 |
| Kate Reedy in Legally Blonde, the Musical. Photo – CenterStage. |
Legally Blonde, the Musical
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Neil
Benjamin
Book by Heather Hach
Directed by John R. Leffert
Review by Rachel White
Entire contents are copyright © 2013 Rachel White.
All rights reserved.
From its opening number “Omigod, You Guys,” Legally Blonde, the Musical promises to
be a caffeine rushed, slightly manic ode to all things super girly, pink, and
slightly spacey. As the show opens, Elle Woods (Kate Reedy) is getting engaged
and needs, ohmigod, a dress. Her sorority sisters clamor to help her; they are
almost as ecstatic as Elle about the event. Having been a part of a small
college sorority for close to three years, the representation was hauntingly
familiar. But as those who’ve seen the movie know, tragedy awaits. Warner (R.
Wayne Huntington III) is in fact breaking up with Elle and running off to
Harvard. So, Elle has the brilliant of idea of getting into Harvard herself to
win him back. What else can she do?
The musical is based on the movie and book,
obviously, but it’s different in that its focus is on the songs. The plot is
more of a vehicle for the songs, so some of the characters are not as developed
and some of the humor is lost. CenterStage pulls it off, however, and although
some scenes are more focused than others. You get the sense that the performers
love what they are doing and are committed to quality work.
A couple of numbers that really captured my attention
were “Whipped into Shape,” which featured the fierce energy of Lauren McCombs
as the exercise Guru and Lauren LeBlanc as the stylist Paulette; and “Blood in
the Water,” which Michael Drury performs with the smooth nonchalance of a
creepball law professor. Kate Reedy plays Elle with a little more edge than
Reese Witherspoon did in the movie, which is a smart choice in that it affords
Reedy the opportunity to make the role her own. These performances, along with
and a cheerful and totally committed Greek Chorus, keep the evening moving.
Where I think the script misses is in simplifying
Elle to a dumb blonde. It seems to me that she is quite clever in spite of her
love for fashion and beauty. Life up until now has been fairly effortless for
Elle, not because she isn’t smart, but because she in fact is. The events that
happen – scoring high on the LSAT, discovering a way to prove Brook’s case – are
treated more like miracles rather than demonstrations of the young woman’s
secret strengths. Clearly the girl has some actual smarts that the script never
quite gives her credit for.
Legally Blonde, the Musical
July 11-21, 2013
CenterStage
Jewish Community Center
3600 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, KY 40205
No comments:
Post a Comment