Did the critics all love this musical? As if!

Trafalgar Theatre

There was a significant disagreement between those critics who found Clueless The Musical a lot of fun and those who found it uninspiring. Amy Heckerling has adapted her own movie script- some reviewers found it funny, others not so much. KT Tunstall’s music was either clever and catchy or generic and unmemorable depending on who you read. All agreed that the lead Emma Flynn was terrific.

[Links to full reviews are included but a number are behind paywalls and therefore may not be accessible]

4 stars ★★★★

The Standard‘s Nick Curtis made life difficult for me by awarding 4½★. He declared it to be ‘like, kinda fun’ and went on to say ‘Great songs keep coming, accompanied by superior choreography from Lizzi Gee’. He concluded, ‘In the ranks of musical adaptations of cult movies, this is almost as good as Legally Blonde, and it’s what Mean Girls should have been.’ Praise indeed

Alun Hood at WhatsOnStage proclaimed: ‘it’s a lot of fun’. He noted, ‘Amy Heckerling… wrote the original screenplay and here provides the frequently laugh-out-loud funny book for Clueless on stage’. While acknowledging ‘It’s not the greatest of musicals’Clueless fundamentally works, especially when Flynn’s gorgeous Cher is centre stage, and Tunstall’s earworm tunes, in Simon Hale’s sparkling orchestrations, are surging through the theatre’.

Rachel Halliburton at The ArtsDesk thanked it for providing ‘a spirit of escapism that’s more than welcome in these turbulent times.’ She liked the ‘snappy new score by KT Tunstall’ and was impressed by the way ‘Amy Heckerling, has freshened up the dialogue and added subtle tweakments, so that it can strut into the twenty-first century with all the glitz and carefully-manicured chutzpah that made it such a hit in the first place.’ She was confident ‘Lovers of the film will certainly love this’.

Debbie Gilpin at BroadwayWorld declared: ‘Is it good fun? Absolutely.’ She decided ‘KT Tunstall has done an excellent job in mining the 90s for inspiration…The songs are incredibly catchy, and are sure to be stuck in your head for days afterwards.’ Patrick Marmion in the Daily Mail said it had ‘plenty to sing about. That’s largely down to the bright and breezy score by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. But it’s also thanks to a sustained burst of Californian sunshine from American starlet Emma Flynn’.

Paul Vale for The Stage summed up: ‘Less cynical than Mean Girls and more fun than Heathers, this is a bright, breezy satire that thrives with its era-evocative new score.’

3 stars ★★★

Olivia Garrett in Radio Times declared, ‘West End newcomer Emma Flynn is fabulous as the lead’. She likened the musical to ‘the airy coffee friend who breezes into your life, shows you a good time and swans off again without leaving the biggest impression – but as long as you had fun, what’s wrong with that?’

Time Out‘s Andrjez Lukowski spent some of his review comparing it unfavourably to Mean Girls and decided it’s ‘nothing like as coruscatingly funny’ but concluded ‘It’s a witty, charming musical that winningly celebrates a great film and even better book.’ The Independent’s Alice Saville declared ‘it’s a bit light on the catchy songs and easy-to-imitate dance routines that can pull in younger fandoms. Still, it’s a welcome excuse to revisit a classic, sewn together just enough originality to make it feel like a stylish homage, not a cynical knock off.’

Olivia Rook at LondonTheatre felt ‘There is far more inventive work going on in the West End right now, but this is an adaptation that will delight fans and makes for a fun and pacy two hours of theatre.’

The songs, said the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish, ‘are so generic they don’t ring with real-world authenticity.’ He concluded ‘despite all the effort, it’s a “whatever” not a forever kinda affair’. The Times’ Clive Davis felt ‘It is mainly in terms of visuals that the show falls short’ but gave ‘All credit to the young ensemble for working so hard to keep  our mind off the shortcomings.’

2 stars ★★

The Guardian’s Arifa Akbar found much to fault. ‘where the film pulled off the outlandish melange of Austen and Americana, Rachel Kavanaugh’s production is a more lumbering hybrid,’ she said. ‘The songs, composed by KT Tunstall, are disappointingly flat-footed except for two belters’ she noted, and ‘The characters are peculiarly flat’. She took some comfort in the thought that ‘Still, the performances are strong’

Greg Stewart for Theatre Weekly found ‘Despite a talented cast, the show struggles to elevate itself beyond a lacklustre retelling of a beloved classic.’ He expanded, ‘It’s a tale of self-discovery, but feels more like a series of vignettes than a cohesive narrative arc. Despite its charm, the musical fails to deliver a compelling story, leaving audiences with more of a nostalgic trip than a meaningful theatrical experience.’

Critics’ Average Rating 3.3★

Value rating  37 (Value rating is the Average Critic Rating divided by the typical ticket price)

Clueless The Musical can be seen at the Trafalgar Theatre until 27 September 2025. Click here to buy direct from the theatre.

Click here to see where Clueless stands in the list of Best Value West End shows

If you’ve seen Clueless The Musical at The Trafalgar, please add your review and rating below