Book by Heather Hach
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe
and Nell Benjamin
Free Rain Theatre
ANU Arts Centre July 4 to 27 July,
2014
Review by Len Power
Free Rain Theatre’s
Canberra premiere production of ‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ is an exuberant show
which has been generally very well produced.
The slight story about an apparently brainless blonde who, rejected by
her boyfriend, follows him to Harvard law school and against all odds becomes a
successful lawyer, works very well as a musical.
Opening on
Broadway in 2007, the show ran for 18 months.
It ran nearly double that length in London from 2009 and the Australian
production ran nearly a year in both Sydney and Melbourne from 2012. In Australia it won 5 Helpmann awards including
Best Musical.
The music and
lyrics of Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin don’t have any stand out songs but
the score overall is very enjoyable, while presenting quite a challenge for the
singers.
Mikayla
Williams, as Elle, the blonde of the show’s title, gives an outstanding
performance in a huge role, making Elle a believable and endearing character
and singing and dancing superbly. Dave
Evans gives a delightfully low-key characterisation as Emmett and he’s in top
form vocally as well. Jenna Roberts
commands the stage whenever she’s on as Paulette and her song, ‘Ireland’, is a
real show-stopper. The minor characters
in the show are all very well played by cast members too numerous to mention
here.
The
choreography by Michelle Heine deserves a special mention. It’s exciting, energetic and the well-drilled
cast make it all seem effortless and enjoyable.
Costumes designed by Fiona Leach are eye-catching and appropriate and
Phil Goodwin’s lighting design is creative and attractive.
Director,
Derek Walker, has done a superb job here with the show flowing well from scene
to scene. The depth of characterisations
he has achieved with everyone in the cast is especially notable.
With all the
top notch work happening on that stage, it’s a pity that the ugly set looked
like what you get when designers are given an inadequate budget to build
it. Sound balance on the show was also
badly executed. The orchestra was much
too loud for the singers, especially in the up tempo group songs. Nicholas Griffin has done an excellent job
with the musical direction on this show but his efforts are wasted when you
can’t hear the lyrics.
Nevertheless,
‘Legally Blonde: The Musical’ is a superior local show that will please just
about anyone. Don’t miss it!
Originally broadcast on
Artsound FM 92.7 ‘Dress Circle’ showbiz program with Bill Stephens on Sunday 6
July 2014 from 5pm.
