls5eva — all of which found him collaborating with original Mean Girls screenwriter (and actress) Tina Fey.
