I have to say that, much to the dismay of many of my musical theatre friends, I am not a great fan of the musical adaptation of Legally Blonde.
However, having seen Little Theatre Company perform some amazing shows in the past, I was willing to take the risk and see their interpretation of this show based on the film of the same name and I am glad I did.
Once again, Little Theatre Company put together an enjoyable show, with superb characterisation from the cast, an excellent ever-changing set, masterful music and rousing singing.
Eleanore McCann as Elle Woods, gave a performance that was a spot on, emulating the performance given by Sheridan Smith in the West End, complete with mannerisms and facial expressions. There were times when it was easy to forget you weren’t actually watching Sheridan.
Playing opposite Eleanore were Tobias Smith as Warner Huttington III and Olly Gourley as Emmett who both gave very believable performances. Tobias played Warner as pompous and arrogant in complete contrast to Olly’s sensitive and loveable Emmett, which worked very well.
Eleanore was aided throughout the show by her Delta Nu sorority sisters / Greek Chorus played by Victoria Tewes, Elanor Softly and Louis Strachan. These three played their roles well, being sassy, exuberant and a little dimwitted.
Completing the principle roles were Lianne Larthe as Paulette Bonifonte, who really came out of herself in the second act, Paul Smith as Professor Callaghan, who played the role forcefully, Reanne Nash as Vivienne Kensington whose development from stuck up prude to Elle’s friend was brilliant, Gemma Carracher as Brooke Wyndham whose energetic fitness routine whilst singing was very well performed and Kate Andrews as Enid Hooper the feisty feminist.
The rest of the cast, who between them played a myriad of other characters, were all excellent as well. A special mention has to go at this point to John Blatchford who filled the shoes, or should that be shorts, of the UPS delivery guy Kyle well obviously relishing in the flirtatiousness of the character.
As already mentioned, the fitness / skipping scene was very impressive, even when the odd jump was missed, it made no difference as I was in awe that the ladies were able to skip in time and sing. The Delta Nu dance sequences were equally impressive with the ladies moving as one.
Musical numbers that stood out for me included the opening number, Omigod You Guys, Blood In The Water, Bend And Snap, Gay or European (where the whole cast gave an brilliant, comical performance) and the Find My Way / Finale at the end of the show.
At this point, I would like to congratulate Ashton Moore as musical director and the orchestra for the excellent job they did throughout the whole show.
For me, the show got going from when Elle arrived at Harvard, dipped a little with the song Ireland - not because of the performance, but because of the song itself - and really became a show to watch in the second act.
Overall, I enjoyed Little Theatre Company’s production of Legally Blonde and commend them for pushing their boundaries as a society and once again putting on a show that they had previously not performed.
Their next shows are Abigail’s Party in May and Jekyll & Hyde in October.
The Unnamed Critic
