Why Am I So Single? - Garrick

I don’t know, I think it’s deliberately shapeless and baggy! I was sat in the centre of the second row and it was terrific!

It's lazy. Six fans might let them get away with that, but I doubt reviewers and anyone coming to it who isn't already a fan will be impressed. The pacing is off, half the jokes don't seem to land, and they simultaneously insult the audience and half the West End. Too much of it feels like a mistake. There are a couple of moments that work really well, but I think that's largely down to the actors. If this lasts long enough to see a cast change, it risks being unbearable if they lose Jo and Noah.

I wonder whether this might, in fact, be a chamber pieces with a cast of 4 or 5 (or indeed 6...) that has been overextended for whatever reason.

Maybe they should just stick to writing shows for Six performers!

Saw this tonight completely cold (I haven't even read most of this thread) and LOVED alot of it (the songs, the comedy, the performances) but felt the story a little undeveloped and the framing device misjudged.

I rate it 3 and a half stars, and voted 3 stars in the poll.

Some spoilers follow. . .

The songs are SO catchy and so fun. I was bopping along without any prior exposure to any of them. I saw some audience members singing the songs as I left, so they are already catching on. I know that by the third listen to these songs, I'd probably be singing them too lol.

Further, the main characters are SO endearing, and the cast who embody them are part and parcel of that. You could put Jo Foster's mischievous performative Oliver and Leesa Tulley's sweet silly Nancy into any buddy comedy storyline and you'd love them together. They would run riot in a sequel to Kathy and Stella, as rival crime podcasters, for example.

Unfortunately, the story told here is never sure of whether it wants to be a story (when the fluctuating friendship dynamic between the principals is foregrounded, it's gripping) or simply an anthology of generic love problems.

But the worst flaw of the piece is the framing device, which has the two as writers creating a West End musical. Just imagine any buddy comedy duo you love: Romy and Michelle, Bill and Ted, Laurel and Hardy, etc, etc, and now imagine I tell you that the framing device is that Romy and Michelle, etc, are actually millionaire writers with a Hollywood contract to write and star in their own show. . . suddenly, you are torn: do I hate and resent their mega-success or do I love and empathise with all their comic human foibles? Are these foibles even believable in the context of mega-success? Do I buy these klutzy loveable personas knowing these characters actually have a contract to fill the Garrick? For me, this framing device is an alienating own goal.

That said, the Oliver and Nancy elements of the framing device are persistently funny and do work.

Luckily, the two leads are so silly and so funny and so loveable together that I soon forgot the framing device and I resented it's return at the end lol.

The depth to the piece comes from the outsider they/them queer status of Jo Foster's Oliver, which crept up on me in the second half and had me welling up.

So, for the three quarters of the running time that I was thoroughly entertained, I'd give this 3 and a half stars, held back by the framing device and the refusal to commit wholeheartedly to a full storyline for these ultra-endearing characters.

PS: The show ended at 10:15pm tonight.

Saw this today and loved it. It’s tuneful, witty, engaging, touching and a proper first class original musical comedy. It’s fresh and vibrant. If you are expecting another Six then you will be mistaken. It’s youthful and original but more old school in so much as it has a well acted book with memorable songs that advance the story and at least two/three numbers that ‘stop the show’ in a wonderful way. It will of course be easy to pick it all apart for being narcissistic, out of touch, gen z shallow (which they are certainly not nor is this show) and in need of a trim. And some will find the set role playing by the supporting cast as misguided. But it’s the brightest new musical I’ve see. Certainly the best by comparison to Broadway or in the current West End. Not least as it’s funny and not earnest.

The audience was also interesting. The majority, when I went, were women in parties and older that you’ll find at Six. Arriving they were raucous and, I feared, were expecting something more like Six or a jukebox musical. However because right from the get go you are hearing new songs (great orchestra) and a plot being set up in a very entertaining way it is clear that you are being asked to invest your time and concentration and that nothing coming is going to be so predictable. Besides which, with such a winning young cast - all truly talented performers at the top of their game - the audience never stood a chance but to be swept along by it all.

I hope it enjoys a long and successful run and is seen by more and more audiences. I think it will be remembered as a show that secures the reputation of the writers beyond being one hit wonders. My only negative is that it deserves to be in a better theatre than the poor old Garrick. A lick of paint can’t cover up how unsuitable this building is for theatre in this day and age. The precipitous balcony looms above dark and closed off and the rumbling of Northern line trains passing below every few minutes remains ever present.

Saw this last week as a 30 year old I agree with the poster above in that this has been written for gen z by millenials. It is perfectly in tune with gen z, I can see that but I really appreciated it too. My parents, in their 60s also did. We’re not the typical audience for this & snippets of the humour were perhaps lost on them but for the most part we all laughed and cried at all the right places. I think despite not being the target audience we could all relate to the surprising depth of this show, the themes of grief, identity and most resoundingly friendship are universal.

I personally love the bee song?! To me the bee represents all the topics they’re afraid of talking about which lends them nicely into act 2 where they start to finally unpick them together having conquered the bee. But maybe that’s just me…

The cast of this show are young, vibrant and exceptional. Jo and Leesa were funny, charming and poignant. It is a mammoth of a show for them both and they are handling it expertly. The ensemble were full out, funny and incredibly talented, there isn't one weak link. There are also some great musical theatre numbers in this show, Discoball was a real highlight!

The script does need tightening up & I would agree Ross & Rachel needs shorting significantly. Otherwise I’m excited to see this again after opening night, I enjoyed the silly of this show paired with the incredible amount of depth.

I do have my doubts this will be a long runner, Six grew organically through Edinburgh and running one night a week at the Arts before a full run in 2019 whereas WAISS had one workshop and is now in the West End and the response so far seemed mixed.

It's not to say Marlow and Moss don't have talent because they clearly do but I do wonder if having the same producers involved may not have been a good thing for them for their next show. Creatives often suffer creatively when there is no one who can nix ideas and suggest new ones to improve a show.

Is this a thing now in musicals? - it'll be my third, after 'Oklahoma!' and 'Sunset Boulevard'. Perhaps it's parody?

I don't actually remember any strobe, haze or blackout... And I don't think I fell asleep in the middle. Maybe they've already scaled back their ambitions.

I don't know what this 'Bee song' is about, but if you can't stop til you get enough of bees check out The Other Palace in October!

24 October – Just Be(e)
Book, Music, Lyrics: Carlo Bosticco, Music, Arrangements: Matt Randall
"Life is hard in an industrial Hive!
Rebellious young bee Melissa can’t stand slaving away daily to make honey for the ‘Gods’."

It's part of 'Musical Bites' - lunchtime readings of new musicals.

All very zeitgeisty.

This could have been a one act play

What day(s)do the alternates do?