LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL - THEATRE REVIEW

LEGALLY BLONDE: THE MUSICAL AT THE NEW ALEXANDRA THEATRE, BIRMINGHAM

Theatre Run: Tuesday 28 August - Saturday 1 September
Performanced Viewed: Tuesday 28 August

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

Legally Blonde: The Musical is one of those musical theatre productions from which you can glean a great deal before the curtain even rises and the upbeat frenzy of sparkle and feel-good whirs into action. It’s decidedly female-oriented (though with plenty of sex appeal and wit to cater to any husbands and partners who may be reluctant to tag along) and the first Act in particular is an explosion of humour and irony mostly focused around its central protagonists sorority-centred outlook on life; fashion, sisterhood, romance (of the most surface kind) and her handbag-carried pooch Bruiser. Whilst this may sound far too atypical (or Kardashian) to be bearable to some, it is a testimony to the strength of the characters involved and the clever handling of plot that, like the journey of it’s central protagonist Elle Woods, the initial surge of colour, camp and bling gives way to both characters and plot that, whilst confidently and re-assuringly over-the-top, are nonetheless refreshingly smart, brilliantly witty and hilariously post-modern. 

Based on the 2001 comedy starring Reese Wetherspoon in the lead, Legally Blonde recently completed a highly successful, Olivier-award winning run in the West End and is now touring across the UK. It tells the story of a heartbroken sorority girl, Elle Woods, who decides to enroll at Harvard Law School in order to pursue and impress her morally dubious ex boyfriend. It’s a relatively predictable affair from start to finish but is executed with such energy and conviction, and peppered with such irrepressible characters and sharp comedic writing that it’s extremely difficult not to be won over, charmed and thoroughly entertained.