Cruel Intentions the Musical is a musical adaptation of the film, Cruel Intentions. It’s definitely an adult-themed show, but it’s fun and also has some nice romantic elements. Here’s my Cruel Intentions the Musical theatre review.
Overview of Cruel Intentions the Musical
Cruel Intentions the Musical is a musical filled with some of the biggest hit songs from the 90’s. It’s based on the film, Cruel Intentions. The musical follows the same plot as the film, with fun 90’s hit songs throughout. Most people who are going to see Cruel Intentions the Musical will have already seen the film, so my Cruel Intentions the Musical theatre review shouldn’t give many plot spoilers if you’ve already seen the film.
Cruel Intentions the Musical follows the story of teenage step-siblings Sebastian and Kathryn. They both pride themselves on their bad reputation at school. Kathryn has recently been dumped by Court. She asks Sebastian to seduce and sleep with Cecile, an innocent girl who is Court’s new girlfriend. Kathryn promises Cecile’s mum that she’ll take care of Cecile – but instead starts to lead her astray, teaching her how to kiss and encouraging her to explore her sexuality with Sebastian.
Sebastian and Kathryn come up with a bet. If Sebastian can get Annette to sleep with him, then Kathryn will let him sleep with her – the only woman he’s not allowed. Annette is the daughter of the headmaster at their school, who has written articles about how she plans not to have sex with anyone until marriage. Sebastian starts his plan to get close to her.
There are other characters and intertwined plots throughout the show as well. Blaine and Greg are a gay couple – but Blaine is insistent that their love must be kept a secret, as he doesn’t want the school to know he’s gay. Cecile also falls for her music teacher, Ronald. But when her mother finds their love letters, she bans Ronald from seeing Cecile.
Sebastian and Annette fall in love
Sebastian continues to seduce Cecile, and also Annette. However, as he gets to know Annette more, he starts to develop real feelings for her. And she starts to like him as well. Sebastian ends up declining Annette when she says she’s ready to sleep with him, because he feels guilty about his plot to seduce her. But then, when she leaves, he follows her to the train station and they declare their love.
Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has fallen in love with Annette, so he no longer wants to sleep with her. But Kathryn makes him think he’ll always be the ‘bad boy’ and can’t have a real relationship. Sebastian tells Annette that it was all a game – but then he regrets this. He gives Annette his diary, to prove he’s now being honest.
The show ends with tragedy. Sebastian is hit by a speeding car, as he pushes Annette out of the way. Annette holds him as he dies. When school begins, Kathryn begins to give a speech about her brother. But his speech is interrupted, and she realises that Cecile and Annette have published Sebastian’s diaries – so now the whole school knows her true colours.
What I liked about Cruel Intentions the Musical
I enjoyed Cruel Intentions the Musical. It’s definitely an adult show. It’s rated as a 15, and this age certificate feels appropriate. If you haven’t seen the film of Cruel Intentions, then you could be in for quite a shock when you see Cruel Intentions the Musical!
Adult themes in Cruel Intentions the Musical
I thought that Cruel Intentions the Musical dealt with the adult themes well. It was a funny show, that was a bit risky and irreverent but still funny. It’s definitely not a show that you’ll want to go to watch with your parents. But with a group of friends, it can be good fun.
Cruel Intentions the Musical deals with a lot of adult themes – sex, seducing girls who haven’t had sex before, drugs, gay romance (and taboos around homosexuality), lesbian kisses, mild nudity (we see Sebastian fully naked from behind), sort-of-incest, racism…the list goes on. But I think the show has a really good balance of dealing with these issues in a funny way. Many of these themes aren’t particularly funny on their own. But Cruel Intentions the Musical takes a light-hearted approach, so it’s funny as well as being a bit shocking and risky at times.
The romance theme in Cruel Intentions the Musical
Cruel Intentions the Musical is predominantly a funny, naughty show. But there’s also a romance theme, between Sebastian and Annette. I feel like Cruel Intentions the Musical makes more of this romance than the film does. So as well as being funny and irreverent, there’s a softer side to this musical too.
I love a soppy, romantic story. So I really liked that this musical had a strong romantic theme. There were some really lovely, tender moments between Sebastian and Annette. A highlight was the song ‘Colorblind’, when Sebastian runs after Annette to the train station. Even if you find the risky elements of this show a bit much, you can still enjoy the love story. The musical really showed Sebastian’s inner turmoil, as he struggled with realising he had real feelings for a girl, and what this would do to his reputation. It’s the classic love story, of a bad boy turned good because he falls in love.
Good songs, singing and dancing
Cruel Intentions the Musical had lots of good songs. It’s filled with hits from the 90s. So there’s a good chance that you’ll know a lot of, or most of, the songs in the show.
As well as enjoying ‘Colorblind’, I also really enjoyed the song ‘Kiss Me’. It’s in the musical in the scene where Kathryn encourages Cecile to try kissing, and practise on her. It’s a funny but also kind of nice moment in the show, especially when Kathryn and Annette are joined on stage by the gay couple, Blaine and Greg, and also Sebastian and Annette. The song ‘Kiss me’ was in my head the whole journey home, and I’ve been listening to it on repeat since getting home. It was a great version of a great song.
Other songs that I enjoyed included ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, which was sung by Cecile and her music teacher. There was also the Spice Girls hit ‘Wannabe’, sung by Greg and Blaine – although in some productions of this show, this song is replaced by the Backstreet Boys hit ‘I want it that way’. I really enjoyed all of Greg and Blaine’s scenes – especially Greg’s camp performance.
I thought Sebastian and Kathryn were both excellent singers, with great voices. And I enjoyed Kathryn’s performance of ‘Brooks Bitch’ in the second half. It was mixed with Sebastian singing ‘Losing my religion’ – both of their voices were excellent in these songs, with lots of power. Annette also had a great voice as well. And all were great actors and dancers as well.
What I wasn’t so sure about
I really enjoyed Cruel Intentions the Musical. I wasn’t sure what I was going to think of it, but I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought. But there were still a few elements of the show that I wasn’t so sure about.
Songs not fitting with the plot
Although I enjoyed a lot of the songs in this show, I sometimes felt like the song didn’t quite fit with the plot. I understand that this musical doesn’t have original songs – so it doesn’t have songs that are specifically written for that plot moment. But I still felt like the song choices could have been more linked to the plot.
One example is the song ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’. It’s at a time in the show where Cecile is falling in love with her music teacher, so it feels like there should be a love song at this moment. But instead, after the first verse of the song, Cecile and Ronald are jumping around the stage to this upbeat song. It’s a good song, and I enjoyed the song. But it didn’t feel like it fully fitted with the scene in the show at that time.
Cecile playing the role very child-like
Another aspect of this show that I wasn’t sure about was how Cecile played her character very child-like. It felt quite disturbing, when the main plot for her character was her discovering her sexuality and having sex for the first time. I understand that he character is meant to be naive. But it still felt a bit jarring for her to be playing her character so child-like, with a baby-ish high pitched voice. It was especially disturbing with her quote ‘is it supposed to hurt this much’ after her first time having sex with Sebastian. A line like that really shouldn’t be said in such a child-like way. I was ok with all of the risky, irreverent aspects of the show – but making Cecile so child-like felt a step too far for me.
Would I recommend Cruel Intentions the Musical
I enjoyed Cruel Intentions the Musical – more than I thought I would. My Cruel Intentions the Musical theatre review is positive, so I would recommend this musical. However, I would recommend seeing the film or at least researching a bit about this show before you go, so you’re not too shocked at the content. In the interval, several audience members seemed quite shocked and a few left at the interval – so this show isn’t for everyone. But if you take it with the light-hearted humour which is intended, then it’s a funny show that deal with a lot of adult themes in a mostly humorous way.
I think you can see Cruel Intentions the Musical through two angles. The first angle is seeing it as funny, sexy, naughty, and shocking. But the second angle is that it’s a love story of a reformed bad boy who finds love. Both angles of the show are good, and with a great soundtrack and great performances from the actors, it’s an enjoyable evening out.
Hope you enjoyed my Cruel Intentions the Musical theatre review! Check out my other theatre reviews for more shows in the West End, across the UK and the world.
