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Blondes Having More Fun
Elle Woods (Faye Brookes) in triumphant mood as she leads the cast in Legally Blonde Legally Blonde - the musical The New Alexandra **** THANKS to the stratospheric
success of Glee it would be easy to think that Legally
Blonde is another one in the line of teeth dazzling, pom pom
waving, teen angst musicals that have sprung up in its sickly
sweet wake. Indeed, it would have been
hard to cram more pink into the theatre foyer. Just like
the cutesy dogs it features, however, this show has pedigree and hot on
the heels of its West End acclaim, it seems likely to repeat its
pulling power on tour. Legally Blonde began life as a 2001 movie, starring Reese Witherspoon as Elle - the all American girl who seeks to win back her boyfriend's affections by becoming a lawyer at the esteemed University of Harvard - thus proving she has brains as well as well as veneered teeth and great legs. The story and characters were ripe for a musical version and, unsurprisingly, the stage version premiered on Broadway in 2007. Plot wise, it all fairly
simple. Nice, home town girl falls in love with dreamboat
sweetheart. He dumps her. She vows to win him back by ‘bettering
herself' at Amerca's top law school. Cue an assortment of characters -
the reliable friend, the tough talking Senior Professor, the bitchy
classmates, the lesbian (random, I know, but represented nethertheless )
and a parcel delivery man with an impressive package. Read into that
what you will.
There are, of course, twists
and turns in the story as Elle discovers more about who she really is
and discovers new horizons on her judicial journey. A generally impressive cast
reveals some stand out performances. Faye Brookes is faultless as the
eponymous blonde, Elle Woods, physically perfect and genuinely
engaging throughout. Iwan Lewis shines as Elle's secret admirer, Emmett
Forest and Dave Willetts gives an an air of measured authority
amidst his excitable students as Professor Callahan. The biggest laugh
of the evening ‘sprung' from Lewis Griffiths as Kyle - a UPS
delivery man in no doubt of his sexuality. A musical is only as good as
its songs and there are plenty to choose from here. Most are
appropriately high energy and sugar coated company numbers such as
What You Want and Whipped Into Shape . Others , like
Blood in The Water take on a darker tone. Gay or European? is
a question many of us have asked and emerges here as if from nowhere.
Funny and gloriously non pc, nonetheless. Legally Blonde
is what it says on the tin. A feel good , roller coaster of a show
packed full of beautiful people, cute dogs and more pink than you can
shake a stick at. Catch it while you can. To 15-10-11 Tom
Roberts
Stars who are menu driven Ellie Woods'
best friend Bruiser is really three best friends, Pringle, Pepsi and
Breezer, all supplied by Cindy Newman who runs Animals Galore. In the film Bruiser was a Chihuahua but that has
its problems on stage. On a movie set the trainer is behind the camera,
eye to eye with his or her charges on stage the dogs are on their own
with the star doing the trainers jobs.
Newman said: “Training works on the basis of
rewarding good behaviour with treats but Chihuahuas haven't got huge
appetites, they don't particularly want to please and are also easily
offended, sensitive souls.” Easily offended, sensitive souls! Seems perfect for a career on stage . . . So Bruiser was given a wider gene pool to swim in
and is now cross-bred with Jack Russells. Newman said: “The dogs have
got to cope with a new venue every fortnight and Jack Russells are a bit
more tenacious. “They are not so easily put off by things and
also a lot greedier, which helps! “
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