'Why Am I So Single?' review — the 'SIX' creators are back with a fabulously entertaining and surprisingly personal musical

Read our review of Why Am I So Single?, starring Jo Foster and Leesa Tulley, now in performances at the Garrick Theatre to 13 February 2025.

Few writers make a debut as sensational as the world-conquering SIX. The big question is: what else can co-creators Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss conjure up? The hilariously meta-theatrical and surprisingly personal answer is the semi-autobiographical Why Am I So Single?, which confirms this pair as exciting fresh voices in the musical theatre landscape.

Cheekily, Marlow and Moss address their dilemma directly in the story, which is led by their avatars, besties Oliver (Jo Foster) and Nancy (Leesa Tulley). They’re freaking out about having to write their “big fancy musical”, and instead spend every night in Oliver’s flat bemoaning their terrible dating lives. But wait: might that actually be the perfect subject for a West End show?

The hugely enjoyable result is a production packed with knowing winks to the audience: fourth-wall-breaking asides, quips about the structure of the show itself, and, happily for musical theatre geeks, tons of stagey references. Characters based on real people are fictionalised with groan-worthy names from Oliver!, such as their agent “Faye Ginn”, or their pal Art – as in “Full Dodger”.

The score takes a similar approach to SIX with smart, witty pastiches of well-known artists and musical genres. Foster dons a pink gown to give us a version of Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend”, while a very funny tirade about how heteronormative culture like comfort-watch Friends warped the duo’s psyches becomes an Avril Lavigne grunge-punk rock-out. (You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a drag Rachel playing air guitar.)

There’s an insanely catchy club track illustrating Oliver’s frustrating week of last-minute cancelled dates, punctuated by an ensemble member doing a sassy point with that ominous “ding” notification; Ellen Kane’s inventive choreography is absolutely terrific throughout. People wheel shopping trolleys in a song slamming grim “meat market” dating apps, while Art’s complaint about phone addiction builds into a brilliant tap number.

Good as all these songs are, there are too many here – although I’d be sad to lose bonkers tangents like the operatic panic over a bee. But, since this is a full book musical rather than a SIX-style concert, it would help to have more breathing space for the raw, revelatory numbers, such as Nancy’s grief-fuelled ballad or Oliver’s electrifying, confessional “Disco Ball”.

Foster and Tulley are fantastic at delivering both the camp humour and these big emotional moments. Their characters’ arcs are fairly simple, though (essentially she’s too obsessive about romantic love, and he’s scared to commit). If we reached that point of self-knowledge faster, Moss and Marlow could further deepen elements like how the non-binary Oliver’s internalised homophobia affects their cautiously explored gender identity.

The energetic ensemble are great value, popping up as everything from potential dates to eye-rolling pieces of furniture in Oliver’s flat. Noah Thomas is a standout as the emotionally evolved Artie, but this is a strong company effort, well marshalled by Moss and co-director Kane. Moi Tran’s flexible, illustration-style design zips us between locations and accommodates speedy flashbacks.

With its constant blurring of IRL and online lives, and its mix of nostalgia and rebellion, the show speaks specifically to the contemporary anxieties of Gen Z, but there’s also a thematic universality. Most cheeringly, it offers a robust counterargument to idealised romance in suggesting that friendship is just as important – a message that should resonate with all generations.

One friendship we can certainly celebrate is that between Marlow and Moss. This more ambitious but still blisteringly entertaining second collaboration suggests they are just getting started on their creative journey, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Why Am I So Single? is at the Garrick Theatre through 13 February 2025. Book Why Am I So Single? tickets on London Theatre.

Photo credit: Why Am I So Single? (Photographs by Danny Kaan)