Brookside star Jennifer Ellison has been announced for an award-winning show. The television and stage actress will play Ms Heron/Ms Norbury/Mrs George when the award-winning Mean Girls opens at the Liverpool Empire Theatre in October. The show is set to run from Monday, October 19 until Saturday, October 31.
Career highlights
The 43-year-old actress played Emily Shadwick in Brookside from 1998 to 2002, famously tying the knot to Philip Oliver's Tinhead. Her television credits include The Commander: Abduction, The Brief, and The Bill, all for ITV, and Hotel Babylon, The Nativity, and New Street Law, all for the BBC. She is currently on screens in ITV's G’Wed.
Away from the screen, Jennifer has several West End credits such as Singin’ In The Rain, Boeing Boeing, and Roxie Hart in Chicago on a UK Tour that included a successful stint at the Liverpool Empire.
Star's excitement
Speaking about her latest role at the Empire Theatre, Jennifer said: "I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining this incredible show, and I couldn’t be more excited to get on that stage."
"Bringing it home to Liverpool will be the cherry on top! Performing in my hometown is going to be such a special moment. I’m ready for the pink, the drama and a proper Liverpool welcome. I cannot wait!"
Cast and show history
Jennifer joins Emily Lane as Cady Heron, Vivian Panka as Regina George, Kiara Dario as Gretchen Wieners, Sophie Pourret as Karen Smith, Georgie Buckland as Janis Sarkisian, Max Gill as Damian Hubbard, Ben Oatley as Aaron Samuels, Karim Zeroual as Kevin Ganatra and Joshua Elmore as Mr Duvall.
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 won the coveted ‘Best New Musical’ award at the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards. It 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 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.
Tickets for Mean Girls are available from £30.
