Legally Blonde the Musical

Legally Blonde is an uplifting show based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the film of the same name. It tells the story of a sorority girl, Elle Woods, who follows her heart to Harvard Law School to win back her love, Warner. During her time at Harvard Law she proves herself to be more than just a blonde sorority girl by successfully defending exercise queen Brooke Wyndham in her murder trial, all whilst being true to herself and doing so in style! 

Bethany Griffiths gave a powerful performance as Elle Woods. Her comic timing was spot on and brought sass and strength to the character. Both Nathan Gibson (Professor Callaghan) and Charlie Baciu (Warner) provided effortless vocals in their musical numbers and were a joy to listen to. Elle and Emmett (Robin McAllisterter) had beautiful chemistry, their voices were complimentary in the musical numbers, ‘Take it Like a Man’ and ‘Legally Blonde’. The whole cast were well rehearsed and looked like they were having the best time on stage, giving it their all. At times, the harmonies in company numbers could have been stronger but overall, there were some excellent performances from all cast members. “Mad props” to Serena (Kayleigh Tucker), Margot (Ashleigh Towerton) and Pilar (Abbie Hales) for their energetic and enthusiastic performances as Elle’s best friends/Greek Chorus. Charlotte Smith had the audience laughing in their seats with her characterisation of Paulette. I was impressed with how Katie Proctor (Brooke Wyndham) was able to hold her exercise positions whilst “paused” and continue to sing whilst rope skipping in “Whipped into Shape”, it can’t have been an easy feat! Lottie Hanson was well cast as Vivienne with a no-nonsense attitude towards Elle and her perky ways. Also, Will Barr as Kyle B. O’Boyle, the UPS guy had the audience transfixed on his comedic performance.

Undeniably, the show was stolen both by Rufus (Albert Barr) and Bruiser (Romeo Grover). Both dogs looked like they were made for the limelight and living their best lives! 

Although there were some sound and set issues throughout the night, it didn’t detract from the overall performance. 

The direction from Pete Darnell gave the show a fresh perspective which enabled the scenes to flow well with good use of the scenery, space and props. The scenery was minimalistic but effective. It was a particularly daring choice to use a full size golf cart on the stage during ‘What You Want’. 

Siobhan Amos’ choreography was imaginative and I particularly enjoyed the musicality and intricacy of the choreography in ‘There, Right There!’ and ‘Positive’. 

The musical direction by Rod Iliffe was exemplary. It was easy to forget it was an orchestra providing the live music rather than backing tracks and was flawless. 

The programme was impressive, taking on the look of Elle magazine and reflected the feel of the show perfectly. 

Overall, it was an enjoyable evening leaving the audience singing the songs into next week, well done all!

© NODA CIO.  All rights reserved 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.