"Being dead is no barrier to productivity these days – particularly if you are Jane Austen," said Sarah Hemming in the Financial Times. Improvisation show "Austentatious" is playing in the West End and soon to go on tour; "ingenious comedy" "Pride & Prejudice"* (*sort of) is already touring; and a new musical, "Austenland", is waiting in the wings. Until then, we have "Clueless, The Musical", based on the hit 1995 film. Inspired by Austen's "Emma" and starring Alicia Silverstone, it "wittily spliced Regency matchmaking and friendship angst with the hormone-fuelled politics of an LA high school drama". With "evocative" original songs by KT Tunstall and lyricist Glenn Slater, the musical is also "charming and fun", but alas, it "never quite wriggles free of its celluloid origins".
It's by no means a great musical, said Alun Hood on What's on Stage, but its sense of fun is "irresistible" – and fans of the film will love it. Amy Heckerling, who wrote and directed the film, is behind the "laugh-out-loud funny" book; the musical numbers are clever and "infuriatingly catchy"; the staging has a "cinematic fluidity as scenes merge slickly into each other"; and the production features a star-making turn from newcomer Emma Flynn as the main character, Cher. A "scintillating comedienne", she commands the stage, and is "adorable enough to mitigate against most of Cher's more obnoxious characteristics".
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
Movies to watch in Februarythe week recommends Time travelers, multiverse hoppers and an Iraqi parable highlight this month’s offerings during the depths of winter
-
ICE’s facial scanning is the tip of the surveillance icebergIN THE SPOTLIGHT Federal troops are increasingly turning to high-tech tracking tools that push the boundaries of personal privacy
-
Film reviews: ‘Send Help’ and ‘Private Life’
Feature An office doormat is stranded alone with her awful boss and a frazzled therapist turns amateur murder investigator
-
The Beckhams: the feud dividing BritainIn the Spotlight ‘Civil war’ between the Beckhams and their estranged son ‘resonates’ with families across the country
-
6 homes with incredible balconiesFeature Featuring a graceful terrace above the trees in Utah and a posh wraparound in New York City
-
The Flower Bearers: a ‘visceral depiction of violence, loss and emotional destruction’The Week Recommends Rachel Eliza Griffiths’ ‘open wound of a memoir’ is also a powerful ‘love story’ and a ‘portrait of sisterhood’
-
Steal: ‘glossy’ Amazon Prime thriller starring Sophie TurnerThe Week Recommends The Game of Thrones alumna dazzles as a ‘disillusioned twentysomething’ whose life takes a dramatic turn during a financial heist
-
Anna Ancher: Painting Light – a ‘moving’ exhibitionThe Week Recommends Dulwich Picture Gallery show celebrates the Danish artist’s ‘virtuosic handling of the shifting Nordic light’
-
H is for Hawk: Claire Foy is ‘terrific’ in tender grief dramaThe Week Recommends Moving adaptation of Helen Macdonald’s bestselling memoir
-
Our Town: Michael Sheen stars in ‘beautiful’ Thornton Wilder classicThe Week Recommends Opening show at the Welsh National Theatre promises a ‘bright’ future
