Viral hit ‘Little Miss Perfect’ set to debut as full musical in the DC region
The viral song “Little Miss Perfect” exploded across TikTok and social media several years ago after Broadway star Taylor Louderman — of “Mean Girls” fame — performed it.
Now, that song has become a full musical and is coming to the stage at the Olney Theatre Center, in Olney, Maryland.
Creator, writer and composer Joriah Kwamé said the journey from a bedroom‑written tune to a fully staged production has been surreal.
The decision to debut in the D.C. region was intentional, Kwamé said, as his connection to the District’s arts scene goes back years, long before his work went viral.
He performed at the Shakespeare Theatre Company early in his career, an experience that made the D.C. area feel like a natural home for the show’s first production.
“When this became the theater that we were going to come to, I was excited. I knew what to expect. I knew how acclaimed this area is. I knew how involved critics are. I knew how involved the community is,” Kwamé told WTOP.
The musical began as a single song Kwamé wrote in 2019 for the Write Out Loud contest. After Louderman’s performance went viral, fans around the world began urging him to turn the song into a full story.
“I remember that was a very weird period of my life where I was like, every day, like two people, some of which I hadn’t talked to in years, were sending me TikToks like, ‘Look, your song’s on TikTok,” Kwamé said.
At the heart of “Little Miss Perfect” is Noelle, a perfectionist high school senior in a predominantly white Michigan town who has shaped herself into someone she thinks others want her to be. But she begins to question who she is as she develops feelings for an exchange student staying with her family.
“She gets her world flipped upside down when she starts to develop feelings for the foreign exchange student that’s being hosted at her house, Malaya, who’s from the Philippines, who, unlike her, is completely free spirited and knows who she is through the course of the story,” Kwamé said.
Kwamé said that hearing from people who saw themselves in the characters pushed him to keep writing. He said creating that connection between the audience and characters motivates him: “It’s what I’ve always loved about creating characters.”
The show features the familiar world of high school, including cheerleaders, jocks and hallways buzzing with teenage politics, but Kwamé and the creative team focused on giving characters who rarely lead coming‑of‑age musicals the center stage to shine.
DC actors help bring the story to life
Kwamé said one of the most rewarding parts of the process has been watching the largely D.C.-based cast tackle roles with intensity and heart.
“We’re all New York creatives, so we are used to working at a certain speed and getting a certain output, and they are stepping to the plate,” he said.
Olney Theatre Center Artistic Director Jason Loewith said the core of the musical has remained unchanged throughout its development.
“Never has the North Star shifted, and the North Star has always been to tell the story of Noelle,” Loewith said.
For Kwamé, the themes in “Little Miss Perfect” echo parts of his own experience as an artist, as a writer and as someone who often felt he had to change himself to fit expectations.
He said when he moved to New York City, he felt he needed to change to better fit in, but he said the song and its popularity changed that.
“When people lifted that up, that became my moment where I learned the lesson that a lot of these characters have yet to learn. So, it’s kind of like a cool full circle moment,” he said.
The creative team believes the musical has a future beyond this premiere. And Kwamé is open about where he hopes it eventually lands.
“Broadway is what I’ve always dreamed and now that we’re putting the show up on its feet, it feels very much like a new, exciting Broadway show,” he said.
Before that dream has a chance to take shape, audiences in the D.C. region will be the first to see the full production brought to life.
“Little Miss Perfect” premieres at the Olney Theatre Center Feb. 8, with additional performances starting Feb. 12.