Jerry Mitchell: Legally Blonde, the Musical

Legally Blonde, the Musical -
Sydney Lyric Theatre, 4 October -

The big, bold Broadway musical Legally Blonde, based on the 2001 film starring Reese Witherspoon, which was itself based on Amanda Brown’s novel Legally Blonde, opened in Sydney on October 4.  Directed and choreographed by Broadway’s Jerry Mitchell, the production values conjured the excitement you’d expect of a Broadway hit. But while all the key ingredients appeared to be present, ultimately the creators have failed to top the film.

The story follows blonde sorority queen, Elle Woods, who is dumped by her boyfriend and follows him to Harvard law school to try and win him back. Along the way she meets a variety of questionable characters, wins an internship with a law firm, discovers she has some legal savvy of her own, and triumphs above them all in a courtroom battle.  The amusing and predictable plot should lend itself well a stage adaptation but writers/lyricists, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, have fallen short in producing a score that sends the audience out of the theatre singing and dancing.

In the opening number, “Omigod You Guys”, the orchestra overpowered the voices so conclusively that the lyrics were utterly inaudible. Sound balance must be so precise in musical theatre, and one wonders if the sound designers (Acme Sound Partners), were even in the room. The most entertaining song in the first act, “Blood In the Water” is so stagnant and under-choreographed that one can only presume the American creative team ran out of time. Cameron Daddo as Professor Callahan moves well enough around the stage but the cast contributes very little until the very end.  The dramatic build-up and plot-propelling staging you’d expect from a sure-fire show-stopper is thoroughly absent and the opportunity for a real Broadway production number is lost.

The choreography unfortunately falls into the category of ‘cheerleading steps’ but without any of the flying acrobatics and gymnastics you see in American college level ‘cheer’. Mitchell’s signature muscle boys parade across the stage and the “gay and European” section, which featured the hilarious Euan Doidge and Andrew Ronay-Jenkings, is truly ready-made for a Sydney audience.  In all, the talented cast danced with precision and filled the stage with effervescent presence throughout, but unfortunately, as Broadway dance goes, these dances are not very challenging.

Lucy Durack as Elle Woods barely leaves the stage for the over two hours, and literally carries the show on her petite, pink shoulders. She has bundles of charm, a beautiful belt of a voice, and even tap dances (albeit without the taps), reminding us that there’s nothing this Australian can’t do. But without expert direction Durack comes off as too worldly for this California-blonde ingénue, and the character journey that Reece Witherspoon so precisely portrayed in the movie was missing.

The highlight of the show was Erika Heynatz as jailbird Brooke Wyndham whose aerobic and dazzling second act song and dance number, “Whipped into Shape”, commanded the stage with real star quality. With eleven inmates in orange ‘correctional facility’ jumpsuits, this skipping rope routine finally dazzled us with originality. The enigmatic David Harris gave a strong performance as Elle’s compadre and future love, Emmett Forrest, and Helen Dallimore as Paulette, Elle’s hairdresser friend, finally brought some emotional depth to the story at large, although it was largely too late.

- LIAM BURKE

Legally Blonde plays in Sydney until 16 December 2012. 

More info: legallyblonde.com.au