Legally Blonde the Musical

To celebrate its 40th Anniversary this group decided to present a reunion show bringing together the present members along with past members – some of whom were parents of younger members – an impressive cast of 49. The show chosen was this action-packed show telling the story of Elle Woods transformation from blonde air-head to valedictorian of Harvard Law School. The younger members played Elle’s friends and fellow students whilst the returning members played the older characters such as Elle’s parents, the Judge and the Law School’s governors and the mix worked very well. Lilly Bannerman was outstanding as Elle in a part which finds the character on stage for virtually the whole show. She had a powerful voice - equally at home taking the lead in the big company numbers and in the quieter, slower duets “Serious” with Warner and “Legally Blonde” with Emmett – and good strong acting and dancing skills. Corey Adam as Emmett - Elle’s mentor, friend and eventual love interest – was another character with strong acting prowess and a great voice and the two made a very convincing pairing as friendship developed into respect and then love. As Warner, Elle’s ex boyfriend, Nathan Batchu played the snobbish, eye-on-the-main-chance character to perfection almost making the audience want to boo him as he broke Elle’s heart in the number “Serious”. He was equally matched in the snobbish stakes by Hollie Cunningham’s well handled portrayal of upper crust student Vivian as she crushed Elle’s attempts to win back Warner. Charlie Pocock Fisher as hairstylist Paulette handled the comedy and pathos of the over-the-top character with equal ease and her rendition of “Ireland” telling of her search for an Irish man to love and her antics in the “Bend and Snap” number were hilarious. But she did get her man in the end in the shape of Kyle the handsome UPS delivery guy (Josh McPherson) and their traditional Irish Dance was well deserving of the loud applause it received. Ciara Hendry expertly played Brooke, the fitness guru Elle and her fellow interns were tasked to defend by Professor Callahan – how she could sing whilst skipping and twirling the ropes around during her “Whipped into Shape” number was breath-taking! Dylan Shearer played the villain of the piece Professor Callahan with just the right amount of arrogance and menace especially in his “Blood in the Water” number. Strong support was given by Erin Mehigan, Emily Law and Erin Murphy as Elle’s friends Margot, Serena and Pilar, Zara Adam as the Judge and Aidan Combe and Logan McKerron as the delightfully camp Nikos and Carlos. Mention too must be made of the two perfectly behaved canine stars of the show - Bruiser (played by Nutmeg) and Ruffus (played by Angus). The ensemble singing and movement, whether as students, Delta Nu members or Greek Chorus was note and step perfect and delivered with great enthusiasm. The 8 piece band under Matthew Tosh’s direction played the sometimes tricky score well, always supporting but never overpowering the cast. The simple set of back wall of pink flats, fronted by tiered steps worked well allowing plenty of room for the large company numbers and costuming was appropriate to the characters and the era. Congratulations everyone at GizGiz on your anniversary and on an excellent show.

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