In the year 2001 author, Amanda Brown, published her novel, “Legally Blonde,” based, in part, on her own experiences as a blonde at Stanford Law School. The film rights were quickly captured, and in July of that year the romantic comedy, starring Reese Witherspoon, opened to popular acclaim. It was a box office hit just 2 months before the infamous events of September 11th shook the nation and the world. By 2007 the story had been adapted for the stage with the April opening of Legally Blonde: The Musical. The show had music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, & book by Heather Hach. This Class Act Productions edition is directed and choreographed by Heidi Kloes, with Musical Direction from Alyssa Porter. It seems a surprising choice, because unlike most musicals selected by this fine company, this one failed on Broadway with very mixed reviews and substantial financial losses for investors. While it did receive 7 Tony nominations and 10 Drama Desk nominations, it did not win any of those awards. But none of that would prevent this talented and energetic young cast from tackling the piece with gusto.
The plot itself tells the adventures of perky college coed, Elle Woods (pretty Tabitha Simper). As the show opens, she is preparing for a big date with her handsome boyfriend, Warner Huntington III (Brad Brickhouse), with the expectation that he would be proposing to her that very night. There’s a well executed quick-change costume trick (designers Louise Blanchard & Melissa Bowman), as Elle instantaneously slips into her smashing red dress for the big night. But Elle and her supportive Delta Nu sorority sisters are shocked when cocky Warner actually uses the big date to announce he must break up with Elle before heading off to Harvard Law School. There, the arrogant Warner plans to find a more “serious” girlfriend who can advance his Kennedyesque political ambitions, and be more acceptable to his snobbish family.
Determined to win him back, Elle manages to get into Harvard Law School herself, and plenty of fun follows. The show’s action plays out on the crisp, bi-level set of designer, Kevin Colburn, with the upper level working well for elevated scenes like the opening candle-lit procession with the fine singing of the Delta Nu’s. The early action takes place on the UCLA campus, and it then moves to Harvard where classroom attention is focused on a murder trial that gives some of the young law students a chance to shine. Several amusing courtroom scenes finally make Elle the heroine who saves the wrongly accused health-club queen, Brooke Wyndham (Faith Abbott), during her trial for allegedly murdering her husband. Just wait until you see the high-energy scene of Brooke’s jump-rope exercise workout. Many such scenes gave these young performers challenging choreography, like the hip-hop flavored “What You Want” number led by Grandmaster Chad & Company (Braden Stern).
Now if the original Broadway production had flaws that prevented its success in New York, a few things come to mind. First, the script is a bit wide ranging, and I was very glad I took the opportunity to recently review the much more successful film which I had not seen in many years. It helped in keeping up with some of the plot twists and characters. Secondly, I suspect many of you reading this might be hard put to specifically recall any song from among the many forgettable ones in this show. I always think that “talky,” non-melodic lyrics are a problem, especially if a musical does not leave you with some tune to hum on the way home. Over-extended numbers like the, “Chip on My Shoulder” here, can be problematic as well.
Having said that, this cast brought terrific singing and dancing to every number, often leaving the impression of an enthusiastic high school pep rally or half-time show. There were vocal standouts like the sometimes sleazy Professor Callahan (Michael Barnhart), with his “Blood in the Water” number. Then came pretty Kylee Haueter, who charms us with the song, “Ireland,” in her role of the sweet salon beautician, Paulette. She has a crush on the handsome UPS delivery man, Kyle (Aiden Cruzen), who happily turns out to be Irish, so a bit of pleasant Irish dancing fits right in. There is more fun at the beauty salon as the gals practice a new dance move designed to get a guy’s attention. The “Bend and Snap” is a sexy hoot. There would be still more hilarity at a turning point in the courtroom during the “Gay or European” number featuring the uproarious antics of pool boy, Nikos, and his boyfriend, Carlos. There were other nice performances from Brandon Brumfield as Emmett, (a law school teaching assistant who befriends Elle), and Lindsey von Holton as Vivienne, the sometimes sinister “Other Woman,” Warner’s new girlfriend at Harvard. The nice group of Elle’s Delta Nu sorority sisters adds pleasant musical touches, especially when they encourage Elle during their “Greek Chorus” apparitions.
It’s only a hunch on my part, but I suspect the most receptive audience for this bubbly show might be high school and junior high school teens of the same age as this talented young cast of more than three dozen. They would speak the same language, and get all the jokes. As one woman I overheard during the intermission remarked: “Well it isn’t Rodgers & Hammerstein, but it is very cute.” I totally agree.
