“Affable but limp...The perverse flattening process that too often occurs when two-dimensional films are translated into the three dimensions of live theater has befallen ‘Clueless’...The whole production suffers from a heightened twinkliness...’Clueless’ cultists will find many of their favorite lines have made it to the stage intact...But the witticisms scarcely register amid the steady trickle of repurposed pop hits.”
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“The stage version of this ‘90s teen flick remains a light delight. But a great musical? As if...This playful, upbeat show should be an easy sell...But its lightweight narrative keeps it at the enjoyable-fluff level...Whatever. The look, tone and ’tude of the show is spot-on. Its fantasy life of ultra-rich teens is here further enlivened with songs of the era, cleverly recrafted lyrically for the show by Heckerling...The cast strikes the same happy balance of satire and sincerity as the film’s.”
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“The flame of originality barely flickers, leaving a show that feels only intermittently fresh, despite the commitment of a perky young cast...How much you get out of the show will depend on your appetite for '90s nostalgia...Some of this is genuinely witty, even if Heckerling's new lyrics are groaning with false rhymes and at times sit awkwardly on the melodies. But I found it all hit-or-miss...A roughly stitched patchwork of second-hand elements."
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“Beverly Hills teen princess Cher Horowitz and her friends sing familiar melodies with dummy lyrics that are truly dumb...Like karaoke night attended by lame improv comics...It’s a pity, because the core material of ‘Clueless’ could have made a perfectly charming musical...’Clueless’ requires a subtler, more intelligent touch. In the end, the creative team is both too faithful to the screenplay and too irreverent with the pop spirit of the period.”
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“A peppy but disappointing stage musical...Another jukebox musical, using approximately 20 ‘90s pop-rock hits...Heckerling awkwardly tinkers with the lyrics in a clunky attempt to make them more applicable to the storyline and characters...Her book closely follows her original screenplay but relies heavily on nostalgia for easy laughs...Hanggi’s production is aggressively silly and self-aware, so much so that it often resembles an affectionate parody.”
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“Cameron is just about perfect as Cher...The people behind ‘Clueless’ should be grateful to Cameron for providing it fizz, for it never reaches a comic detonation point and it suffers from a lack of urgency...‘Clueless’ comes across as a series of disconnected episodes...The narrative line wanders, the laughs are only occasional and fall well short and the songs, with their familiar melodies and new lyrics, fail at the all-important task of making us fall in love with the characters.”
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“Heckerling revels unabashedly in nostalgia, even forgoing an original score to insert winkingly reworked versions of ’90s pop hits made temporarily ubiquitous...Where Silverstone brought a sort of knowing dizziness to the spoiled teenager’s mix of narcissism and genuine good intentions, Cameron is more conventionally ingenuous...Heckerling and Hanggi milk the material...for laughs and general merriment, abetted by Devine’s kinetic, jubilant choreography.”
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“The verdict is: Whatever...The project certainly seemed like a good idea...What’s on stage...Is a pretty good argument for why not. Heckerling seems far too close to her original material, and far too unfamiliar with what makes a ’90s spoof work in 2018...That’s not to say it’s all bad...Cameron’s dynamite...The script...never achieves any lift...Worse are the songs...The lyrics are awful...Ultimately, 'Clueless'...can’t help feeling like a let’s-put-on-a-show college pageant."
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