Winner of Best New Musical (WhatsOnStage Awards) and direct from the West End, Mean Girls is the hilarious smash-hit musical comedy from an award-winning creative team including writer Tina Fey (30 Rock), composer Jeff Richmond (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) and director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon).

It arrives at Sheffield’s Lyceum Theatre between 9-14 November.

To find out more about The Plastics and North Shore High, we spoke to leading lady Faye Tozer. The Steps superstar is tackling not one but three roles in Tina Fey’s wickedly witty show about high school cliques. She plays the mothers of both lead characters, Regina and Cady, as well as maths teacher Ms Norbury. With her own son Benjamin turning 17, she’s embracing new freedoms, challenges and a liberating fresh perspective on her life and career. And, while Steps will always be her ‘lifelong love,’ she just might have some surprising cards up her sleeve for the future.

Hi Faye, how are you enjoying being on the road with Mean Girls?

I love touring because I get to see so many places around the country and this is one of my favourite shows. I can watch it from the wings and be blown away by every performance. It’s a really, really top quality show with brilliant actors.

Treading the boards and the adrenaline that I get from live theatre, the graft of it and the camaraderie is something that I really enjoy. That’s what keeps bringing me back.

Now, you can be honest with us, we won’t tell, but were you one of the cool Mean Girls at school?

No, I was the opposite, trying to figure out where I fit in. I had a really big imagination. I come from quite an artistic family. Dad paints, Mum was very crafty and made our costumes. I watched all the black and white movies on TV and spent hours painting my face doing weird and wonderful things. I was just in my airy, fairy little world.

I really enjoyed out of school stuff like amateur dramatics and music. Being in a room and jumping around gave me freedom. That’s why I really love the dance side of things.

I wasn’t looking to be a pop star. I actually wanted to go into musical theatre. 

When did you figure out who Faye was?

That’s a huge question. I think we are forever evolving and ever learning about ourselves. Right now, I’m more comfortable in my brain, body and confidence that I’ve ever been.

I stopped worrying about what people think of me. I focus on what matters to me, taking jobs for satisfaction rather than being a lead character because that would look better on my CV.

I took a role in 42nd Street just because I wanted to tap dance on stage and it really excited me. I’m really proud that I did that.

What’s the difference between being on stage in a musical and in Steps?

Steps is a lifelong love and passion project. It was something we were gifted and had no idea what it would turn into.

When you do an arena, people are all there for you. We want to deliver something that’s magical and brilliant, of course, but it’s all connected.

When I do theatre, it’s personal growth. I’m discovering what I can do as an actor and vocalist. I’m working with people that I would never usually be in a room with. Each time is a new piece of work, new challenge, accent, physicality and age to deliver. I absolutely love it. It’s a challenge every time and that’s such a big draw for me.

Next year will be Steps’ 30th anniversary and yet for so many years, the media and music industry were Mean Girls to you all.

Oh, absolutely. We got a lot of stick back in the day because we weren’t the cool kids. Pop was turning into the gritty indie sound and we were the vast opposite. We were doing rainbows, unapologetic innocent joy.

When people are bullying, it’s usually them projecting their own insecurities on other people. The Mean Girls message celebrates being your authentic, unique self. We’re all here to have the best life we possibly can. We’re better and stronger together as a varied mix of people with different opinions and strengths. 

All your dreams of sequins, feathers and jazz hands have come true, but would you also like to tackle serious theatre?

Absolutely. It’s been on my cards for a long time. I’d like to do a really hard hitting, serious play or a period drama but I think you get pigeonholed. It’d be really fun to do something that people don’t expect. There’s a lot in me that would be really good to get out.

I just don’t think my face and name go into those pots often. That’s something we’re working on for the future. It depends how open minded people are about trusting in me.

That’s so interesting because this show is all about judging people and perceptions. How have you been received into the Mean Girls cast?

I really noticed that for the first time I was the oldest cast member! If my head had been in a different place, like a couple of years ago, I would have been wary about what people thought of me. But in the rehearsal room, some of them hadn’t heard of Steps.

It was humbling, but actually quite refreshing because they’re taking me at face value, just as a cast member being employed in the same show as them.

Musicals are so demanding. How do you keep up with everyone?

These little old knees do the warm ups with everybody. Maybe not so many press ups!

I exercise every day, a lot of walking, yoga to keep my body awake and as pain free as possible. But I think being happy in your head is very much to do with your body as well.

Taking as much stress out of your life helps. I live 10 minutes from the sea at home up North and spending time by water is really good for you.

I try to eat well because I’m a female of certain age. I’m perimenopausal and we’re learning how to look after our bodies better these days.

You achieved and experienced more in your youth than most of us could ever dream of. So, how does it feel now to be 50?

I feel great, I’m not looking bad for it, but I’m also really enjoying living my best ‘old lady era,’ good books, good music, doing the garden. Don’t get me wrong, I also do spas and cocktail bars!

I’m really lucky in the fact that I am healthy. I have seen and I have lost friends and family members who haven’t got to my age.

So I think every year around the sun is a blessing and a privilege.

I live my life working and I know that I’m a workaholic. In this industry you always feel like you’re on a treadmill, looking for the next job. So to balance that on the road, one week I’ll stay somewhere basic, then I’ll spoil myself in a bougie boutique hotel, go for a swim, have that afternoon massage and high tea, sit amongst lovely people living their best lives, and then go and do a show in the evening.

Do you ever worry about what’s next for you?

I’ve been very blessed, which is great, but if there’s a dry patch, you go, ‘Ok, what can I do now? What else can I do?’

So I started up my own cabaret show that I do on P&O cruises. I do things for charity and personal appearances. You have to have fingers in all the pies to have longevity in the entertainment industry.

Mean Girls is at the Lyceum from 9-14 November. Call 0114 249 6000 or click here for ticket information.