There is more youthful exuberance and bounce in Legally Blonde (book by Heather Hach, music and lyrics by Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin) than in a Beverly Hills High School pool party. As directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, it's nothing but fun.
You know the plot: Bev. Hills supposed Ding Dong goes to Harvard Law School in pursuit of a Dumb Dumb. Beautiful Laura Bell Bundy is the girl, and the charm oozes, drips and splashes -- and she taps, too. This girl is hot!
This is a real spectacle, with non-stop visual action, costumes by Greg Barnes that are as much fun as the dancing, and stage effects to applaud designed by David Rockwell. All the voices are cheery and musical, and the subplot, the beautician and the UPS delivery man, gives us two strong performers who fill the theater: Orfeh, who is a star singer/comedian, and Andy Karl, a super hunk. What a team! The entire cast is first rate.
Can you make a good Broadway musical of a film we've all seen? Yes. They did it with songs, great design and performers and action. If you're not in the mood for lighthearted fun, don't go.
Previews:
April 3, 2007
Opened:
April 29, 2007
Ended:
2008
Country:
USA
State:
New York
City:
New York
Company/Producers:
Hal Luftig, Fox Theatricals & Dori Berinstein, James L. Nederlander, Independent Presenters Network, Roy Furman, Amanda Lipitz, Broadway Asia, Barbara Whitman, FWPM Group, Hendel/Wiesenfeld, Goldberg/Binder, Stern/Meyer, Lane/Comley, Bartner-Jenkins/Nocciolino & Warren Trepp, in assoc w/ MGM Onstage (mgm.com), Darcie Denkert & Dean Stolber. Assoc Prod: PMC Productions, Yasuhiro Kawana & Andrew Asnes/Adam Zoto
Theater Type:
Broadway
Theater:
Palace Theater
Theater Address:
1564 Broadway
Running Time:
2 hrs, 30 min
Genre:
Musical
Director:
Jerry Mitchell
Review:
Parental:
TOTALTHEATER David Lefkowitz ?
Cast:
Laura Bell Bundy (Elle), Christian Borle (Emmett), Orfeh, Richard H. Blake, Kate Shindle (Vivienne), Nikki Snelson, Michael Rupert, Annaleigh Ashford, April Berry, Paul Canaan, Lindsay Chambers, Beth Curry, Tracy Jai Edwards, Amber Efe, Gaelen Gilliland, Jason Gillman, Becky Gulsvig, Rod Harrelson, Manuel Herrera, Andy Karl, Nick Kenkel, Michelle Kittrell, Leslie Kritzer, Dequina Moore, Rusty Mowery, Kevin Pariseau, Matthew Risch, Jason Patrick Sands, Noah Weisberg, Kate Wetherhead, Donna Vivino.
Technical:
Set: David Rockwell; Costumes: Gregg Barnes; Lighting: Kenneth Posner & Paul Miller; Music Dir: James Sampliner
Critic:
Richmond Shepard
Date Reviewed:
May 2007
