Legally blonde is a musical theatre with many twists and turns, costumes, colours, dance routines, songs and even animals.
It is about a young women Elle Woods who was brought up with everything a girl would dream for. Her colour is pink therefore everything belonging to her is PINK. She falls in love with a guy named Warner Huntington III but he leaves to attend law school. Elle listens to her heart and decides to also go to law school just to be around Warner.
The opening of the show was coloured bright pink lights in the background with a pair of pink shoes and a black graduation cap (The only thing that wasn’t pink ha ha!) on an empty stage. Elle was welcoming everybody plus instructing them to turn of mobile devices.
This is a show that is filled with brightness and happiness.
Lighting and costumes are pivotal to the show, tracing the characters’ development and the different settings and even moods. For example, during the dances the lights shown were pink, purple and blue but changed to blue with white lights when the date scene with Elle, played by Lucie Jones, and Warner came along. Then they turned yellow and orange for the Harvard law scenes. Warner was presented maturely and well-dressed suited in grey and black suits. However, during the end of the show he was dressed in green. Elle was wearing all pink at the beginning but turned to the colour Navy wearing suits instead of skirts etc. to show her maturity and her new serious look.
The stage direction and technical effects were superb, my favourite being when the props were moving around the stage while the dancers were dancing around them. It was faultless. Everybody cooperated well with one another in this ensemble work. Another thing that really caught my eye was in a love scene two men skating around in white pants holding a love bow.
Facial expressions were very clear and detailed, and exaggerated so even at the back of the New Theatre the audience was able to see and understand what was going on. Emotions like Elle crying to Paulette was very touching and well-acted.
The music was catchy and fun and then was also perfect for when love as in the air and made everybody including myself calm and relaxed which was a cherry on top (there was a few pecks between the actors during the scene).
My favourite characters were Elle and Emmet. Emmet is a guy who guided Elle during her law revisions and motivated her and boosted her self-esteem to make her realise she can do law and pass and stuck by her until the end. At one point he improvised in response to the acting dog on the stage stretching which he then copied. Of course, we have a happy ending and Elle and Emmet got together and made the show even more spectacular than ever.
So this is also a story about a young woman who proves what she is capable of and matures as the show develops to find true love rather than her adolescent crush.
If your personality feeds from love, comedy, happiness and contentment then this is a show for you. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. In addition the New Theatre was incredible and held great vibes and made everybody feel safe and secure and I am 100% sure I will be visiting them again.
Lucie Jones stars as Elle Woods opposite Rita Simons as Paulette. The musical is directed and choreographed by Anthony Williams.
http://www.newtheatrecardiff.co.uk/what’s-on/legally-blonde/
Until November 25
New Voices reviewers Kerys Osborne and Taylor Smith are members of the Cardiff West Community Sixth Form Stag and Screen Group and supported by Wales Critics Fund
Thank you Kerys. Your review made me want to see this show.