Clueless<\/span><\/i> was a hit because we all wanted to be the cool kids \u2014 and have permission to hate them just a little bit, too. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Much has changed in the two decades since the film\u2019s release, as acknowledged at the outset of Heckerling\u2019s saccharine and duly faithful musical adaptation, which opened off-Broadway tonight. \u201cIn the \u201890s, everything is awesome!\u201d exclaims Dove Cameron\u2019s Cher. \u201cFashions are fly, music rocks, the whole world loves America.\u201d You can\u2019t help but sigh as \u201cBeautiful Life\u201d by Ace of Base is co-opted to confirm those were indeed simpler times.<\/span><\/p>\n But nostalgia isn\u2019t enough to sustain a whole musical, and <\/span>Clueless<\/span><\/i> goes as red in the face as Cher before a night alone with Christian trying to prove otherwise. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n The musical banks foremost on audience affection for the film, which withstands the test of time as most era-defining classics do. But unlike other popular teen<\/a> movies recently adapted for the stage, <\/span>Clueless<\/span><\/i> hasn\u2019t undergone one of Cher\u2019s transformative makeovers. Both <\/span>Legally Blonde<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Mean Girls<\/span><\/i><\/a>, for example, arrived with original scores and adjustments in storytelling to help music drive the plot. <\/span><\/p>\n Heckerling\u2019s adaptation includes rewritten lyrics to a dozen-plus \u201890s hits that accommodate the story without feeling essential to it. In doing so, she\u2019s also ceded the specificity of tone that elevates the movie to pop songs that bring their own cultural connotations. While there are occasional inspired moments, such as Cher\u2019s disastrous driving test set to 4 Non Blondes \u201cWhat\u2019s Up?,\u201d pop singles often make for lousy musical theatre, laden with repetition and void of subtlety. This is particularly true of \u201890s tunes like \u201cBarbie Girl\u201d and \u201cBye Bye Bye,\u201d despite being delightful vehicles for Kelly Devine\u2019s propulsive choreography.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Most unfortunately, the satire Heckerling so perfected in the movie (based in part on Jane Austen\u2019s <\/span>Emma<\/span><\/i>) has evaporated under the hot lights of the New Group production, directed by Kristin Hanggi. Perhaps Heckerling\u2019s <\/span>own love for her characters<\/span><\/a> has overtaken what was, on screen, both a celebration of and sideways glance at the extremities of privilege. The frivolity and entitlement of Cher and her crew, no matter how benign, seem especially ripe for reexamination today, which makes the musical\u2019s failure to do so all the more glaring. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cher\u2019s turning over a new leaf culminates in a letter-writing campaign to alert local reps about contaminated water (\u201cI\u2019m sure they won\u2019t miss one itsy bitsy product,\u201d she replies when Josh points out what kind of corporate giant she\u2019s up against). Even while making this small revision for contemporary resonance (one can\u2019t help but think of Flint), the musical falls short of interrogating its own nostalgia. Cher is naive, yes, but her heart is like, totally in the right place and we can\u2019t fault her for that. But more to the point \u2014 we were all naive back then. Two decades on, a reimagining of <\/span>Clueless<\/span><\/i> might have seized the opportunity to show us why. As is, the musical seems content for us to remain\u2026 well, clueless.<\/span><\/p>\n Recent theatre features\u2026 Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar The post \u2018Clueless, the Musical\u2019 Can\u2019t Capture the Movie\u2019s Bite Off-Broadway: REVIEW<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad Gay News<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/em>(photos: monique carboni)<\/p>\n