Last night I headed over to the Rhyl Pavilion Theatre to see the opening night of Legally Blonde The Musical, a show that I’d heard so much about it and was really looking forward to seeing how another movie works as a musical, much like Footloose and The Wedding Singer.
Based on the Reese Witherspoon film, which was based on the book by Amanda Brown, Legally Blonde The Musical earned seven Tony nominations and 10 Drama Desk Award nominations during its Broadway run. In the UK it was nominated for 5 Laurence Olivier Awards winning 3 including Best New Musical and was nominated for 8 Whatsonstage Awards winning 4 including Best Musical.
The musical follows homecoming queen Elle Woods, a law student that has long blonde hair, her pet chihuahua in her hand and love fo pink, who leaves UCLA for Harvard to become a law student in a hope that she can win her man back, but she discovers what she is capable of winning and not just cases and legal arguments, but also the respect from her fellow students, professors and friends, so that we learn there’s more to Elle than being Legally Blonde.
The show starts as it means to go on, with a great musical number and an introduction to Elle Woods played by Lucie Jones, who represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Never Give Up On You’. Lucie puts on a fantastic performance as Elle Woods, bringing the character to life on the stage with her fantastic vocals talents and comedic timing in many of the funny scenes throughout the show. Not only a joy to watch but a jot to listen to.
Joining Lucie is Rita Simons as Paulette Bonafonte who is best known for playing Roxy Mitchell in BBC’s EastEnders for which she has won numerous awards and is one of Britain’s best-loved actresses. She won Most Popular Newcomer at the National Television Awards and other awards and nominations include Best Newcomer at
the Digital Spy Soap Awards.
I have to say that I was blown away by Rita’s performance in last night’s show, she really seems to play the part with a passion, I was in stitches with the UPS delivery guy scene as her character went ga-ga over him, but what really stood out for me was her voice, wow, Rita has a fantastic range and I was totally gobsmacked by the power that she puts out during her musical numbers and the changes in her voice that she used for the character, stunning.
Those of you that watch Coronation Street and Emmerdale will recognise Bill Ward who plays Professor Callahan, Bill has just finished 3 years in Emmerdale, playing farmer James Barton (Ross, Pete and Finn’s Dad) for over 300 episodes, who met a gruesome, death at the hands of his emotionally volatile partner, Emma, in one of the biggest storylines of the year. Previously, he played the builder Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street, also for 300 episodes, who was murdered by his emotionally volatile partner, Tracy Barlow, in one of the soap’s biggest storylines of the year.
Bill is another actor that surprised me on the stage, again he was a joy to watch during the night’s performance and his vocals were not only great with the rest of the cast but sounded great during his solo numbers as well.
Other cast for Legally Blonde The Musical are David Barrett (Emmett), Liam Doyle (Warner), Laura Harrison (Vivienne), Helen Petrovna (Brooke), Ben Harlow (Kyle), Nancy Hill (Enid), Rebecca Stenhouse (Margot), Delycia Belgrave (Pilar), Rachel Grundy (Serena), Lucyelle Cliffe (Elle’s Mom), Rosie Needham (Kate Chutney), Alexandra
Wright (Leilana), Sally Frith (Gaelen), Mark Peachey (Elle’s Dad/Winthrop/Dewey), Michael Hamway (Aaron), Felipe Bejarano (Sundeep/Nikos), Brett Shiels (Grand Master Chad), Connor Collins (Carlos), Emma Prosser (Swing), Craig Tyler (Swing) and Bruisey (Bruiser).
The sets for Legally Blonde The Musical bring the movie to life on the stage, with a good selection of set changes that take us from Elle’s place to Harvard, with rolling props and sliding scenery, it all comes together nicely to take us to the various locations in the story. The lighting is also nicely done with many lighting effects that help with the mood of the scenes.
Music for Legally Blonde The Musical is a pleasure to listen to, it’s upbeat and fun, it all works nicely with the cast singing along to the many musical numbers that are in the show and the best thing is it’s not pre-recorded, we had the music being performed from the pit area in front of the stage and it was done beautifully.
The show isn’t just fun, it also has the awwww factor, as soon as Elle’s chihuahua comes onto the stage it certainly had the audience melting in its paws, but “Brusier” is just so damn cute, then there is “Rufus” the local canine star that is another one that melts the hearts of the audience.
For me Legally Blonde The Musical is a brilliant show to see, it’s funny, well performed and the musical numbers will have you walking out of the theatre humming away to the car park. Don;t miss the show during its run at the Rhyl Pavilion, tickets available from www.rhylpavilion.co.uk or the Box Office Box 01745 33 00 00.
Summary
Even if you haven’t seen the film or read the book, Legally Blonde The Musical is a fantastic night out, it’s got a stellar cast, music and sets, a sheer joy to watch.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.