Little Lark of London

“Okay, I know what you’re thinking . . .”

Walking into the Trafalgar Theatre for Clueless the Musical, audience members are greeted with a fire playlist that brings one straight back into the 1990s, with boy bands, girl bands and pop-rock blasting through the speakers. It makes perfect sense for a musical based on a film that is basically a guidebook to life in the 1990s, cringey slang and all. Clueless has been written by Amy Heckerling, who also wrote the film which came out in 1995, which is an adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. 

The audience is introduced to Cher Horowitz (Emma Flynn), a spoiled and rich high-school student at Beverly Hills High in California. She has a penchant for doing nice things for others – as long as they benefit her in the end, something that her step-brother, Josh (Keelan McAuley) cannot stand. When she and her friend, Dionne (Chyna-Rose Frederick) stumble upon new girl Tai (Romona Lewis-Malley), they decide to make her their new project, transforming her from an awkward girl from the Bronx to the mysterious new girl with a killer fashion sense. As one might expect from a 90s film, not everything goes to plan and Cher comes to realise just how clueless she’s been.

Originally, the musical version of the film was a jukebox musical, but original music has been written for this version by KT Tunstall, who brings the music of the 1990s to the stage with songs that feel as though you could have heard them on the radio thirty years ago. Tunstall’s music is accompanied by Glenn Slater’s lyrics, which tend to be a bit basic and forgettable but get the job done in terms of making the songs enjoyable and allowing them to move the plot forward as needed.

A highlight of the show is its choreography by Lizzi Gee, who is working with some truly fantastic dancers, particularly Emily Florence as Amber. Each of the performers gets to show off their skills during a high-energy swing-dance number, with Flynn as Cher and Isaac J Lewis as Christian at the centre. But, the scene-stealing performance of the evening goes to McAuley and his boyband ensemble who perform a law-themed pop number that had the audience laughing and screaming. The dances are only enhanced by Paloma Young’s costume designs that allow all of the performers to dance around while still showing off the outfits of the 90s, including Cher’s iconic yellow plaid ensemble.

Mikiko Suzuki Macadams has also made a solid set for the show – I particularly appreciated the many ways that she was able to turn different household items into cars with a few lights and some machinery. I also really enjoyed the backgrounds that covered the space where the orchestra was behind the performers – I couldn’t tell if they were actually painted or simply printed but they were lovely and colourful depictions of California!

As someone who hadn’t seen the film before watching the musical, I decided to give it a watch after seeing the show to see what had been changed. Luckily, Heckerling the creative team chose to get rid of quite a few problematic aspects of the original, like Cher obsessing over her weight, the teenagers playing the game “Kiss and Blow” and a party and some comments about Lucy (Imelda Warren-Green) being from El Salvador and Cher insisting she’s from Mexico (this is turned into Cher simply snapping at Lucy for forgetting to pick up something from the cleaners). 

Unfortunately, there are still aspects of Clueless that fall a bit flat on stage. Cher spends quite a bit of the show acting as a narrator, speaking directly to the audience. While this works in the film, it makes the stage version of Cher seem a bit like Dora the Explorer with a similar tone throughout and pauses for audience reactions. There were also some lighting issues, particularly the spotlight struggling to keep its focus on Cher, which sometimes pulled me out of the show. 

Ultimately, Clueless the Musical is a cute and fun show that will delight fans of the original film and is enjoyable for everyone, regardless of their knowledge of yellow plaid outfits or 90s catchphrases. Heckerling and Tunstall have created a sweet – if slightly forgettable – show that follows the recent tradition of adapting the successes of the past for a modern audience. 

Clueless the Musical runs until 27 September at the Trafalgar Theatre. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.