CLUELESS is a new musical comedy based on the Paramount Pictures classic film. The modern spin on Jane Austen’s Emma gets another timeless makeover from the original film’s writer-director alongside a majorly acclaimed creative team.
Featuring a book by the iconic voice of a generation Amy Heckerling (writer-director of Clueless, director of Fast Times at Ridgemont High), an original score by the multi-platinum singer-songwriter KT Tunstall (writer and performer of such celebrated hits as “Suddenly I See” and “Black Horse and The Cherry Tree”), and lyrics by Grammy® winner and three-time Tony® nominee Glenn Slater (Sister Act The Musical, Tangled), CLUELESS is directed by the acclaimed Rachel Kavanaugh (Half a Sixpence).
Cher Horowitz is the most popular student at Beverly Hills High, renowned for her unique talent at finding love for others. She's about to embark on her biggest project yet – making over her awkward new friend, Tai, and setting her up with the most handsome boy in school. But what happens to Cher when, for the first time, everything is not perfect? This fresh musical comedy is fun, fashionable, and, like, so way cool.
Emma Flynn is the breakthrough star of this production. In the same way that the 1995 film put Alicia Silverstone on the Hollywood map, Clueless should help to make a star of picture-perfect New Yorker Flynn, whose bouncing blonde tresses and screeching Beverley Hills twang are quintessential Cher. Some moves have been made to add depth to her character, with soul-searching solos, but an opportunity has been missed to dig in more to her backstory, with a few, fleeting references to the passing of her mother who “died when I was two in a freak liposuction accident”.
Let’s get this clear from the beginning: if you’re trying to find some sort of deeper meaning behind this show, then quit while you’re ahead. Clueless the Musical exists as pure entertainment; a fun bit of escapism for what is still quite a bleak and dreary time - and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. The best thing about this production is that (unlike other film to stage adaptations like Dirty Dancing) it isn’t a complete carbon copy of the film, thanks to the multitude of original compositions that form the backbone of the show.
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
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