Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical at the Other Palace

Mean Girls meets Gossip Girl in this deliciously provocative tale of lust, revenge and downright bitchiness.

If you’ve seen the cult classic Cruel Intentions (1999), you’ll know it’s a story oozing with sex and devilish conceit. This dark, comic drama follows step-siblings Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian (Ryan Phillippe) in their twisted and incestuous wager of sexual conquest. Annette (Reese Witherspoon), a proclaimed virgin and criticiser of premarital sex, becomes the pursuit of promiscuous playboy Sebastian. However, Sebastian soon becomes a victim of his own selfishness as he bites off more than he can chew when attempting to seduce Annette. FYI, revenge is best served steaming hot.

Based on the 1782 sensation novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, the film wouldn’t be the first (or the last) to revamp a classical novel for modern-day audiences. One only has to look as far as Jane Austen’s collected works; Material Girls (2006) is based on Sense and Sensibility, while Clueless (1995) takes Emma into 20^th-century Beverly Hills. Another sharp teen rom-com, Easy A (2010), shows a reenactment of the ongoing hypocrisy that comes with the gendered rules of sex as explored in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In turns out, when pop culture meets high literature, you’re left with a coming-of-age, teen comedy comfort classic.

The musical stays true to the film, costumes and all, replicating each scene and reiterating the script, whilst weaving in 90s hits that defined the decade. You don’t have to be a 90s kid to recognise such tunes as the era is being rediscovered by a new generation, from the collegiate prep wardrobe to the hip-hop and contemporary R&B nostalgia.

Some musical standouts from the show, including their accompanying over-the-top and cheesy pop video-inspired dance routines, include seductive chart-topper Genie in a Bottle, sang so flirtatiously pitch perfect by Kathryn (Rhianna-Louise McCaulsky) and Sebastian (Daniel Bravo) it makes it hard to remember who to root for. As well as I’ll Make Love to You performed by Cecile (Rose Galbraith), for whom calling “stupid is an insult to those actually qualified to be called such a thing”.

Karaoke favourite Wannabe is also belted out as a duet by Sebastian’s very queer right-hand man Blaine (Nathan Lorainey-Dineen) and closeted football jock trope Greg (Barney Wilkinson). As the narrative plays with sexual desire in many forms, it would have been exciting to see this modernised further for today’s audience, with Greg and Blaine’s cartoonish romance openly declared and Kathryn and Cecile allowed to further explore their sexualities (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Selma Blair’s girl-on-girl kiss rightly received Best Kiss at the 2000 VMAs and presented masses of queer 90s girls with a sexual awakening). Kathryn’s monologue on chastised female promiscuity still rings true today, but as when we saw the sensation novel revamped into a 90s classic, the musical had the potential to give this twisted plot another refresh.

However, the musical fully embraces the 90s backdrop as a transformative decade, with its electric music, enduring fashion trends and nostalgic movies and TV shows – and therefore celebrates an era that can only be described as nothing less than iconic.

Olivia Gardener
Images: Pamela Raith

Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical is at the Other Palace from 30^th January until 14^th April 2024. For further information or to book visit the theatre’s website here.