Mean Girls' Krystina Alabado on Her Character's 'Deep, Deep Soul,' The Devil Wears Prada Musical & More

Krystina Alabado is making fetch happen. All right, maybe the term from Tina Fey's popular 2004 film Mean Girls hasn't quite taken off in the way Gretchen Wieners hoped, but Alabado is surely adding her flair to playing the character Wieners in the musical adaptation at the August Wilson Theatre. "I'm obsessed with being Gretchen Wieners," the Mean Girls standout said in a recent interview with Ryan Lee Gilbert on Broadway.com's #LiveAtFive. "It's just the greatest place to work. I love everyone at the theater. It's so fun to make people laugh but still get to drop into the heart of Gretchen's deep, deep soul." After appearing on Broadway in American Psycho and American Idiot as well as the national tours of Evita and Spring Awakening, Alabado replaced Tony nominee Ashley Park in the role back in March.

Alabado described what it was like to audition for Mean Girls mastermind Tina Fey: "Before my final callback, I was like, 'Girl, get it together.' I've been such a huge fan of hers not only as a comedian and an actor but even just as a person," Alabado shared. "She's incredible. I definitely had to check my nerves. Though in this instance, it kind of worked because Gretchen's super nervous. I was like, 'I'm going to use this!'"

Alabado feels the musical offers a look into Gretchen's character that audiences did not get the chance to see in the movie. "In the show, you get to see such glimpses of her depth and her vulnerability. I have such good conversations with young people about how they connect with Gretchen," she explained. Mean Girls fans are a dedicated bunch: the musical and its original stars swept the 2018 Broadway.com Audience Choice Awards. For Alabado, the love is mutual. "The fans are so awesome and love the show so much. I feel super supported as an actor with them," she said.

Alabado is no stranger to avid fans. Fresh out of high school, she was cast in the ensemble of the Spring Awakening tour. After the Duncan Sheik/Steven Sater show took home the 2007 Tony Award for Best Musical, the fan base exploded. "When people ask me where I went to college, I say, 'I went to Spring Awakening.' It was an interesting introduction into this business," she said. "It was my first tour. We landed in San Diego, and there were hundreds of people with signs—at baggage claim!" The performer has had a lot of incredible experiences on her path to Mean Girls: She worked with the late music legend David Bowie on Lazarus. "We recorded the cast album on the day of his death," she said. "I really got to work closely with him. He was one of the kindest people."

She also recently participated in a reading of the musical adaptation of another beloved 2000s movie: The Devil Wears Prada. As previously announced, Alabado played Andy Sachs, the smart but drab aspiring journalist played by Anne Hathaway in the 2006 film. "It was really fun. I did that reading, but who knows if I'll ever get to do it again? It's one of the funny and interesting things about what we do [as performers]," Alabado explained. "I got to be a piece of that. With or without me doing it again, it's going to be awesome. I mean—it's The Devil Wears Prada! How could it not be great?!"

Watch the full episode of #LiveatFive below, and catch Alabado in Mean Girls at the August Wilson Theatre!