Shows are May 30-June 1 at Baker High School

BAKER CITY — Regina George rules the school and this weekend, she will rule the stage at Baker High School.

“Mean Girls The Musical: High School Version” will be presented Friday and Saturday, May 30 and May 31, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, June 1, at 3 p.m. in the BHS auditorium, 2500 E St.

Admission is $8 for adults, $4 seniors, and free for students and kids.

It’s taken a few years to bring Regina and the story of “Mean Girls” into the theater program at BHS.

Seniors Jillian Poe and Paige Wolfe are directing the musical, and both grin at how they finally convinced adviser Jesse Taub to let them tackle the project.

“Both Jill and Paige just love theater,” Taub said. “They’ve asked to do this show for the last two years.”

They’ve both grown up on stage — Poe’s first role was about 11 years ago, and Wolfe has been acting for nine years.

“Mean Girls” came with the script and music, but the directors have been responsible for choreographing the dances and helping the cast learn harmonies.

“Everybody’s been doing such a great job, and putting in a lot of work. I’m really excited about it,” Wolfe said.

Casting a musical is more challenging than a play, they said.

“People in theater aren’t used to singing, and people in choir aren’t used to acting,” Poe said.

Neither have shied away from the countless hours required to direct a musical.

“It’s so much fun,” Poe said. “And you can connect with each cast member to know their strengths.”

In addition to directing the production, both Poe and Wolfe are leads in the play.

Wolfe is Cady Heron, the homeschooled girl who moves from Africa and enters public school for the first time. Poe is Regina George, leader of the Mean Girls.

“Regina’s always been a dream for me,” Poe said.

This show is a musical adaptation of the 2004 film. Although it is the high school version, Taub said the show does deal with PG-13 topics.

In addition to Poe, the Mean Girls trio is rounded out by Paige Anderson, who plays Gretchen, and Stella Carlson as Karen.

For those unfamiliar with the movie, the story follows Cady as she navigates the social groups of high school. She’s quickly befriended by Damian (played by Justin Wolfe) and Janis (Marquesa Peterson), who try to steer her away from the Plastics (those are the Mean Girls).

But the siren call of popularity draws the new girl, and soon she is trying to balance two very different worlds in the same school.

Damian and Janis open the show.

“This is a cautionary tale,” he says. “How her dodgy decisions made someone get hit by a bus.”

Both directors highly encourage the community to spend some time in the world of “Mean Girls.”

“It’s so iconic, you can’t not see it,” Wolfe said with a grin.

“We’ve put so much work in this — you won’t get something like this in Baker for a while,” Poe added.

Also, the musical features the auditorium’s new lighting system, and the actors will have microphones. Poe and Wolfe said technical director Reed Wagstaff has been instrumental in running the lights and sound.

“Without Reed, we wouldn’t have a show,” Paige Anderson said.

In addition to the main actors, the musical includes an ensemble of Johnny Hallet, Katie Murphy, Gabriela Maluf, Nyala Brodie, Olive Carlson, Ambrielle Torres, Zoe Griffin and Payton Anderson.