Denée Benton and Jasmine Amy Rogers Face Off in Broadway’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play

Just in time for back to school season, School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play is strutting onto Broadway. Jocelyn Bioh’s biting comedy is set in 1986 at an exclusive all-girls boarding school in Ghana, where queen bee Paulina has her sights set on the Miss Ghana pageant—until American transfer student Ericka shows up and captures the attention of the pageant recruiter. Denée Benton stars as Paulina and Broadway.com Audience Choice Award winner Jasmine Amy Rogers as Ericka, along with Tony winner Patina Miller, Heather Alicia Simms, Lucia Aremu, Erin Morton, Nia Otchere-Sarfo and Jordan Rice. In conversation with Broadway.com, Benton and Rogers discuss the discipline and discovery required to make School Girls sparkle like a pageant gown.

Benton describes the group of girls as “ravenous for their glory,” with the proximity to the pageant world bringing out their “feral and chaotic” sides. “It was actually the first play I think I ever saw off-Broadway 10 years ago,” says Benton of the original 2017 production. “I remember just cackling with laughter and then the next thing I knew I was weeping and I didn't even notice Jocelyn switching it up on us. I think she's just so excellent with that as a playwright. Her plays are so technically sound. It's like singing Sondheim in a way. You just can't really ask for better material to get to pour yourself into.”

“The energy is so alive and it just bounces back and forth,” says Rogers of the newly-assembled cast. “Everybody is on the same page, everybody is fully going for it. There's nothing more exciting than scene work with incredible people that you can really just throw everything at and they can throw it right back at you.”

“An ensemble of comedic geniuses, truly,” declares Benton. “Obviously, we have our two diva goddesses of Patina and Heather, but then we have four Broadway debuts happening and they are so brilliant. It feels like we're getting to be a part of the induction of the next generation of greats.”

School Girls is helmed by Whitney White, who previously directed Bioh’s 2023 Broadway debut, Jaja's African Hair Braiding. Benton likens White to a basketball coach: “She's playful, playful, playful and then she locks in. The pace of the show is so athletic and intense and you can't really let the ball drop. She does a really good job at inviting our humanity and our artistry and our professionalism into the space.”

Rogers reveals that the pair were first introduced to each other in a sacred space: Tonya Pinkins' apartment. Pinkins and Rogers were in the New York City Center Encores! production of The Wild Party, which also starred Benton’s The Gilded Age co-star Jordan Donica. "You and Jordan were filming Gilded Age during the day and he brought you over and I was like, 'Oh my God, it's Denée Benton.'" Replies Denton, “I had obviously known who [Rogers] was because she was taking Broadway by storm. But that was the first time we met. Doing the electric slide at Tonya Pinkins' house.”

Both Benton and Rogers made their Broadway debuts in high-profile projects. Benton starred as Natasha in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 and Rogers brought Betty Boop to life in BOOP! The Musical—earning each of them Tony nominations. "Great Comet creatively was one of the best experiences, but physically it was like, 'Oh my God, what have I done?'" recalls Benton. With School Girls, "It's such a shared lift. It's also a sexy 75 minutes, no intermission. I've only done three-hour musicals where you're dying and weeping by the end."

Expanding on the different challenges between performing in musicals and straight plays, Denton says, “In musicals, you have the container of the music, right? There's only so far you can venture out of the precision. Whereas with plays, you really have to study the text to find the rhythm, and find the rhythm together. It feels like we're creating that rhythm with the audience, with each other.”

For a show like School Girls, the rhythm is partially informed by the adolescent extremity it contains. “It's a very heightened environment for these girls and their sort of heightened delusions. And between the accent work and the specificity of Jocelyn's writing, I really am having to bring the same skills I would bring to breaking down Shakespeare.”

According to Rogers, audiences who come into School Girls with certain expectations have another thing coming. “This is a Whitney and Jocelyn joint, so anything you expect, just know we're going to throw something else at you.”

School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play is now in previews, opening September 28 at the Samuel J Friedman Theatre. Get tickets!