Legally Blonde the Musical

First thing to mention in this report is how impressive the show programme was.  The hard work, design quality and cleverness of setting the programme as an ELLE magazine is genius.  It was also a nice touch to see it being used as a prop in the scene where the Delta Nu’s bring Elle her ELLE magazine.  Very well done and a big congratulations to the LMS team for this.

Now onto the show.  The energy from the full cast was electric as you could tell they were living their best lives performing each and every role on the stage.  All the way through from the leading characters to the ensemble supporting roles the attention to detail, character reactions, vocals and movement was executed fantastically. Abbie McLelland was a strong Elle with a powerful singing voice, excellent comedic timing and flawless dance moves allowing her to shine in the role.

Abbie was supported by a powerful cast. Elle’s Greek Chorus of Tea Payne (Serena), Connie McCrone (Margot) and Katie Beattie (Pilar) who all interacted well together and kept high energy throughout all their scenes.  Emmett Forrest, the nerdy studious law scholar who helps Elle was played superbly by John McGill and he gave a laidback, likeable character with impressive vocals in his feature song “Chip on my Shoulder”. Rachel Howat created a loveable kooky character in Paulette with her comic timing in song and the scenes on point.  Stephen McIlwraith was the confident and suave Warner and in particular his first scene and song with Elle “Serious” was well executed.  Stephen also stepped into the ensemble numbers and his moves in “What you Want” were great.  Lynsey Campbell gave a powerhouse performance with her characterisation, vocals, and impressive dancing in “Whipped into Shape”.  She embodied every inch of the character with confidence.  Jessica Sharp nicely captured both Vivienne’s initial coldness and eventual warmth brilliantly with really strong vocals in the “Legally Blonde Remix”.  Andrew Chapman as Callahan commanded the stage as the in-control professor and this strength was continued throughout which worked well especially in the scene with Elle near the end.  The supporting cast in this show contains numerous featured roles and all worked exceptionally hard to keep the pace of the story up and the show progressing.  I would like to highlight Rachel McDermott as Enid who in every scene embodied her character with excellent choreography, vocals, and character work.  Also, Calum Peter who had the audience in the palm of his hand as the charming Kyle B O’Boyle. He worked well with Rachel and the supporting doggo cast, and the shorts didn’t hurt either!  A clever and effective set and great lighting created the perfect setting for this uplifting and feel-good show which can’t help but put a smile on your face.

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