1990s teen hit Clueless has been brought to the stage of London’s West End by the film’s original writer and director Amy Heckerling, who has focused on keeping the 90s theme integral to the story.
Heckerling told BBC News that she has “no interest in being modern,” and has stuck closely to the original story. The 1995 film, inspired by Jane Austen’s novel Emma and starring Alicia Silverstone as lead character Cher and took $88million at the box office. It was credited with inspiring similar teen school dramas including Mean Girls, Gossip Girl and Legally Blonde.
And she admitted neither the original film nor the musical are documents of real LA life for most citizens. Heckerling told the BBC she wished the original film had been a musical, because “”there were natural moments in the script where characters could have sung.”
Scottish singer KT Tunstall has composed an original score for the show, and she told the BBC she was inspired by the original film soundtrack. She called the new score “a mixtape of all your favourite 90s bangers.”
She said: “You really have to think about whether a song fits the structure and flow of the story and whether it actually helps the audience understand the narrative better.
Besides the story and music, the show sticks with the 1990s theme when it comes to the fashions. Characters are seen carrying pagers, listening to their music on Walkman stereos, omnipresent in that era.
The original film also starred Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd in his debut role. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert Lawrence.
