Why Am I So Single? – Garrick Theatre, London

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s new feelgood musical Why Am I So Single? takes over the Garrick Theatre. Hands down best anthropomorphic furniture I’ve seen all year.

Why Am I So Single?

Why didn’t they reply to my message?  If I send a follow up now, do I look too needy?  Why do I keep going for the ones I know I don’t really want? Who amongst us hasn’t wondered something along these lines? What we’re ultimately wondering is: why am I so single?  If you, like me, can conjure up feelings of doubt, frustration and disappointment in response to these questions, never fear: I have got just the West End musical for you!

Why Am I So Single? is Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss’s follow up to their hit musical Six (with Moss also directing).  The pressure to come up with their next big thing would have been intense. And in Why Am I So Single? they have found a formula which takes some of the key elements that made Six so popular on both the West End and Broadway, but steers them in a new direction.  Funny? Check.  Uses storytelling to make big themes accessible? Check.  Big song and dance numbers? Big check.  Borrows famous characters from history? Not so much. This is a story on a more relatable scale.

Instead of Henry VIII’s wives, this time we have Nancy and Oliver.  In a metatheatrical move (one of many), they are trying to write their next Big Fancy Musical.  But, more pressingly, they are also dissecting the latest in a series of bad dates.  Nancy’s, this time.  Her ex’s colleague.  She cried.  But at least he showed up? Maybe it’s the prosecco that inspires this next brainwave: why not get to the bottom of why they are both so single?  What are they doing wrong?

What follows is very funny, and pushes the boundaries of what I thought was possible for a musical that takes place largely in a living room.  Let’s start with our leads.  Jo Foster plays Oliver.  They are charismatic and funny.  But do they use that acerbic humour to stop anyone getting close?  Nancy (Leesa Tulley) would say so.  But who is she to talk? She’s so focused on filling the role of Nancy’s Boyfriend it hardly matters who the latest candidate is.  No wonder things aren’t working out.  There’s more to the story, of course, as it unfolds over the course of the evening.  Foster and Tulley have great chemistry as they steer Nancy and Oliver’s friendship through the treacherous shallows of honesty and vulnerability, a critically important factor in this tale of how love doesn’t always come in the form of the big romantic moment.

Love Takes Different Forms

Before going further I must also pay tribute to Why Am I So Single?‘s wonderful ensemble.  How can you fit an ensemble into a living room, you ask? The magic of musical theatre! And some of the most whimsical costumes (Max Johns) I’ve seen anywhere. 

In fact the whole design is very clever.  As Nancy and Oliver are still working out their Big Fancy Musical, it follows that they are also trying out different musical genres and the settings that accompany them.  And Moi Tran’s set constantly pivots from living room to club, disco, different club, embodiment of social media, café, Marilyn Monroe-esque number, and another club. Different design elements transcend the confines space of Oliver’s living room, so we always feel grounded no matter the flight of fancy. And it’s a comfortable space. The complete lack of fourth wall draws us into that cosy feeling of being with a friend you can be yourself around. Drowning your sorrows in prosecco and putting the world to rights. I’m sure you’ve been there. My experiences certainly would have been improved by a jazzy number performed by my furniture come to life.

Speaking of the complete lack of fourth wall, this is another element which makes Why Am I So Single? successful. This is musical theatre for musical theatre lovers. There’s a running gag about the musical Oliver!, including in the characters’ names. Nancy and Oliver (get it?) and Marlow and Moss also structure their musical by parodying musical theatre tropes. They deliberately jump around genres, packing in more musical numbers than you would expect. Including what is already one of my favourite tap dance numbers. Even the most mundane of events becomes a hilarious and dramatic cliff-hanger to close the first half. It’s tongue-in-cheek, but it’s a very warm sort of humour. Nancy and Oliver draw us in so we are part of the joke, no matter whether we live and breathe musical theatre or are new to it.

And this, I think, echoes the emotional heart of Why Am I So Single? It’s a tale about loving yourself, and recognising that love takes different forms. But it’s also a love letter to friendships between women and queer people. Nancy and Oliver haven’t had the same experiences in life, and they don’t always fully understand one another. But they love each other, and sometimes love the other more than they are able to love themselves. May we all have such people in our lives. That Marlow and Moss have managed to recreate this feeling of love and acceptance in a way that an audience can feel shows why they are such a good duo.

That’s not to say there’s nothing I would change here. There’s so much happening in some of the bigger musical numbers I struggled to make out the lyrics. Some audibly push the cast’s vocal ranges to their limits. And one or two songs I thought could do with a tiny trim. But I came away feeling uplifted, and humming some of the tunes to myself as I headed home. This Big Fancy Musical is an excellent choice for a night out in the West End.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Why Am I So Single? booking until 13 February 2025. More info and tickets here.