Entertainment

School Girls Opens on Broadway at the Friedman, Nearly a Decade After Off-Broadway Premiere

Lorna HartiganPublished 5d ago3 min readBased on 7 sources
School Girls Opens on Broadway at the Friedman, Nearly a Decade After Off-Broadway Premiere
Photo by Photo: Andreas Praefcke / CC BY 3.0

Jocelyn Bioh's "School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play" opened on Broadway on September 28, 2026.

The production plays the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre as part of Manhattan Theatre Club's 2026-27 season, according to the company. It is the play's first time on Broadway, nearly a decade after its Off-Broadway premiere. Manhattan Theatre Club

First previews began September 8. The Broadway database IBDB lists the production as an Original Play, meaning a new play rather than a revival, with a closing date of November 1, 2026. IBDB The show runs 75 minutes.

The story is set in 1986 at the Aburi Girls Boarding School in the Aburi Mountains of central Ghana, as reported by Variety. At school, Paulina is the queen bee. Winning the Miss Ghana 1986 pageant is presented as a path to fame, fortune and prosperity. Deadline

That contest drives the plot. A new student arrives from America. A former winner returns to the school.

Denée Benton plays Paulina. Jasmine Amy Rogers plays Ericka Boafo, the new American Ghanaian student. Patina Miller, a Tony Award winner, plays Eloise Amponsah, who was Miss Ghana 1966. Variety

The rest of the students include Erin Morton as Nana, Jordan Rice as Mercy, Lucia Aremu as Ama and Nia Otchere-Sarfo as Gifty. Heather Alicia Simms plays Headmistress Francis.

Whitney White directed the production. White is a Tony Award-nominated director and previously directed Bioh's "Jaja's African Hair Braiding," which was Tony-nominated.

The design team includes Teresa L. Williams on scenery, Qween Jean on costumes and Stacey Derosier on lighting. Jean is a Tony-winning costume designer.

For first-time buyers, this means a short fall run in a Broadway house. The Friedman seats about 650, and Manhattan Theatre Club operates it as its Broadway home. A closing date already on the calendar means tickets are on sale for a set number of weeks, what Broadway calls the advance, or tickets already sold for future performances.

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