Legally Blonde The Musical Jr.

Legally Blonde The Musical Jr is the family-friendly version of the hit musical Legally Blonde, based on the popular 2001 film. Running for just over an hour, the show celebrates friendship and staying true to yourself, with a selection of the best songs from the longer musical, and it was an ideal choice for Lift Maltings.

The scenery was an effective mix of fixed sets for the well decorated hair salon and Harvard classroom at the sides of the performance space, along with an open centre area, and elevated stage towards the back. This allowed for movement between scenes, and plenty of space to accommodate the large cast in the songs involving everyone. I really liked the star cloth (a large piece of black fabric studded with lights), which was used to good effect with the colour change function, and as a backdrop for the projections that helped the audience follow the storyline.

Lila was delightful as Elle Woods, handling her dialogue, many songs, and very quick costume changes like a pro, while maintaining the likeability of the character. The scenes with Emmett, played by Hadley, were nice moments in the show, they were well matched. Warner (Lewis) and Vivienne (Freya) added a level of self-importance and snarkiness, Daisie as Paulette gave a lovely performance of the song Ireland, and Em played Professor Callahanne with the required pomposity. Sophie did well to sing through a gym routine as Brooke, and the opening song by Sophia B, Sophia M, and Olivia as Margot, Serena and, Pilar was a high energy exciting way to start the show.

Strong supporting roles brought some fun to the story included Eddie as Dewey, Jack as Kyle, and Gracie-Mai as Kiki. This show has a large cast list, making it difficult to name everyone in this report, it was good to have the suitably pink programme packed with photos, featuring all the Principals, Delta Nus, Frat Boys, Admission Officers, Law Students, Inmates, and Salon Employees. I particularly enjoyed the dancing in ‘What You Want’, ‘Whipped Into Shape’, and ‘Bend and Snap’.

Using backing tracks for the music worked well, with good volume and confident singing throughout, no doubt thanks to Mr Tovey’s work as Musical Director supporting the cast in learning the songs. The sound from head microphones distorted a bit at times, and balancing speaking and singing levels can be tricky. It comes with practice to know how much to project your voice, and what to let the mics do. All time spent in rehearsal and on stage can add to a student’s experience and enjoyment, and that’s the main reason to be in a show – to enjoy it.

What makes this production particularly special is that the scenery and technical elements were designed and operated by the students, I’m glad that all 14 of the stage crew came on for a well-deserved bo, the scene changes were very speedy indeed.

Directors Mr Tovey, Mr Davies, and Mrs Woodlock-Taylor did a great job of putting together a tremendously entertaining show. From the level of energy and confidence in the Legally Blonde Remix at the end, it was clear the students were enjoying their time in the spotlight.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this production.

 

 

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