Clueless: The Musical

 Recently I had a couple of days off and took the opportunity to see a couple of shows in London. Previously I've mentioned Inside No.9 and I went to see their new stage show Stage/Fright which was very good but I also went to see Clueless: The Musical. 

I've probably talked a lot about Clueless before and how it was an influential film for me growing up. In fact I think at one point I was writing letters pretending to be Cher (not posted of course, just a fun thing) and drawing pictures of how I thought I would look in some of the outfits (which are still in existence and I'm torn on whether to destroy or not). Anyway, I rewatched the film the night before I went and it's still a lot of fun. It did also strike me that in this day and age you probably need a Monty Python style caption blinking 'SATIRE' at several points as there are a lot of gags particularly to do with mobile phones that would sail over peoples heads these days but back then they were more of a status symbol and you had to be wealthy to afford one. 

I was please to see a few people at the musical in Clueless inspired outfits and I myself was wearing a yellow plaid skirt, yellow cardigan and a pink 'Bronson Alcott High' t-shirt. I did stop short of the white knee socks though but I would really have wanted to do it if I didn't have to travel on the train and I still feel a bit self-conscious about that sort of thing.

Emma Flynn as Cher Horowitz in Clueless: The Musical
Photo by Matt Crockett

Overall I enjoyed the musical and may see it again as I note the songs were inspired by 90s music genres so I may have to listen again to properly appreciate them. The outfits were good too, not quite the same as their film counterparts but still recognisable. For example, Cher's iconic plaid outfit (above) has been redesigned with a cropped jacket and a blouse/shirt with tails out with additional beret. Cher does wear a beret sometimes in the film but they've added it more here and I quite like this look. The main actress, Emma Flynn, certainly has a good history for playing Cher having played Elle Woods (Legally Blonde) and Sandy (Grease) previously. Actually I've also noticed how serendipitous her name is. It also made me notice how much people on stage work shifting bits of set and scenery around and how props were adapted for example a sofa being changed into Cher's white jeep. 

I did finally get the shoes for my Cher cosplay so I've now got a bit more enthusiasm to do that at a show at some point this year. I've also made a point of wanting to go back to the source material and read Emma by Jane Austen (which Clueless is based on). I did watch the 2020 film adaptation with Anya Taylor-Joy (in which she also wore a yellow dress in tribute to Clueless) but I haven't seen the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow version as yet.