Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde first hit live theatre in 2007 based on the first film in the trilogy, it teaches us to never underestimate the power of a person in love. The is a massive feel-good musical, which takes us through the highs and lows of Elle Woods journey and sends you out feeling restored in all the good things in life. Which is exactly what this Good Companions production gave in abundance, portrayed by a highly talented cast.

The show begins with the Delta Nu fraternity, their energy and characterisations bought us into the world of Elle very quickly, helping the audience leave any troubles of the day at the entrance to the theatre. They kept us all in engaged and were key in keeping the story moving at pace. All executing the choreography well with bundles of energy, a great team Lindsey Gresley, Jennifer Alton, Ru Kniveton, Cass Barrett, Reema Rose, Cat Howarth, Rachel Wallace, Roxhanna Tucker, Emma Chadwick and Olivia Thompson.  

The show then progresses into the restaurant scene where Warner Huntington the Third played by Martin Counter suddenly turns himself brilliantly from hero to villain as he smashes Elle's dreams of engagement and ends their relationship as she is not seen as ‘Serious’ enough to be his bride. Martin’s version of this number was excellent.

Elle Woods was played by Helen Perry, who we have had the privilege to watch for many years, and is definitely made for this part, or was the part made for her? Helen provided a strong powerful but sensitive portrayal which provides us with several laughs along the way. Helen has a stunning voice and great characterisation, a fantastic performance from start to finish.

Elle decides to follow her love to Harvard to study law, but is then greeted by predigest from her peers who look down on her, played by Heidi Hand as Enid Hoops, Stephen Mura as Sergei Padamovic and Cameron Trial as Aaron Shultz. All the group deliver great performances and many comedic moments as Elle changes their attitudes towards her.

Elle finds an ally that supports her on her journey who helps her to not only achieve her grades but also find love. Rob Chilton played this role of Emmett Forrest in a very different way to how we have seen it delivered before, a little more humble and unassuming which worked really well and made a refreshing change, Rob has a lovely tone to his voice and was well suited to this role. Helen and Robs duet of Legally Blonde was sensational.

Now on to the lovely Paulette played by Kate Jones, a fabulous performance bringing out the softer side to Paulette. Her rendition of ‘Ireland’ was fantastic, a great pairing against her new love, the handsome Kyle B O’Boyle (Charlie Torry) who built the part perfectly to the audiences delight!

Two other strong performances from Callie Egan as Vivienne Kensington and Georgina Bateman as Brooke Wyndham. Great vocals and acting from both. It was great to see the male and female cast in the opening of Act 2 being energetically ‘Whipped into Shape’ by Callie. 

Now with most musicals we do normally have a villain and Professor Callaghan played by Phil Stanley played this character superbly with his sleezy depiction that was so good the audience were still booing this character during his applause.

The choice to have the Harvard staff as women (Lisa Scott -Savage, Debs McPhezrson and Ellie Mallinson) rather than the traditional male parts was a great move that worked very well with strong delivery from all.

There are a large number of other characters in this show which makes it a perfect musical for such a large company as Good Companions. All these characters stood out and everyone was perfect in their roles, very professional performances from all the company.

The largest applause though will always be for the two canine actors Neville Parkin & Blossom Grey who throughout the show stole any scene they were in and behaved flawlessly.

All technical elements were very professional with just a slight sound issue for a very short period. Slick scene changes, the golf buggy was a highlight! and the particularly use of the ‘ELLE’ lights and filters for the Ireland number and Legally Blonde Remix gave us again something that we had not seen before. A special mention to the wardrobe team, all the costumes looked great and we loved seeing Elle’s signature colour wash over the whole cast by the end of the production.

Huge congratulations to the production team, the Directors Helen Oldham & Phil Simcox have done a super job in bringing this great story to life again with slight differences and nuances that made it engaging for people who had seen other productions before. Musical Direction from Richard Hodges and wonderful choreography from Jackie O’Brien that was executed well by the whole cast.

We look forward to seeing Good Companions next production of Jekyll and Hyde at the end of October at Repton Theatre.

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.