Pixie Lott's new Marilyn Monroe West End show is savaged as 'dismal' and 'laughably awful' by theatre critics in a series of brutal reviews

Pixie Lott's return to the West End has been savaged by critics, who have called her performance of Marilyn Monroe 'laughably awful'.The singer, 35, has swapped her pop roots for a turn as the Hollywood icon in a new production titled Who Killed Marilyn? at the Emerald Theatre.The play, written by Sharleen Cooper Cohen and directed by Philip William McKinley, sets out to examine the woman behind the legend, revisiting Monroe's life and her death at the age of 36, which was officially ruled a probable suicide from a barbiturate overdose. The play leans into the conspiracy theories that have dogged her passing for over 60 years, from claims she was murdered over her alleged affairs with President John F Kennedy and brother Robert, to theories of an organised crime mob cover-up.After press night last week, the reviews have been pouring in and they are all unanimous in their critique.The Daily Mail's Patrick Marmion awarded the production just two stars, noting that despite shining a light on Marilyn's demise, the play has 'all the drama of a Wikipedia entry'. Pixie Lott's return to the West End has been savaged by critics, who have called her performance of Marilyn Monroe 'laughably awful'He wrote: 'For all the plot's febrile fiction, Lott makes a good fist of her role in Philip Wm. McKinley's zestless production, despite overusing her famously breathy, rising intonation famous from films such as Some Like It Hot.'She is also over-dependent on flirtatiously running hands down her thighs while bending legs and winking. Such moves only reinforce the Marilyn myth and never really get behind the mask.' The Standard's Nick Curtis went one step further in a review titled: 'If I could give it zero stars, I would'. Calling it a 'tawdry and irredeemably awful trawl through Marilyn Monroe’s life', Curtis writes: 'Lott seems to have only two modes of expression as Marilyn – eyelash-batting flirtation and screaming anxiety... on this evidence she shouldn’t give up her day job as a pop star.'Clive Davis for The Times calls the play 'laughably awful' in another one star review, writing: 'The only mystery here is how this comically inept conspiracy theory drama ever made it to the London stage.' The Guardian also couldn't muster up enough positives to get above a one star write-up. Arifa Akbar says of Lott's co-stars: 'The other performances are also underwhelming, with the men in her life played with a wooden uniformity and no uncanny resemblances.''A sex scene with JFK ends with his backache and appears like accidental farce. The whiff of drama school end-of-year show persists.'Fiona Mountford for The Telegraph decides that director Philip William McKinley is most 'culpable' as he 'oversees a production that is almost entirely devoid of energy' before concluding that 'maybe it is time to let Marilyn rest in peace now'. The singer, 35, has swapped her pop roots for a turn as the Hollywood icon in a new production titled Who Killed Marilyn? at the Emerald TheatreJulia Rank for WhatsOnStage gives the production two stars and concedes that 'Lott does her best with what she has to work with in her bouffant bobbed wig (physically, she would be more convincing as Princess Diana than Monroe), though there is overreliance on the breathy voice and coquettish mannerisms.''Her lengthy final monologue to her psychiatrist is handled capably, granting her some dramatic dignity.' Time Out's Andrzej Lukowski concludes his review by writing: 'It is not too far from the vibes of a trashy true-crime doc, and some people will doubtless enjoy it on those terms. But it’s simply not a good drama.'Lott has been hyping up her role in spite of the reviews, recently gushing she was 'absolutely thrilled' to be taking on the role. 'I have always loved Marilyn, she is such a fascinating, timeless legend, and bringing her complex story to life on this beautiful stage and being her every night is an absolute dream come true for me.' For Lott, who has been married to model Oliver Cheshire since 2022, with whom she shares two sons, this is her second foray into theatre (pictured together on press night)For Lott, who has been married to model Oliver Cheshire since 2022, with whom she shares two sons, this is her second foray into theatre.The star, who shot to fame aged just 18 when debut single Mama Do (Uh Oh, Uh Oh) hit number one in 2009, played Holly Golightly in the West End's Breakfast at Tiffany's in 2016 to positive reviews. The mother-of-two, who has also been back in the charts this summer with new single Dance Like No One's Watching, is joined by a seasoned West End cast, including Benjamin Dilloway, who plays her third husband, playwright Arthur Miller.Who Killed Marilyn? runs at the Emerald Theatre until October 29.