Legally Blonde
By Mark Kearney
If you aren't a musical theatre zealot like I am, then you might be unfamiliar with the concept of a "dream role", someone's single most sought after casting, the actor's holy grail.
In my friendship group, a try-hard troupe of small-time performers, many different yet equally lofty characters are named as the bees' knees of roles.
While the girls long for the phone call that gifts them Mama Rose in Gypsy, the boys pray for the day when they can rumble through West Side Story as Tony. And every now and then, someone pipes up with, “Fantine.” (To which we reply, “Let go, Anne.”) My character a la carte is something of a departure.
My dream role is Legally Blonde’s fashion merchandiser-turned-lawyer Elle Woods, which mightn’t be so shocking if I wasn’t a 26 year-old prematurely balding male.
This delusional desire is the cause of great alarm for not only my friends, but unsuspecting motorists who are often treated to my rendition of ‘Omigod You Guys’, the show’s seven-minute opening number, which I regular stage in the front seat of my Mazda 2, complete with elaborate hand choreography (judging by the reactions of my automobile-operating audience, the performance is jaw-dropping – quite literally.)
Why all this love for fiery freshman Elle, you ask?
Well, once you see the Melbourne season of Legally Blonde The Musical, hopefully you will understand the punch this pint-sized protagonist packs. Elle Woods, brought admirably to life here by Lucy Durack (most memorable as Glinda in Wicked), is one powerful peroxided woman. In her journey from sorority ditz to Havard Law heavyweight, Elle is unabashedly warm to everyone she encounters, looking for the good in each person and fixing up a few fashion faux pas along the way.
Who wouldn’t want to be her?
This current production has transferred from Sydney, and is all but a carbon copy of the original Broadway and West End versions.
I was fortunate to see the show in both London and Sydney, and reviewing the opening week at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre has confirmed that Australia has yet again staged a world-class production.
If you’ve seen the Reese Witherspoon film upon which the musical is based, you have a pretty good idea of what goes down in this snappy interpretation. The first act follows Elle in her crusade to win back boyfriend Warner (Rob Mills) after he dumps her for the more sophisticated stylings of Harvard and super-bitch Vivian (Ali Calder).
After winning a place at the esteemed law school, Elle eventually transforms into a book-smart Bryn Edelstein (I know, I thought it was an oxymoron too!) with the assistance of Emmett (David Harris), a recent graduate and assistant to Professor Callahan (the dapper Cameron Daddo).
In the second half, the plot shifts to cover Elle and Co.’s defense of murder suspect, Brooke Taylor Windham (Erika Heynatz), a celebrity fitness instructor with a special connection to Elle. If that wasn’t enough, Yonkers-y beautician Paulette Bonafonte (Helen Dallimore) serves as Elle’s resident hairdresser-slash-confidante, but who needs little Miss Woods’ help when it comes to attracting the opposite sex.
So much of this chirpy show rests on the bedazzled shoulders of lead actress Durack and, for the most part, she rises pretty terrifically to the occasion.
Her casting is one predominantly informed by her appearance and warm stage presence, which at the risk of sounding superficial are probably the two most important features in any Elle Woods. In the acting stakes, Durack scores a perfect ten.
Although her voice is a wonderful instrument, it occasionally feels like a difficult fit for Elle. But this, along with the fact that Durack’s choreography doesn’t quite have the same bend-and-snap as her high-energy sorority sisters, pales into relative insignificance by show’s end when you are well and truly ‘rooting’ for this girl.
The rest of the cast is uniformly strong. David Harris exudes the geeky charm required from Emmett, ‘Millsy’ and Daddo make an appropriately sleazy duo and Helen Dallimore serves up some of the evening’s most enjoyable – if extraneous – comedic moments.
The breakout performance here comes from Erika Heynatz, who as femme fatale Brooke whips onto stage at the beginning of Act Two with some simply terrific skipping rope choreography from Jerry Mitchell. A newcomer to professional music theatre, Heynatz’s voice has matured enormously since winning celebrity singing competition It Takes Two in 2006.
Here’s hoping this is just the start for Heynatz. It would also be amiss not to mention the three dogs that work on Legally, who elicit the loudest applause of the night. Sparrow, Quinn and Audrey who alternative as Bruiser, as well as Luka and Harris who play Rufus are wonderfully disciplined stage performers.
Another strength of the production is its speedy pacing, with the show’s many different set pieces (designed by David Rockwell) seamlessly flying in and out during the action.
In addition, most of the story is told through the outrageously funny lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, meaning there’s little expository dialogue to slow down proceedings. Most importantly, Legally Blonde doesn’t take itself too seriously. Knowing it’s about as world-changing as a Supré sale rack, the show winks and nudges at its own saccharine sweetness, with no character above friendly derision. Perhaps this is why Legally didn’t perform as strongly in the US as it did on the West End; poking fun at collegial stereotypes might’ve hit a bit close to home for our neighbours across the Pacific.
If I have any criticisms, they’re to do with the aesthetic design of the production, which looks good, but could look better. Rockwell’s sets lack a certain stylization, which would suit the cartoonish-ness of the piece, and the underwhelming costumes from Gregg Barnes could go further to capturing the synthetic gaudiness of college girls in the first act. Even the cast’s pink wardrobe in the finale was relatively muted.
I hope that Melbournians take to Elle Woods in the same emphatic fashion I have since I first came across this modern gem of a musical.
Who knows, maybe it’ll inspire a generation of blonde bombshell legal eagles. Or even just a few more balding 26 year old men with a dream of having their “name up on that (cast) list.”
