The film of 'Legally Blonde' has enjoyed limited cult status, and these days, the musical based on that film seems to have taken over that slot. It is the story of Mailbu rich-kid Elle, obsessed with pink and the latest fashion, learning that her 'perfect' boyfriend is dumping her to travel to Harvard and a Law degree. She manages to scotch the 'dumb blonde' image by working hard and earning herself a place at the school too, all for love. However, once there, she finds that he has now got another "much more suitable" girlfriend and life is much tougher than she expected. With the help of her now best friend Emmett, she pulls through and wins the day. She realises that she is in love with Emmett and that she can be who she wants to be without having to try to impress.
This evening the students of Manchester University's Musical Theatre Society put on a very high energy and top gear performance. To be honest, it didn't get off to a very auspicious start, since we were 20 minutes late starting the show without apology, and the Council Chambers (the original name for the room we were in) was desperately hot and airless. However once the lights dimmed and the band struck up, all that was forgotten as the hugely enthusiatic cast took us through the story with their all-singing, all-dancing talents.
Every member of the cast gave their all and contributed massively to the overall success and ambience of the show. A good overall display of accent and characterisations, even from the smaller cameo roles and ensemble. I greatly enjoyed the dancing throughout, very much in keeping with the style of show, based on cheerleading moves and always upbeat. The dances were always performed excellently too.. even the young men keeping up with the sometimes quite tricky moves!
Of course the lead role of Elle Woods needed someone who could play both the archetypal 'rich-daddy's-girl-who-has-everything' and the more serious hard-nosed lawyer, and the society found this with their casting for the role. Playing opposite her was a most personable and effectively natural young man playing Emmett. His stage presence impressed and never took his character into the realms of caricature at all. Another character to impress was Paulette, the hairdressing salon owner, who sang a very poignant and heart-wrenching song only to descend into the realms of high comedy when confronted with the delivery man!
Elle's stuck-up and self-absorbed boyfriend Warner and his new fiancee Vivienne seemed perfectly matched for each other and their scenes together worked well. Whilst the law professor, Mr. Callaghan was smooth and laid-back this evening, seemingly taking much in his stride.
Where I felt this production let itself down somewhat was sadly in things technical and peripheral. The set was open and consisted simply of a door and walls - all of which had been covered with pages from glossy fashion magazines, and Elle Woods' name in lights on the door but technical gubbins and sound boxes clearly visible behind it!; as well as a raised platform to the back of the stage, left uncovered and very utilitarian. The set stayed unchanged throughout and it simply didn't speak of either the Elle Woods of Malibu (save the fashion mag reference) nor did this set look right in any other setting.. a hairdressers, Harvard Law School, a court of law etc.... We were given chairs for the hairdresser's salon, but the students stood in their classroom and the court scene was all standing with no apparent order. Different levels would have been appreciated here if nowhere else. This ultilitarian and minimlaist attitude was also carried through into the costuming and props as well unfortunately. And so the costumes were a complete hotchpotch, some working better than others but none really giving the correct impression except perhaps for the two suits that Emmett wore and Elle's final pink suit. Fast food chain plastic cups for a Harvard party were simply wrong on every level.
Also, it has to be said that as good as the band were, and they were good - they were far too loud, overpoweringly so. That is not their fault but the fault of the technicians for allowing their sound to be so loud in comparison with the singing. The balance simply wasn't right and the overall level too high.
Verdict: A high energy cast with lots of enthusiasm and talent for the more comedic elements of the story, giving their all, but marred by poor set and direction. Without a programme [apparently they had had problems and had not been printed] I cannot credit any of the cast, and most of them were new to me too so I failed to recognise them from previous productions. However, that notwithstanding, they all desereve praise and credit for their high-jinx endeavours this evening.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 26/11/19
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