MTI musical · Full-length
Bad Girls The MusicalScript, Piano/Vocal Score & show details
- Full-length · 2 acts
- Large cast (21+)
- Roles: 10 women · 3 men + ensemble
- PG‑13
The printed Bad Girls script comes with your MTI license. The digital version is a separate add-on for your whole cast and crew. See pricing
Bad Girls synopsis
Book by Maureen Chadwick and Ann McManus · Music and Lyrics by Kath Gotts
Bad Girls introduces us to an anarchic bunch of women on the edge and up against the odds - prostitutes, addicts, shop-lifters, murderers - each with a story to tell of lives left behind and dreams of a better future ahead, and an entrenched old guard of prison officers out to dash their every hope.
Idealistic new Wing Governor Helen Stewart arrives at HMP Larkhall on a mission to reform the ‘us and them’ regime - and finds a surprising ally and soulmate in charismatic cop-killer Nikki Wade. But both face a ruthless adversary in corrupt Officer Jim Fenner, who wants Helen’s job and will do everything he can to undermine her.....
Then the tragic suicide of a young inmate - in which Jim Fenner is implicated - unleashes an angry protest on the wing and forces Helen and Nikki to their opposite sides of the bars. But when it’s clear that Helen stands to lose her job over Fenner’s misdeeds, the race is on for all the women to overcome their differences and join forces against their common enemy.....
Full of big songs and characters, Bad Girls is an exhilarating mix of gritty reality, rebellious spirit, emotional honesty and irreverent humour, that touches hearts and kicks up a riot.
Synopsis courtesy of Music Theatre International (MTI).
Bad Girls characters & vocal ranges
The Bad Girls musical has 13 named roles plus an ensemble, for a large cast (21+). Many roles can be cast across gender. ‘Written as’ reflects how MTI lists each role.
| Character | Written as | Vocal range | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nikki Wade | Female | D#5–E3 | Sentence: Life – for killing a policeman who was attempting to rape her girlfriend. An intelligent and moody middle-class maverick, driven by her contempt for the criminal justice system and compassion for the weak and vulnerable. |
| Shell Dockley | Female | D5–F3 | Sentence: Life - for the kidnap, torture and murder of the ‘slapper who stole her man’. The reigning Top Dog, sluttish, cunning and a consummate liar, who relishes in her own wickedness and will do anything to get what she wants. |
| Denny Blodd | Female | Eb5–A3 | Sentence: 7 years for arson. Shell’s trusty side-kick, an emotionally deprived hard nut, brought up in care homes, who’s basically a lost child in need of a mum. |
| Yvonne Atkins | Female | B5–E3 | Sentence: 4 years for conspiracy to commit murder. A mobster’s missus, brassy, sassy and supremely resourceful - no one messes with Yvonne. |
| “The Two Julies” - Julie Saunders and Julie Johnston | Female | C#5–F3 | Sentence: 2 years for soliciting and theft. A sisterly double-act, warm, maternal and ribald, they’ve been round the block - a lot. But they’ll always be there for each other and that’s their lifeline for survival. |
| Crystal Gordon | Female | F5–G3 | Sentence: 12 months for shoplifting. A bible-bashing Christian, self-righteous, judgemental and blind to her own self-contradictions. |
| Rachel Hicks | Female | Not listed | Sentence: 30 months for possession with intent to supply. Vulnerable first-time offender, parted from her young baby, and terrified by the bullying likes of Shell and Denny. Rachel’s got ‘victim’ written all over her. |
| Noreen Biggs | Female | Not listed | Sentence: 3 months for shop-lifting. Recidivist old-timer who feels more at home in prison than out. She loves a “bit of bother” and is always ready to stoke a fight from the sidelines. |
| Jim Fenner | Male | F#4–A2 | Principal Officer, who likes to run things in prison his own way - and take his pick of any young inmate he fancies. His unholy alliance with Shell Dockley is merely part of his master plan - to undermine Helen Stewart and get her job. |
| Sylvia "Bodybag" Hollamby | Female | B4–A3 | Senior Prison Officer and loyal sidekick to Jim Fenner. A lazy and bigoted jobsworth, she despises the inmates and always feels hard done by. |
| Helen Stewart | Female | D5–G3 | Newly appointed Wing Governor. A graduate ‘fast-tracker’, idealistic, warm and generous, she’s genuinely concerned for the welfare of the inmates in her care, but naive about the old boys’ network she’s up against. |
| Justin Mattison | Male | C#4–C3 | Prison Officer. A fresh young puppy dog who really wants to do good and thinks the world of Helen Stewart. Shy and easily teased by the older women inmates. |
| The Number One - Simon Stubberfield | Male | Not listed | Governing Governor. Ambitious and indolent, with his sights set on promotion to Area Management. He’ll do anything to keep his own reputation unsullied. |
| Ensemble | Any | Not listed | Small speaking roles for Prisoners Kat, Spike & Natalie, and Prison Officer/Male Nurse. Additional women prisoners and prison officers as desired and/or required for cover. |
Bad Girls song list
- Baddest and the Best
- I Shouldn't Be Here
- Guardian Angel
- Jailcraft
- One Moment
- A Life of Grime
- That's The Way It Is
- Freedom Road
- The Future Is Bright
- Sorry
- All Banged Up
- First Lady
- This Is My Life
How to get the Bad Girls script & Piano/Vocal Score
The printed materials come with your MTI license. The digital version is an add-on that gives your whole cast and crew immediate access. See what that looks like
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Delivered through ProductionPro, MTI’s exclusive digital delivery partner. Looking for a free Bad Girls script PDF? The script comes with your MTI license, so it isn’t available on its own.
What is a digital script?
Your Bad Girls script and Piano/Vocal Score, digitally, alongside your printed copies
Immediate access for your whole cast and crew.
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And when you’re ready, there’s more included
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- Lines, assigned onceEvery actor finds their own lines and harmonies.
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