Legally Blonde

“Legally Blonde” has been with us now for twenty-two years and in the musical format that I have just seen for sixteen years. It is an extremely popular musical being performed over the whole country and bringing in some enthusiastic audiences to many societies suffering from lack of funds through the covid era. Caroline Lowe directed a wonderful show that needs masses of energy from an ensemble of young people with choreographic skills in plenty. This society has the ability to provide this ingredient and Kate Wilson did a tremendous task in the provision of the innovative and exceptional dancing numbers. Nigel Newman with his six fellow musicians covered the not so well known or particularly easy music with expertise and confidence. The sound balance between the stage performers and the band meant that the dialogue could be heard clearly and understood by those of us who were seeing the show for the first time. The scenery was most impressive and the many changes were executed with precision as each part of the story enfolded smoothly and effortlessly.  

Elle (Kiarnie Camp) was the main character, on stage for most of the performance. The wordy dialogue and songs were played with expertise, confidence and feeling. She was equally supported in that way by her former and new boyfriends, Emmett (Alex Brown) and Warner (Jack Winrow). Elle’s friend, Paulette (Zoë Saunders), brought much comedy to the part that she played of her new mentor. Another strong character was Callahan (Tom Brennan), the not-to-be-messed-with top lawyer. His voice had great clarity and  acting was very convincing. There were lots of songs and much dialogue involving an ensemble. These parts interacted with the above persona and had some lovely cameo roles to play. Just to mention a few of them, there were Vivienne (Lamorna Webb), Elle’s nemesis in college, Brooke, the accused in the murder trial, Enid (Rowena James), the women’s rights activist and Kyle (Adam Knight), the delivery driver. There were also two of the shortest appearances that wowed the audience - that was Bruiser and Rufus.

Finally, I send my congratulations to one and all involved in this production - another great team effort resulting in a  most polished show.  Once again, I think the applause of a full theatre said it all. 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.