Why Am I So Single? Review

September 12, 2024

Why Am I So Single? Review

27th August 2024 – 13th February 2025

Hold a mirror up to contemporary culture, throw in some songs and pepper with digital dating gags and you’ve got a colourful new musical called Why Am I So Single? Multi award-winning writing duo Lucy Moss and Toby Marlow of Six the Musical fame have been working together since their time at Cambridge University and, according to their programme notes, travelled to a writer’s retreat in Connecticut in 2019 to start work on their latest project. Throw Kenny Wax MBE into the mix along with a team of other talented producers and you can understand why there is so much hype around this long-awaited new show.

“It is wacky and refreshingly different to what we’re accustomed to in the West End”

There can be no denying that Foster and Tulley are the stars of this show and have such a wonderful natural rapport and strong stage presence, but they are also supported by an immensely talented ensemble, with standout performance from Noah Thomas (He/Him) who plays the level-headed Artie, bringing some rare moments of focus to this otherwise frenetic performance.

It is wacky and refreshingly different to what we’re accustomed to in the West End, making brave and bold creative decisions on all fronts and challenging views on identity and sexuality, but in all the razzamatazz writers Moss and Marlow seem to have forgotten one vital element – the story.

The show touches on some serious and important themes including loss, rejection and being outcast by society but there is no depth, and despite the lengthy first act, we never have time to absorb the impact before another random song is thrown in.

The numbers are impressive but there is little relevance to the plot and some, we have heard before. The oompah bass line to Meet Market had been previously used by them in SIX The Musical’s Haus of Holbein, and 8 Dates’s chorus was a clear copy of Jennifer Lopez’s On the Floor – perhaps on purpose, who knows. The end of act one sees a life size bee buzzing around the stage for Interlude in B Minor, with cast members scattering in cleverly choreographed terror. It was very entertaining but felt completely out of place. Another song about the relationship of Ross and Rachel from ‘90’s sitcom Friends (I Got Off The Plane), seemed to be included for the sole purpose of criticising the show as heteronormative. Note to Marlow and Moss: be careful you don’t ostracise a whole generation. Foster’s Marylin Monroe moment was executed with style and pzazz but again, it disrupted a potentially meaningful moment.

The show is a series of numbers and recurring gags (mainly about Oliver!) loosely stitched together. Tulley and Foster regularly break the fourth wall to interact with the audience and at times it feels like we’ve wandered into a West End cabaret instead of the Garrick Theatre.

For all the excitement and creativity which has fuelled this production, sadly it fails on too many fronts.