Ilana Glazer and Kumail Nanjiani Join Issa Rae in ‘Clueless’ Live Read at This Summer’s Clusterfest
It’s been a quarter century since Amy Heckerling’s classic comedy “Clueless” first hit screens, and to celebrate the occasion, the San Francisco comedy festival Clusterfest is bringing in some major help. In a one-night-only event this summer, Issa Rae will headline a live read of Heckerling’s script, alongside a cast that also includes Ilana Glazer, Amanda Seales, Kumail Nanjiani, and Sinbad.
Rae will take on the role of Cher, made famous in the original film by Alicia Silverstone. Seales is on board as Cher’s best friend Dionne, while Glazer will play Tai, the new girl at Cher’s high school. Glazer’s former “Broad City” castmate Arturo Castro will appear as Christian, Cher’s would-be boyfriend, while Sinbad will read the part of Cher’s father, Mel. Nanjiani will take on Paul Rudd’s role from the original movie, Cher’s former stepbrother Josh.
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Chris Redd, Jaboukie Young-White, Jeff Ross, Langston Kerman, and Quinta Brunson round out the additional roles in this production, while Janet Varney will handle narration and stage directions.
“Clueless” is one of two films getting the live read treatment, joined by fellow ’90s classic comedy “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.” The Clusterfest production of the latter will be led by Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova in the title roles, alongside Peaches Christ, Matteo Lane, Nicole Byer, and narration from Guy Branum. This follows last year’s production of “Spice World,” also headlined by notable alums from “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”
This will be the third year for the Bay Area festival, which was first held in summer 2017. That year, Glazer and Abbi Jacobson joined a list of comedians for the first Clusterfest live read, a 25th anniversary tribute to “Wayne’s World” that also included Varney, Chris Gethard, Ron Funches, John Michael Higgins, and Moshe Kasher. Tia Carrere also returned to play her role from the original film.
In addition to the pair of live reads, the 2019 lineup also includes sets from John Mulaney, Patton Oswalt and Tig Notaro, with live tapings of podcasts like My Favorite Murder and Comedy Bang! Bang!. Comedy Central Presents Clusterfest will run from June 21-23. Weekend and single-day tickets are available here.
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