Clueless, the Musical – The Pershing Square Signature Center, New York

Clockwise from top left: Ephie Aardema, Dove Cameron, Gilbert L. Bailey II and Zurin Villanueva in Clueless, The Musical at The Pershing Square Signature Center, New York. Picture: Monique Carboni

Clueless, the Musical continues at The Pershing Square Signature Center, New York until 12 January 2019.

Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Back in 1995, film director and writer Amy Heckerling had an iconic hit with her comedy of overindulged Beverly Hills teenagers, Clueless. It’s a movie, she said in a recent interview, she always felt should have been a musical, and now after years of trying, it is a musical. It’s not on the silver screen, however, but live on an Off-Broadway stage, courtesy of The New Group, one of New York’s smaller but pluckiest Off-Broadway producing companies.

For this musical version, Heckerling wrote the book, gathered up more than a score of pop songs from the 1990s and revised their lyrics to fit in with her storytelling. The director’s reins have been handed over to Kristin Hanggi, known primarily for her Tony-nominated guidance of Rock of Ages. Also hailing from Rock of Ages is choreographer Kelly Devine, more recently lauded for her work on Come from Away and Rocky.

The result is a youthful revel, smartly and lovingly put together with a satiric edge, one that should satisfy the film’s legion of fans. The bad news – well, maybe not so bad, but still a drawback – is that it comes in the wake of Mean Girls, another musical adaptation of a cherished movie detailing the psyches of girls in high school, which opened on Broadway just some 10 months ago.

This ladles on Clueless a certain sense of déjà vu, which detracts from being totally enchanted. Despite the exuberance of Devine’s choreography, that’s especially true in the production numbers in which the high school kids get together for their gyrating, aerobic to robotic dancing. (And yes, even before Mean Girls, there was Hairspray. And shortly coming to Broadway from a sold-out Off-Broadway run is another high school fantasia Be More Chill.)

You may find you asking yourself at certain moments, “What musical am I watching? Or hearing?”

True, Mean Girls sets itself in the present and has an original score, while Clueless takes place in the 1990s with a jukebox of tunes, but the music all has a similar bouncy pop sound.

At any rate, one of the saving graces of Clueless is the fun that it makes of its luxuriant ambience together with the appeal of its central character, Cher, not to be confused with the real-life Cher, who is the subject of a just-arrived Broadway musical entitled The Cher Show. Although a namesake, the Cher of Clueless is the teenage daughter of a stern but indulgent lawyer. Dove Cameron captures the sweetness of the girl, making her desire to be good and do good deeds (plot points inspired by Jane Austin’s Emma) seem genuine.

At the same time, Heckerling’s tangy writing, which also embraces Cher’s unbridled passion for designer labels, makes sure that it never dissolves into saccharine. We can laugh at Cher, laugh with her and like her a lot. Cameron also sings impressively and dances with the seemingly inexhaustible fervour that marks the entire company.

The plot takes us through Cher’s adventures and misadventures as she seeks to play Cupid for friends and even for herself. Her altruistic inclinations – or “benevolence buzz,” as she calls it – are heated up after she succeeds in lifting her grade in debate class by making private life more pleasant for the grumpy teacher Mr Hall.

She does this by hooking him up with science teacher Miss Geist, after Cher and her BFF Dionne redo her look. This leads to Cher taking under her wing the new girl in school, Tai, and finding the right boyfriend for her.

Things go awry, however, in a lot of different directions, and Cher realises in a moment of clarity that she was “totally clueless”. But never fear, she pulls herself together, gets involved in a letter-writing campaign to save the environment and finds her own true love with her smart older ex-stepbrother, college guy Josh. And things conclude with a celebratory singing of “We’re the kids in America! Oo Whoa!/Everybody live for the music-go-round.”

It bookends neatly with the show’s upbeat opening, with the ensemble joyously telling us: “It’s a beautiful life!/Yeah, alright!” And why not, when you can spend your time shopping designer malls, driving in expensive cars and dancing at parties, even though they may on occasion take place in the plebian “valley” rather than the tasteful surroundings of Beverly Hills?

In addition to Cameron, the 19-person cast includes a number of buoyant performances. Zurin Villanueva and Gilbert L. Bailey II are happily paired as Tai and her boyfriend Murray, easily finding the humour in the couple’s African-Americanness. As Josh, Dave Thomas Brown appealingly incorporates aspects of the nerd into an understated hunk, while Ephie Aardema takes us credibly through the transformations of Tai.

Among the male high schoolers, there are notable turns by Will Connolly as the class pothead, Justin Mortelliti as a potential heartthrob for Cher until it turns out he’s gay, and Brett Thiele as the good-looking rich kid with a touch of smarm.

In the adult realm, Chris Hoch scores with three expertly wrought characterisations: Cher’s father; the teacher Mr Hall, and Cher’s scared-to-death driving examiner. Megan Sikora does effective double duty as Miss Geist and gym teacher Ms Stoeger. The two have their big moment when caught up in amour, singing a rendition of Michael Bolton’s ‘How Am I Supposed to Live’.

The physical production is first-rate, with Beowulf Boritt’s set design, dominated by a swath of designer plaid, echoed smartly in Amy Clark’s costume design. Darrel Maloney’s projections add to the high spirits.

The music is pounded out vivaciously by the six-piece band with music director Matthew Smedal at the keyboard, perched upstage behind a flat which occasionally slides open to reveal them. The appropriately named Ethan Popp did the copious arrangements and orchestrations, and with Heckerling’s lyrics, the songs bound in an out of the narrative with ease.

In short, Clueless, the Musical may indeed be helpless when it comes to avoiding that sight feeling of redundancy. Still, it infatuates as a bright, expansive bubble of a musical.

       Ron Cohen