Legally Blonde

As I emerged from the King’s Theatre on a wet and windy Saturday afternoon, with my ears ringing from an excess of shrill American bobby-soxers, I wondered what it was about this show that made it such a success in the West End for Sheridan Smith? The plot is minimal: apparently dumb blonde gets herself an education so that she can follow the boyfriend who dumped her to law school in order to win him back. Along the way she encounters sexism and discrimination but overcomes it all with her intelligence and finds true love. The songs, with a couple of exceptions, are not terribly memorable either and so it must have been the direction and the strength and quality and warmth of the lead characters that won through – as it was with John-Paul McCrohon’s production for South Downe Musical Society. They won you over and you just couldn’t help loving it.

Lauren Kempton was a tour de force as the irrepressible Elle Woods, showing incredible energy and stamina as she sang her way through very difficult numbers with consummate ease, hardly ever leaving the stage. The warmth she gave to her character soon overcame any reluctance to like her because of her superficiality and you were willing her to succeed against the male chauvinism of the law school.

Caroline Westmorland shone as Elle’s hairdresser friend and confidante, Paulette. Her solo “Ireland” was particularly memorable for being so beautifully sung and acted. The romantic lead is an unusual role for Matt Sackman, but he very ably portrayed Emmett, Elle’s only ally in the law school whom she eventually realises she loves. I must also mention Samantha Kelly, for her beautiful portrayal of Vivienne, Elle’s bitchy and snobbish rival in love, and also Alan Jenkins for his perfectly measured caricature of a muscular UPS delivery man, never quite going over the top.

The leads were given tremendous support by a young and energetic chorus and imaginative choreography from Helen Stoddart. The colourful costumes, lighting  and relatively simple set (with trucks moving on and off as required) all added to the stunning overall effect. Scene changes were accomplished extremely smoothly with scenes blending into one another seamlessly. The only real let-down was the balance of the sound system which, sadly, is a problem at the King’s all too often. I may have been sitting in a bad position in the Dress Circle, but I felt that the enthusiastic orchestra was all too often allowed to overpower the cast rendering their words completely unintelligible, especially problematic during the first two or three numbers of the show when your ears are still tuning in to the American accents.

Sound problems aside, this was an eminently lovable show presented with tremendous energy and pizazz – a great credit to South Downe Musical Society and director John-Paul McCrohon.

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