Experience The Magic of Clueless at Colonel Saab’s Theatrical Dining Night
There are few more pleasant ways to spend an evening than taking in dinner and a show in the heart of London. How I love it. So I was excited to hear about the release of the new Clueless musical and the collaboration taking place with one of our favourite Indian restaurants, Colonel Saab, just off Trafalgar Square.
The musical marks the 30th anniversary of the hit 90s movie, Clueless, which starred Alicia Silverstone (makes me feel old) and also the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Clueless is loosely based on Austen’s novel Emma – a story of the (somewhat disastrous) matchmaking antics of said Emma and, in the case of the movie (and musical) Cher Horowitz, a popular and fashionable high school student in Beverly Hills.
We start our evening at Colonel Saab for their Clueless-inspired menu. It’s great value at £60, which includes an amuse bouche, cocktail and three-course meal with choices of starter and main. All the dishes pay homage to the musical which has an original score by singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. It’s fun reading the menu with its quirkily named dishes.
Our Chercules Signature Cocktail arrives – a refreshing blend of D’YAVOL vodka, lime and fresh raspberries – as we peruse the menu. For starters we share the ‘You’re a Virgin who Can’t Drive’ Anglo Indian madras-spiced pulled chicken cutlet and the ‘Makeover Montage’ a deliciously sweet and spicy crispy aloo tikki with a trio of sauces. For mains it’s a silken-sauced ‘Paul Rudd Never Ages’ butter chicken and we finish with ‘Cher’s Perfect Match’ – a Bengali cheesecake.
Our delightful dining experience in the early evening gives us plenty of time to take the five-minute stroll to the nearby Trafalgar Theatre.
The show is energetic, funny and very faithful to the original film which I loved as I’m possibly one of its biggest fans. It also cleverly transports you back to the 90s when hair was bigger and everything seemed less complicated – or perhaps that’s just me?
It’s a fun night out with some great original songs, superb dancing, lots of 90s slang (As If! even gets its own song) and a really great performance from Emma Flynn as Cher, who discovers she doesn’t know as much about people or love as she thought. It’s a huge role, it seems like she’s on stage most of the time – yet her tireless energy (and that of the rest of the cast) radiates out and it’s catching.
If you’re looking for an enjoyable night out that will leave you with a smile on your face, this Colonel Saab/Clueless collaboration is just the ticket.
Colonel Saab, Trafalgar Square – 42 William IV St, London WC2N
Words by Sandy Cadiz-Smith