Legally Blonde

Elle “named after the magazine” Woods’ long standing boyfriend Warner Huntington III has just broken up with her prior to his leaving for Harvard. He doesn’t think she is serious enough about her future.  Following his departure Elle sees a wedding picture in a magazine of Warner’s brother and his new wife, a Vanderbilt.  Unlike Elle, she looks serious – the sort who “wears black when no-body’s dead”.  Elle assumes this must be the sort of girl Warner is looking for and contrives to get herself a place at Harvard to prove that she can be serious.  With a little help from her friends Elle wins over the admissions officers and together with her dog Bruiser travels east from LA to study at Law School. Once there however she has trouble fitting in.  Everyone seems so serious and they make it obvious they do not approve of this bubbly blonde newcomer.  To makes things worse Warner has a new serious looking girlfriend.

Nikki Dine-Hart headed up this young and energetic cast and gave a terrific performance as Elle Wood. Good expressive acting and a strong singing voice. Very well done.

There were strong performances also from Lewis Simington as geeky teaching assistant Emmett Forrest who befriends Elle, and Paul Gardiner who made a great Professor Callahan.  Both displayed good acting and great singing.

Jacqui Rees Player gave a lovely bubbly portrayal of hairdresser/beautician Paulette Buonufonte who befriends Elle and dissuades her from dying her blonde hair to look more serious, suggesting that Irish music could help alleviate her anxieties. Nicely played.

A good performance from Cian Harriss fulfilling his desire to play a more serious part by taking on the role of   Warner Huntington III.  Determined to succeed as a lawyer at all costs, this character dumps our heroine for the serious brunette Vivienne Kensington, who was well played by Billie Allen.

Kelly Mepham was perfect as Brooke Wyndham who refuses to disclose the alibi which would prove she did not murder her husband.

The main lineup was well supported by a strong chorus of cheerleaders, Delta Nu girls and students, not forgetting canine performers Bruiser and Rufus.

This was a well-staged lively show, full of energy with some great musical numbers.  Director Becca Neal certainly brought out the best in the cast and Victoria Harvey did an excellent job as choreographer, sometimes working from afar now that she is at university.

The set, built in house worked well and the lighting was fine.  Unfortunately the large orchestra, under the direction of MD Karen Sanderson, was far too loud.  Dialogue under it was lost and some of the cast appeared to be straining their voices in the solo numbers in an effort to be heard over the music.  This was such a shame. Maybe a smaller orchestra would have worked better.

That said, I had a very enjoyable evening and as usual it was a pleasure to come to Centre Stage.

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