Legally Blonde: The Musical: A Review

I am a little averse to the trend of movies being made into musicals – I find it sad that musicals have less of an audience these days, forcing Broadway to resort to using well-established brands in order to pull in audiences who are too nervous to dish out the big bucks to see something they’re not familiar with. I was never a big fan of the movie ‘Legally Blonde’ but when I heard the soundtrack of the musical a few years ago, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed. The score combines humorous lyrics with infectious melodies – it’s like an insidiously clever pop album!

The irresistible Warner Huntington III (Rob Mills) enters the Delta Nu Sorority House

So of course I was all 'Ohmigod You Guys!' when I heard that the pink-tastic musical would be descending upon Melbourne!

Fuelling my enthusiasm was news that Lucy Durack, (who played Glinda wonderfully in the Aussie version of ‘Wicked’) would be playing the lead role of the fabulous Elle Woods. Elle, the beautiful blonde sorority girl, busts a gut to get into Harvard, in order to win back the ‘campus catch’, Warner Huntington III (Rob Mills, Fiyero in the Aussie ‘Wicked’) who dumped her in order to become a ‘serious’ law student. It sounds ridiculous, yet with Elle’s enthusiasm, positivity and determination, you believe it’s all happening and you can't help but cheer her on, no matter how misguided she may be initially! (If only I could go from average student to Harvard Valedictorian over the course of a few musical numbers!)

Durack has that X Factor – making the kind of character that many of us love to hate – into someone we simply love.

Sexy Cam with Lucy

David Harris makes for a scruffily attractive, sensitive Emmett – the guy who ‘sees beyond the blonde to Elle’s mind’, and the man can sing. Cameron Daddo plays a more charismatic, handsome version of the scruples-hating Professor Callahan, breathing new life into the character. Although Erika Heynatz was terribly irritating on ‘Australia’s Next Top Model’, she is truly fantastic in this show as exercise queen/murder suspect Brooke Wyndham – and she has killer abs! There’s plenty of wonderful choreography in this show and Heynatz's vigorous skip-tastic exercise routine is one of the highlights!

Crush-worthy David Harrisas Emmett, with Elle the Bunny

Helen Dallimore, yet another of the Wicked alumni (she was Glinda on London's West End) played the role of the friendly, confidence-lacking hairdresser Paulette with the required gusto, and was an obvious fan favourite, along with her eye candy UPS Delivery Man (played to perfection by Mike Snell).

However, the stars of the show are Bruiser the chihuahua, played beautifully by Sparrow, Quin and Audrey respectively, along with Rufus the English Bulldog, played by Luka and Harris. They are just adorable. Bruiser’s skittishness was endearing in this particular show!

The star of the show... and Lucy

The appearances of the Delta Nu Sorority girls, as cheerleader-esque figments of Elle's imagination, tie the numbers together seamlessly, all the while reminding us of what keeps Elle perky and optimistic amidst all the pink/blonde backlash going on at Harvard!

The show is lots of fun, with a great message - that you shouldn't have to fit into a certain mold in order to follow your dreams. At two hours and 25 minutes running time including interval, the show never drags on like some musicals do – it’s great to see a show with minimal boring bits!

It seems evident that the cast is thoroughly enjoying themselves and putting their all into their performances, resulting in a fantastic show that I’m sure will have a fair run in Melbourne.

My friend and I left the theatre feeling deliriously happy (Okay, so meeting Rob Mills and Cameron Daddo at the Stage Door may have helped) and tapping our toes – and I know I had a strange new urge to wear a lot more pink from now on!