Legally Blonde The Musical

This is the first time I had encountered this musical and I hadn’t seen the film it was based on, but I came away having experienced a thoroughly delightful evening.

Though more of a fairy tale, the story was strong and uplifting. The music was upbeat most of the time and a bit the same, but when the title tune arrived, it had the appropriate pathos.

The role of Elle Woods, the blonde of the title, is enormous and Lauren Edwards met every challenge. She sang well, danced up a storm and looked the part. Brenton Van Vliet was excellent as Emmettt Forest, her eventual partner, the encouraging, honest mentor, and the two worked very well together. Mitchell Sanfilippo was suitable snobbish as her love interest and sang very well. Janette Diab as Paulette, the brassy hairdresser, was very funny in the comic lead.

The opening of the second act featured a gym session, and how Emma Hall sang and did aerobics at the same time was amazing. There were a lot of roles, all well taken.

The minimalistic sets were effective and allowed the action to flow. At the start the band was too loud for us to catch the words, but they improved as the show progressed. It was an all-singing, all-dancing show, and the choreography was effective and well executed.

Highly recommended.

Graham Ford.