Faye Tozer announced for Mean Girls UK tour visiting Sunderland Empire April 2026

Lorne Michaels, Crossroads Live and Sonia Friedman Productions are delighted to announce further casting for the 2026/2027 UK and Ireland tour of the award-winning MEAN GIRLS THE MUSICAL, visiting Sunderland Empire from Monday 6 – Saturday 11 April 2026.

Joining the previously announced Emily Lane as Cady Heron, Vivian Panka as Regina George, Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith, Georgie Buckland as Janis Sarkisian, Max Gill as Damian Hubbard, Karim Zeroual as Kevin Ganatra and Joshua Elmore as Mr Duvall, are Faye Tozer as Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George and Kiara Dario as Gretchen Wieners.

Also joining the cast are Charlie Barnard, Rebekah Bryant, Michael Dean-Wilson Savannah Ffrench, Fergie Fraser, Thomas Gotobed, Jenny Huxley-Golden, Trisha Kumar, Sadie Levett, Arjun Mudahar, Jessie Odeleye, Stefanos Petri, Charlotte Pourret, Jack Rose, Tori Louise Ryan, Lillia Squires and Jayd’n Tyrone.

Faye Tozer will perform in Manchester, Cardiff, Stoke, Sunderland, Milton Keynes, Eastbourne, Woking, Leicester, Aberdeen, Cheltenham, Hull, Bournemouth, Belfast, Wolverhampton, Glasgow, Southend, Llandudno, Canterbury and Blackpool, with casting for Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George for the rest of the tour to be announced.

Faye Tozer is a singer, actress, TV personality and West End star, probably best-known for being a member of BRIT Award-winning pop band Steps who had number one hits with Tragedy and Stomp and have sold over 25 million records worldwide. Faye’s West End credits include Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre, and her other musical theatre credits including the Dita Von Teese production of Diamonds and Dust, UK tours of 101 Dalmatians, 42nd Street, In The Spotlight, Me And My Girl, Love Shack and Tell Me On A Sunday, Singin’ in The Rain at Sadler’s Wells, in Toronto and on a UK tour, and Saucy Jack And The Space Vixens at The Leicester Square Theatre. Faye’s film credits include St Georges Day, Mixed Up and Lady Godiva Back In The Saddle.

Kiara Dario will make her UK principal debut in Mean Girls the Musical. Her previous West End credits include the original London cast of The Great Gatsby at the London Coliseum and her other theatre credits include the international tour of Miss Saigon, and Annie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Disney’s Camp Rock, AngHuling El Bimbo, Joseph The Dreamer and Snow White, all in the Philippines.

Meet The Plastics – Regina, Gretchen and Karen. They rule North Shore High and will burn anyone who gets in their way. Home-schooled Cady Heron may think she knows a thing or two about survival of the fittest thanks to her zoologist parents, but high school is a whole new level of savage. When Cady devises a plan to end Regina’s reign, she learns the hard way that you can’t cross a queen bee without getting stung. Expect iconic characters, razor-sharp wit, and killer songs.

MEAN GIRLS, the smash-hit musical comedy based on the iconic Paramount Pictures film of the same name, had its first West End performance at the Savoy Theatre on 5 June 2024, where it was seen by over 330,000 people and played until 8 June 2025. MEAN GIRLS recently took home the coveted ‘Best New Musical’ award at the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards.

MEAN GIRLS had its world premiere in 2017 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C and opened on Broadway in April 2018 at the August Wilson Theatre to ecstatic responses, where it played to packed houses. The show then went on a hugely successful US tour in 2019 and recently completed a second US tour. In addition, in 2024, Paramount Pictures released a new twist on the fan-favourite film from the comedic mind of Tina Fey with a fresh and fun re-telling of the story featuring sensational musical performances.

The musical MEAN GIRLS has a book by Tina Fey, music and vocal arrangements by Jeff Richmond, lyrics by Nell Benjamin, direction and choreography by Casey Nicholaw, scenic design by Scott Pask, costume design by Katrina Lindsay, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Brian Ronan, hair design by Josh Marquette, musical supervision/vocal, dance, incidental and additional music arrangements by Mary-Mitchell Campbell, orchestrations by John Clancy and dance and incidental music arrangements by Glen Kelly.

MEAN GIRLS plays at Sunderland Empire Monday 6 – Saturday 11 April 2026. Tickets are available here.