Daisy, her mum Sam, my mum Katie, and I, all went to watch Legally Blonde the Musical, at the Crescent Theatre in Birmingham a few weeks ago (28th April). The Theatre is only very low key and quite small with only 460 seats at the main stage. However, I do not think that because it is a small it changes my opinion on the performance.

Before going to the theatre, I didn’t have very high expectations as in the past I had seen professional performances and as this production wasn’t, I thought it wouldn’t have been as good but I was wrong as I really enjoyed it.   

In case you haven’t seen Legally Blonde in the past, it is about a young, blonde, girl called Elle who leaves college after the love of her life, Warner Huntington III leaves to go to Harvard Law School. Elle has the image of a dumb, blonde girl who loves pink, but this story shows us otherwise. After studying hard, she passes her exams and gets into Harvard. Little does she know, during the time she spent in college, Warner would fall in love with another girl and get engaged! After more, and more, studying to prove that she wasn’t just a silly blonde girl, she meets Emmett Forrest who at first appears as just a friend, but after a while he becomes a possible love interest for Elle.

Whilst juggling her love life, Elle continues to study hard and support her friend after going through a divorce and a confidence knock back. She helps her friend… of course… by showing her the iconic ‘bend and snap!’ to bring it back.

She also has her own issues, as she feels like she is only appreciated because of her looks after her boss puts his hand on her leg, despite him being fired anyway.

She also participates in a real trial, were she tries to defend Brooke Taylor Windham who was falsely accused of murdering her husband. Elle won the case by proving it was Brooke’s step-daughter who killed him!

Later in the movie, Warner and his girlfriend brake up, which makes Elle realise how much she loves Emmett, they later become engaged

With it being a musical put aside, I would say that the production was very similar to the original with only a few minor tweaks, but the genres are kept the same, as it is still very funny but keeps the story line and the moral tale very clear. Some of the actors look very similar to their character in the movie as well.

Because it is a musical, the actors all must be good at singing; I wasn’t let down! All of them were great, confident, singers and could easily sing, dance, and act, all at the same time with (what looked like) no struggle! The songs themselves are very fun, upbeat, and catchy: the kind that everyone walks out singing. As well as this, all the songs still fit to the musical and are performed just at the right moments for a little sing song! Each song was about 10 minutes apart which fitted perfectly as it isn’t all singing, but not so little that it is hard to call it a musical.

I also thought that the casting was very good. We interviewed the director (John Morrison) before the show and I think he did very good job of deciding who was going to play what part. The lead role, Elle Woods, was played by Chloé Turner who did not only look the part but played the part very well too. She was easily able to memorise and perform the musical with ease without it looking staged. She also had an amazing singing voice, which in my opinion, made a very good all-round Elle! But Chloé wasn’t the only good actress, the whole cast was very talented at acting, but also singing, making Legally Blonde an amazing musical.

However, you cannot sing with no backing music! Beneath the stage there is an orchestra. I barley noticed they were there as it could have easily been pre-recorded track. They didn’t go wrong once, and it wasn’t so loud that you couldn’t hear the singing or to quiet that you couldn’t hear the music. The orchestra was definitely a good addition to the musical.

We also interviewed both the stage manager and choreographer before the show and something they both mentioned was that in the production there were no pauses. It was ongoing and there was always something happening and there was always something to look at. Whether it was someone, dancing, singing or just talking; there were no breaks. In some ways I really liked this as you never lost interest and it was full of action. But on the other hand, there were a few points that I found were a bit too ’busy’ and there were too many things going on and it was hard to keep track of what was the most important bit to watch at that moment. So, in my opinion, I would have made it on-going as I think it was a good idea, but perhaps at important moments I would have made it so that there was a bit less action.

In Legally Blonde the Musical, all the staging, props and costumes were borrowed. I thought that they were all very good and perfect for this production. I thought that the sets, were very accurate and had lots of small details to it that made it all seem very professional and realistic. My favourite set was the beauty parlour that features in both Legally Blonde the Musical and Legally Blonde the movie as the place was where one of Elle’s good friends worked.

One of the only negatives I could think of is that sometimes, I couldn’t hear what the actor were saying; Elle’s group of high school friends were often speaking in high-pitched voices to make it sound like the were exited, but sometimes I couldn’t make out what they were trying to say.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed Legally Blonde the Musical. I thought it was put together very well, and performed very well! I didn’t get bored of watching it as there was always action happening somewhere. All the actors were amazing actors and singers, and between them they didn’t forget a single line! The songs were good too, they all fitted the theme and were fun and catchy! The choreography fitted very well to the music and the events that are happening at the time, as well as portraying the characters’ emotions. And of course, the sets were very impressive as well, each one was accurate and put together really well.

I would definitely recommend Legally Blonde the musical to friends and family. I really enjoyed watching it and it is great day/night out for anyone! It is very affordable and yet, in my opinion just as good as any professional show I’ve watched; even though its about half the price! I would give Legally Blonde the musical 4/5 Stars as I really enjoyed it and I would definitely love to go and see a show made by the same production company again!