Legally Blonde Jr.

Youth theatre is most definitely thriving in the South East and it was a pleasure to be invited to see new group SAIL Youth Theatre Academy’s production of Legally Blonde Jr. in a new (to me) venue – the splendid and well-equipped Rose Theatre at Barton Peveril College.

Legally Blonde Jr. is an edited version of the Broadway musical, which was based on the 2001 film of the same name and the novel by Amada Brown. It tells the story of Elle Woods who enrols at Harvard Law School to win back her boyfriend Warner, who thinks she’s not serious enough for him. She fights a lot of prejudices and finds out she actually has a talent for law and fighting injustices. She also finds better love along the way.

We were presented with a simple black stage with some ingenious hints at a box set (James Beale) which made for simple scene changes, carried out very slickly by the cast in such an organised way that it looked choreographed. The predominant colour of course was pink, emphasised by the clever lighting (Dalila Guerreiro da Silva). Sound quality (Simon Turner) was good throughout, although one head mic seemed to be giving problems, and we could hear dialogue and singing easily.

This is a complex show and Director Artemis Zacharaki and Choreographer Brad Durrant have inspired the cast to tackle it with dedication and energy. Every single person on stage was totally focused on what they had to do, and you could see the enjoyment on their faces. The choreography was crisp but fun, and at times athletic, with “Whipped into Shape” and “Bend and Snap” being particularly impressive and made me feel tired just watching!

Musical Director Ewan Wharton has worked his magic on the singing – the standard from everyone was excellent with some great moments from all the soloists, and how you can sing while skipping beats me! The standard of acting throughout was good too, especially from those portraying older characters – one of the harder things for youth groups to do convincingly.

This is such an ensemble show, where everyone has obviously worked really hard as a team, that I wondered whether to mention individuals. But I just had to praise Daisy Langley who gave us the perfect Elle – fun, and full of joy, especially when she discovers she is becoming a good lawyer. What a great singer and mover she is. She had great support from Wills Illman as Warner – nicely self-obsessed; Patrick Smith as Emmett, gently offering Elle support; and Marley Graham – what a promising young actor he is!

What a great young group you are SAIL Academy! With the inspirational direction you are getting from your creative team and the obvious talent from the students, you are going to achieve great things and have a lot of fun along the way.

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