Legally Blonde

The West End Premier of ‘Legally Blonde’ was in January 2010. It closed after 974 performances, two years later, and recently it has been extremely popular on the amateur circuit. None of my societies had staged it, so it was new to me.

Beth mentions in the programme that it deals with some subjects now looked upon rather differently than when it was written. Obviously I don’t know what was changed to make it more pc but as far as I’m aware there was nothing upsetting at all in your production.

I note the set was made and built in house. It worked well and the staircase stage left added interest in affording another level for the cast to use. Props and furniture were suitable and the costumes were great. I assume you were able to supply most of them yourselves and that would certainly save on the costume bill - with such a large cast there were plenty of them!

A very lively opening number of College girls set the pace and the cast were bursting with energy throughout the show. It was quite apparent that they were enjoying every moment of being on stage. I would think that they all needed some time to wind down after five performances like that, but none more than Rebecca Rogers who was particularly good as Elle. She played the supposedly ditzy, dumb blonde with ease and moved like a trained dancer (although that’s not mentio0ned in her biog) Will Mc Dermott made a really likeable Emmett and it was easy to see why he gets the girl in the end. His performance was relaxed and natural. The boyfriend Warner whom Elle is trying to impress,(she’d clearly not worked out his character !) was played by Will Latter and I would never have guessed that it was his first stage role. He did really well and looked every inch the ambitious Harvard student. Paulette, the hairdresser, was a great character and Genilyn portrayed her brilliantly; her performance is always secure and I loved ‘Bend and Snap’ Tim Beasley made an imposing Callahan. This musical has an extensive named cast and each and every one of them supported the principals unstintingly. Elle’s friends were particularly good and the other members of the society on stage also contributed greatly to the whole piece. The energy was tremendous and the only tiny negative point is that there were a couple of people in the chorus who were rather less animated. Some of the smaller roles were particularly well done.  Sam’s Winthrop was notable but as the Judge I wonder why she was standing in the court– it looked rather strange. Patrick Coad was very funny as Nicos and Steve certainly made his mark as Kyle and then Carlos!

Choreography was excellent and the dancers were impressive. Their movements were synchronised perfectly.  The gym scene in the prison was terrific – skipping and singing at the same time takes some effort but they had youth on their side! The tailor’s shop was cleverly done and the scene with Paulette learning the dance routine was another notable one.

Diction in both the vocal numbers and dialogue was clear, despite there being a great deal of underscored dialogue, and the volume of the orchestra was controlled and never overpowered the players as it so often can.  Lighting and sound were good.  The programme is informative and the photos are of good quality.

Beth and Amanda put together a super show and along with Dick brought out the best in the large cast.

It was good to meet Amanda in the interval and as always Martine’s hospitality was second to none. Thank you for inviting me to see ‘Legally Blonde’ – it was a splendid evening’s entertainment.

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