Pink, feisty and funny.
Pink, feisty and funny. Legally Blonde will make your face ache from smiling.
Fans of the 2001 comedy film, based on the novel of the same name by Amanda Brown, will be familiar with the girl power story. Beautiful and popular sorority sister, Elle Woods, is left heartbroken after her boyfriend breaks up with her. She decides she must become more serious to win back his affections and pursues him all the way to the prestigious Harvard Law School where she must put down the credit cards and pick up the books to prove her intellectual worth to the man who dumped her.
Fast paced is an over used word in musical reviews but one thoroughly deserved by this glittering production. From the opening number of 'Oh my God you guys', which is possibly the strongest number, the show barely stops to catch its breath amidst a whirlwind of shimmer and pink.
It may be fabulously girly and predictable but don't underestimate it, because behind the fluffy American can-do-anything attitude there lays a powerful message about being true to yourself and finding your own way to excel, and with the help of her new friends Elle learns you can be both smart and stylish. Of course she saves the day, albeit with a little bend and snap along the way.
Lucie Jones (Eurovision, Rent, Les Miserable, Ghost, We Will Rock You) shows exactly why she is the perfect leading lady. She may not have some of the nuances of Reese Witherspoon, who received a Golden Globe for Best Actress and an MTV Movie Award for Best Female Performance, but she does make the role of fashion merchandising student, Elle Woods, her own. A fantastic voice, this talented stage actress brings great fun and comic timing to the character. Rita Simons (EastEnders) is as warm and engaging as she is gutsy as beautician Paulette Bonafonte. Who knew she had such a great voice too. I had a soft spot for Charlie Stubbs in Corrie, the bad boy who came a cropper from the receiving end of a blow from Tracey Barlow, Bill Ward still has it. He also has the moves and the voice to go with it as Professor Callahan.Elle’s oh so cute teeny tiny chihuahua steels every scene he's in as Bruiser. While Paulette’s rescued Rufus, played by a local dog who beat others at an audition for his role, also stole the show in his appearances.
Complete with roller skating male cherubs, this all singing, all dancing charming musical is guaranteed to leave you not only covered in pink tissue paper from a storming finale, but wanting more as well as immediately adding more pink to your wardrobe
Legally Blonde runs at Nottingham's Theatre Royal until Saturday 19th May.
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