Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde, based on the novel and 2001 film of the same name, tells the story of Elle Woods, a sorority girl who decides to enrol at Harvard Law School to prove to her ex-boyfriend, Warner Huntington, that she is more than good enough for him. In the process she has to tackle all sorts of prejudice and stereotyping but finds out she is much more intelligent and no longer interested in him. On the surface, the show appears to be all pink and fluffy, but it puts across some serious messages.

A simple set with pink curtains at the back of the stage and a runway in front of it was all that was needed. Scene changes were achieved quickly and unobtrusively by the costumed stage crew and cast members, and so the show kept moving at a cracking pace with one scene melting into the next. Lighting (Lee Stoddart) was also simple but effective, and sound (Scott Dowell) was crystal clear, albeit biased a little too much to the music rather than the singers.

Emily Horner, Musical Director, you have schooled your singers well – solo and chorus numbers were all performed with precision and clarity. Sadly, the music was from backing tracks rather than a live band, but it was of excellent quality and you wouldn’t really know the difference.

Director Dan Cox, in his first show with CAOS, has chosen a strong cast who did not disappoint. Everything rides on the actor playing Elle, who is hardly off stage. Lauren Foord was more than up to the job, full of energy, a great singer and eminently likeable, getting the audience behind her from the start.  We could see her character changing as she discovered herself and became more confident. Matt Gibbins was her perfect counterpart as Emmett, playing him as a gentle, unassuming man, the polar opposite of Warner, encouraging Elle until, almost without realising it, they fall in love.

Tom Doohlan was excellent as Warner – brash, selfish and unfeeling, while Maida Mofidi played his new girlfriend, the serious, preppy Vivienne, perfectly. Nick Williams came across well as the strict but sleezy Professor Callahan, while Emma Hall was wonderful as supportive hairdresser Paulette. Her rendition of “Ireland” was utterly sublime – for me, the best song in the show. There were some delightful cameo performances from Adam Fox as the sexy UPS Delivery Man, and Will McGovern and Dan Farmiloe as Nicos and Carlos in the court scenes.

Choreography throughout was well conceived and well executed, thanks to Olivia Louise, assisted by Rebecca Backham. Each big dance number was vibrant and exciting and ended in a beautiful tableau. Particularly impressive was “Whipped into Shape” which looked fiendishly difficult to perform, but was executed immaculately, not least by Bee Anderson (Brooke Wyndham), who is always so interesting to watch.

Costumes (Sarah Melville) throughout were spot-on: modern dress with some great splashes of colour – pink featuring prominently of course, and the wave of orange in the fitness studio.

The vivid and well-designed programme and poster (MVP Digital) continued the pink theme. Apart from looking very professional, the programme was informative and contained good biographies of the main cast and lots of rehearsal photos.

Thank you CAOS – we’ve come to expect the best standards from you and, as always, you delivered, big time. The very enthusiastic applause, whoops, and whistles from the (mostly) young audience at the end must be the best reward for all the hard work that you have put in to making this show such a success.

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