Review of the Broadway musical Legally Blonde

Legally Blonde, one of the great law movies of all time (after My Cousin Vinnie), has been turned into a delightful Broadway musical. With the charm and fluff of the original source, the musical version of Legally Blonde makes for an entertaining evening. If you are a fan of the movie, I think you will really love this show.

The plot is the same as the movie. Blonde California sorority-sister Elle Woods is all set to accept a proposal from her boyfriend Warren. To her surprise, she gets not a proposal, but a break-up. He is heading off to Harvard Law School and needs to look for a "Jackie" not a "Marilyn". Elle decides that she will follow him to Harvard and prove she can be serious. She studies hard for the LSATs and with an unusual personal essay (In the musical, the essay is a fun musical number.), she gets in. Harvard is a far cry from California, and Warren has already found his brunette, so Elle is left out. She makes friends with the beautician Paulette and Emmett, a teaching assistant. With their support, Elle proves that you can be blonde, beautiful, and brainy.

Though the plot stays very close to the source, there are a couple of deviations. The biggest change is that the role of Emmett (played by Luke Wilson in the film) has been expanded into a more focused love interest. There is more focus on her interaction with him and less of her interaction and rejection by her fellow students. Also Elle's sorority sisters appear often during her musing moments.

Overall, this is a really well-done show. The cast is very good. Two particular standouts are real-life husband and wife Orfeh, as Paulette, and Andy Karl, as her UPS love-interest. Orfeh has an incredible voice and stage presence. I loved watching her perform. Andy Karl is in the ensemble and plays several roles. His UPS guy isn't on long, but he captures the stage every second he is there.

The music is fun and peppy. The lyrics are very clever. The scenic and lighting elements were both excellent. I especially liked the transitions from scene to scene. It's not really possible to fade in a cut on stage like a movie, but several of the transitions had that feel. The costume designs were also terrific. I've seen several quick changes recently, but there is one in this production that I still have figured out exactly how it was done.

I forgot to mention two important members of the cast. If you've seen the movie, you know Elle was never far from her Chihuahua, Bruiser Woods. Don't worry. Bruiser made it to the big stage too, as did Paulette's Rufus.